Chapter 32
Layla
GRAYSON
thank you
she hasn’t stopped pressing the button all day
It’s the most precious thing she owns
LAYLA
anything for her <3
GRAYSON
she’s special isn’t she?
LAYLA
the best person I know
An hour later I have to all but drag myself out of her house and walk across the street to Kieran’s. The only way I can leave her is knowing that Grayson, who just arrived, will take care of her.
He always will.
Leaning against my car, I give myself a minute, taking deep breaths to try and shake off the heaviness of the morning. The past twenty-four hours have been both fulfilling and yet emotionally draining.
Lying by the fire with Kieran, hearing his soft confessions and having him pour his heart out to me like that, is a side I’ve never seen, one that I don’t think many people, if any, get to experience. The soft, wounded side makes me want to wrap my arms around him and protect him.
I’m not sure what’s happening between us, and despite my rule that we needed to call this quits if someone started developing feelings…I find that I’m not ready yet. I’m not done experiencing things with him, whether that be his heated touches or gentle words.
Who would have figured the first rule I broke would be my own, the one I should have adamantly followed. But I don’t know of any woman who could witness these different sides to Kieran and not fall a little for the man who deserves so much more than the cards life has dealt him.
Maybe I should end this before we sleep together. When I agreed I was attracted to him, of course, but my heart wasn’t attached. But now, could I really go forward with this and not end up broken-hearted?
Could I sleep with Kieran and not fall in love?
“Hey, sunshine.”
My head lifts at his deep husky voice.
Think of the devil and he shall appear.
My smile is blooming before I can stop it. Pushing off the car, my steps are slow, measured, as I soak him up. “Hey.” I halt as I realize his arms are laden with boxes and is that…pink paint on his pants? “What are you building now?”
He flashes me a lopsided grin. “It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise? What a day for it. I just surprised Bella.”
The muscles in his arms ripple as he throws the cardboard boxes in the trash. I flit my eyes away just in time as he spins back to face me, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was pouting.
“What about me? Where’s my surprise? I thought you said I was your favorite person.”
I roll my eyes. “You know when I said that I was talking about Emmy.”
With a wink, Kieran throws an arm around my shoulder and drags me through the front door.
“Keep telling yourself that.” He stops me at the stairs, taking my purse from my shoulder and gently placing it on the entryway table.
Leaning against the wall, Kieran crosses his arms over his chest, smirking. “Hey Emmy, Layla’s here!”
No sooner do the words leave his lips I hear a thud, followed by the sound of her little feet running down the hall. When she emerges at the top of the stairs, I watch her eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
Throwing my arms in the air, I squeal, “Queen Emmy!”
She giggles softly behind her hand as she tries to make her way down the stairs as fast as she can, her free hand holding the banister.
I get ready, my hands outstretched, and thank God I do.
When she’s three steps away she launches herself at me with no warning.
I laugh as I catch her in my arms, spinning us.
I soak up the warmth filling my heart as she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me.
“Hi, sweet girl. I missed you. Have you been annoying your dad for me?”
She pulls back and that’s when I see the pink paint on her face and clothes, too. Frowning, I turn to Kieran. “Okay, now I really need to know what you two have been getting up to.”
I find an emotion clouding his gaze, one I can’t decipher, but it isn’t bad. He always looks at me softly but this is different.
Because if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Kieran Ashford is looking at us like we’re his entire world.
Pushing off the wall his smile is on full display as he reaches over and tickles Emmy. “Ready to show her the surprise, baby girl?”
Emmy nods so strongly it’s a wonder she doesn’t hurt her brain. Chuckling, I put her down as she begins to wiggle. “Lead the way, my queen.”
Her hands are a little sticky as she takes my outstretched hand, but I’ve gotten used to that as part of my job. She gently pulls me along up the stairs, and at my back, I feel warmth. Peering over my shoulder, I see heat filling Kieran’s eyes, his gaze firmly on me.
“Something caught your attention, Ashford?”
I wait for him to feel embarrassed that I caught him ogling but in true Kieran fashion, he just smirks, looking at me through those thick black lashes. “Sunshine, I was caught about two years ago.”
“Don’t feel like releasing yourself?”
“Never.”
I come to a stop, Emmy’s hand dropping from mine at the heated word he all but growled. My lips part, but all thoughts of Kieran leave me as a very small voice whispers my name.
“Layla?”
Before I can stop myself, I gasp. Emmy’s wringing her small hands as she rocks back and forth on her heels, her eyes lowered to the ground as she tries to make herself as small as possible.
My knees buckle. Dropping to the floor, I try to catch her eye, my cheeks aching from how wide I’m smiling.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I breathe. She’s so unsure of herself, so quiet and timid, that she has no idea she’s just made my day. That the sound of her calling out my name will be playing on a loop in my mind. “What is it, my sweet girl?” I ask around the lump in my throat.
She lifts her eyes quickly before darting them away.
“It’s okay, Emmy. Layla loves to hear your voice. Don’t you, Layla?”
I nod frantically. “It’s my favorite sound,” I confess.
She looks at me then and my heart begins to beat a frantic rhythm.
She said my name!
“Can I show you what Daddy and I made?”
With my hand over my chest, I gush, “Of course! Please, please show me!”
Tears bubble up in my eyes, along with such unending warmth I wouldn’t be surprised to look in the mirror and see that my cheeks are the same color as my hair. Looking over my shoulder I spot Kieran and by the look on his face, just as much joy is flooding his system.
Emmy grasps my hand and pulls me along, coming to a stop in front of her room. She jumps into a star formation, yelling, “Ta-da!”
I don’t know what I want to cry over first—her excitement, or the pink bookshelf mounted to her wall. She runs over to it, pointing at the books filling the shelves. She points to a Lego flower vase, too, her smile coy.
“Like my daddy’s,” she whispers, suddenly shy and unsure of herself at my quietness.
Shaking myself out of my frozen stupor, I mentally tell myself I can cry later. Right now, Emmy needs all the encouragement to keep talking. I kneel before her, my joy no doubt written stark across my face.
“Did you and Daddy build Legos today?”
She nods empathetically.
Kieran’s deep voice dances along my spine. “Emmy has been hard at work today building her Lego while I built the bookshelf.”
My eyes lift to the custom project that rises to the ceiling. She has more than enough room to grow over the years.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper in awe. “Kieran, you outdid yourself. I’ve never seen such a beautiful bookshelf before.” Looking over my shoulder, I tease, “What can’t you build?”
His smirk is smug. “There’s no limit when it comes to my girls.”
My girls.
Goosebumps prickle my skin as I turn back.
There are small details in the wood along the base. Did he carve the small fairies? My fingers trail over the design, my breath catching. “Kieran, it’s—” A gasp of shocked laughter escapes me. “It’s more than beautiful, it’s art. I’d do despicable things to have this in my room.”
Turning, I find Kieran leaning against the doorway, pink paint smudged all over his clothes as he grins down at me. He shrugs. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” To Emmy, I whisper, “You, my little queen, have an amazing dad.”
Her lips move, no sound coming out, and yet I could have sworn she mumbles to herself, “The best.”
Something she said earlier comes back to me suddenly.
Cocking my head, I say to Kieran, “I didn’t know you like to build Legos.”
I haven’t seen a single Lego in the house, and trust me, when you build with Legos, those little bastards show up in places they never should.
Kieran’s lip twitches. “You haven’t given me a juicy enough confession for that secret.”
Quirking my brow in challenge, I lean over and whisper conspiratorially in Emmy’s ear, “Want to show me Daddy’s Legos?”
Her eyes widen as she smacks a hand over her mouth, giggling to herself. Gosh, she’s vocal today, her personality shining. I can’t help myself, tears begin to build, forcing me to blink them away furiously.
Emmy’s small giggles stop suddenly as she leans forward, her voice so low I have to turn my head to the side so she’s whispering right into my ear.
“Daddy made the dark go away.”
Frowning at her cryptic words, I pull back to find her little pointer finger lifted upwards. I follow her finger, peering up at the ceiling. Emmy tips her head back and sighs, a content little smile playing along her lips as her brown hair, in two pigtails, swish along her shoulder blades.
If I thought Kieran was a great dad before, if I thought he had a beautiful soft side to him, it’s nothing compared to now.
Kieran Ashford was born to be a dad.
Covering the ceiling, nearly every inch, are stars.
Glowing stars.
Kieran flicks the light switch off, plunging us into space.
He’s placed glow in the dark stars all along the ceiling and the sight is magnificent. “It’s like you’re in space, Queen Emmy!”
Kieran turns the lights back on, and the glowing stars fade away. “Makes you feel safe, doesn’t it, sweetheart?”