Only Mine (Fool's Gold #4)(64)

“I hope so.”

She wanted to fall in love, too. The problem was, thinking about being in love made her think about Finn. Was she truly interested in him? Or was it just easier to distract herself by wanting the one man she couldn’t have?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DAKOTA SAT ON THE FLOOR with her daughter. They were on a blanket, in the middle of her living room. There were several age-appropriate toys scattered around. Dakota had a large picture book in her hand and was slowly reading the story to Hannah.

“Lonely bunny was happy to have found a friend.” She pointed to the drawing on the page. “See the bunny? He’s not lonely anymore. He has a friend now.” She pointed to the fluffy white kitten, nose to nose with the formerly lonely bunny.

“See the kitten?” She pointed to the kitten. “He’s white.”

From all that she had read, Hannah needed plenty of verbal and visual stimulation. Hannah seemed interested in the story. She would look where Dakota pointed, and the bright colors of the picture book kept her attention. Dakota was about to turn the page when someone knocked on her front door.

She stood and collected Hannah. She felt her breath catch in her chest as she saw Finn standing on her small front porch.

He looked as sexy as ever, especially when he gave her a slow grin that made her thighs heat. “Hey. I should have called first, shouldn’t I? Sorry. I’ve been doing a lot of flying and this was my first break. How are you?”

“Good. Come on in.”

He stepped into the house, then reached for Hannah. “How’s my best girl?” he asked.

The baby reached toward him. He pulled her against his chest, and she settled in as if she, too, had been missing him.

“You’re growing,” he murmured, kissing the top of Hannah’s head. “I can see the difference already.” He turned his attention to Dakota. “You look good, too, by the way.”

She grinned. “Gee, thanks. I appreciate the compliment, even if it is an afterthought.”

She led the way into the living room. Finn settled on the blanket, with Hannah on his lap. Dakota sat across from him.

He’d always had the kind of looks that made her think of tangled sheets and late mornings spent in bed. But there was something about seeing a strong, confident man holding a baby. She’d never experienced it before but now she totally got the appeal.

“How are things on the show?” he asked. “I talked to Sasha a couple of days ago and he was complaining that they needed to go on a hot date.”

“Bad choice of words. After the fire incident, I’m thinking even Geoff is hesitant to let those two loose.”

“I think that’s why they’re staying close to home. Nothing’s been scheduled with Stephen and Aurelia. I don’t think they’re interesting enough for Geoff.”

“Probably not. He’s getting frantic about keeping the ratings up. He mentioned he would love an explosion at the Tulip Festival. I told him there was no way that was going to happen. So how’s the flying? Miss those Alaska mountains?”

“Not as much as I would have thought. There are plenty of people who would rather fly to Fool’s Gold than drive. I don’t get it—the drive is beautiful, and I say that as a pilot. Still, it’s keeping me busy. I’ve flown a few cargo flights and had an interesting afternoon taking a whooping crane from San Francisco to San Diego. The bird I flew is supposed to be a hot breeder.” He chuckled. “He didn’t look any different to me, but I’m not a girl whooping crane.”

As he talked, Hannah reached toward one of the small stuffed animals on the floor.

“Do you want that?” Finn asked. He picked up the small pink stuffed elephant and handed it to her.

“Ga ga ga.”

Dakota stared at the little girl. “Did you just say ga?” She turned to Finn. “You heard that, right? She spoke.”

Finn rolled onto his back and held the little girl up in his arms. “Look at how smart you are. You can say ga.”

Hannah squealed with delight as Finn continued to hold her in the air. When he rolled back to a seated position, she reached for her elephant. He handed it to her.

Dakota couldn’t stop grinning. “I know I had nothing to do with it, but I feel so proud.”

“It’s a parent thing.”

That’s right. She was a parent now. “I need to remember what this feels like so that when she’s fourteen and driving me crazy, I have something to fall back on.”

He chuckled. “You are a woman with a plan.”

They watched the little girl. She seemed mesmerized by her pink elephant.

“One of the guys I flew in told me there’s talk of building a casino just north of town,” Finn said.

“I heard about that. Apparently it’s going to be a very upscale facility. More tourists are always a good thing.”

“I also heard plenty of talk about the man shortage. You know the world thinks Fool’s Gold is filled with desperate women.”

Dakota winced. “It’s been an ongoing problem. I told you about the grad student who wrote about the man shortage in her thesis. The media picked it up and went crazy. That’s why we have Geoff here, doing his show. Demographically, men might be outnumbered, but we are hardly desperate women.” She looked at him. “Although it does explain my attraction to you.”