Chapter 7 #2
Presley bent down and held the paper tray out.
The girls swarmed her, and each grabbed a ball of battered cookie dough, paying no mind to the mess the chocolate drizzle made of their hands.
My attention got caught up in Presley’s shoulders from behind: narrow, feminine, and bare.
I clenched my hand into a fist to prevent myself from reaching out to see if her skin felt as soft as it looked.
She straightened and offered me a sweet, but I shook my head, tamping down on the thought that the only sweet thing I wanted was her.
Damn, this woman got to me without even trying.
“Thanks for asking if it was okay to offer them one,” I said so only she could hear.
“I’m afraid I learned that the hard way with Chloe’s daughter,” she said. “I always ask now. Sure you don’t want one? They’re delicious.”
I shook my head again and let myself be distracted by my girls.
“These are my favorite,” Nova said with conviction.
“You said funnel cakes were your favorite,” Sienna told her.
Nova shook her head. “These.”
“Can we have another one?” Scarlet asked Presley.
“You have to ask your daddy.” Presley tapped Scarlet’s nose affectionately, making my daughter laugh.
“Please, Daddy?” they all pleaded.
“One more each. Then let Miss Presley have some.”
“Struggling in my pursuit of healthy,” she said with an embarrassed grin.
“But at least you’re not working,” I said.
“Not working. Only shaking a little from withdrawal,” she admitted.
We shared a private look for an instant before Nova grabbed my arm and said, “Llama pics next, Daddy! You promised.”
“I promised.”
“Can Miss Presley go too, Daddy?” Sienna said, quieter than Nova but with equal excitement.
“Miss Presley can be in our photo,” Scarlet said confidently, having no idea the position that idea put me in.
“I was planning to get my photo with the llamas too,” Presley said. “We can walk to the booth together.”
My eyes widened as Nova glued herself to Presley’s side and took her empty hand. I watched Presley’s face for any sign she was uncomfortable with that, aware that not everyone liked it when a kid glommed onto them, but Presley’s smile at my youngest seemed genuine.
“We might need to stop and wash our hands first,” Presley said, laughing.
I cringed. “I imagine you just got a handful of stickiness. Sorry about that.”
She shook her head as if to say there was nothing to apologize for, telling me she was a good sport.
Though Sienna held my hand as we tracked down a hand-washing station, showing me first-hand how sticky two cookie dough balls could make a little girl, the other two clamored around Presley as if she was their favorite human.
My first instinct was to worry they were too enamored with her, too easily becoming attached to her.
I had to remind myself that there was no danger in Presley being nice to my girls.
She and I weren’t together. There was no risk of her hurting them the way their mother had.
The way my ex-girlfriend, April, had. My opinion of her would, in fact, go down if she wasn’t nice to my princesses.
It was easy to tell when a person didn’t like kids or was uncomfortable around them. I didn’t get that vibe from Presley.
We eventually made it to the end of the line for llama photos, which had, thankfully, gotten shorter since the last time we’d checked.
“Who knew llamas were so popular?” Presley asked.
“Not just any llamas,” I told her.
“It’s Esmerelda and Betty!” Nova said in her outdoor voice.
“The cookie thieves, right?” Presley said. “Those ladies are famous.”
“Rainbow sprinkles are their favorite,” Scarlet said.
“One time we got to go to their barn and feed them cookies,” Nova told her.
“You are lucky girls,” Presley said.
“Ben’s a friend of mine,” I said.
“The town vet, right?” she asked. “So they’re doing this to benefit who?”
“A couple is starting up an animal rescue here in town. Until now, everyone’s just taken strays and unwanted animals to Ben’s clinic. He’s thrilled to support what they’re doing.”
“Sounds like a good cause then,” she said.
“Do you have any pets, Miss Presley?” Sienna asked.
“I don’t,” she said. “I’ve never been able to have one because I was gone too much. What about you girls?”
“I wish we could have a dog,” Sienna said.
“I want three cats,” Nova proclaimed. “One for each of us.”
“Our landlord won’t let us have pets,” Scarlet told her.
“I guess we’ll all just have to settle for llama pats today then,” Presley said.
“I wanna stand by Betty,” Nova said of the less famous, less trouble-making llama as the line crept forward slowly.
We neared the tent where the llamas were being pampered with multiple fans to keep them cool, plus, I was sure, all the cookies Ben would allow them to have. “She’s the brown-and-white one.”
When we finally made it to the table to pay, Presley stepped back, allowing us to go first.
“Hey, Colby,” I said to the girl collecting money. “You got roped into working on a Saturday, huh?”
“I don’t mind,” Ben’s office manager replied. “We’ve got shade, an endless supply of cookies, and we get to work outside.”
“You get to work with the llamas,” Scarlet said. “You’re lucky.”
“Aww, look at the puppies and kitties,” Sienna said. Her attention was on a trifold poster board on Colby’s table. “They’re so cute!”
“Those are some of the animals available for adoption at the shelter,” Colby said.
“I wish we could have one,” Nova said longingly.
Presley bent over to look more closely at the photos, making me wonder if there was a pet in her future. She sure had the room for one. In that house, she had room for several.
“Hey, West,” Ben said as he approached. He was in the llamas’ enclosure, hovering over his four-legged darlings. His oldest daughter, Evelyn, was helping out from this side of the fence.
“How’s it going?” I asked Ben.
We’d started out as a group of single dads, all of us different ages, our kids different ages, but with the common challenge of raising kids by ourselves.
Now more than half our group had gotten hitched, Ben included, but our ties remained strong, and we tried to get together at least one Saturday a month.
“Great,” Ben said enthusiastically. “These ladies are raking in the cash for the shelter.”
“Hi, Dr. Holloway,” Scarlet said.
“We’re getting our picture next,” Nova informed him.
“Esmerelda and Betty can’t wait to see you three,” Ben told them.
“There’s five of us actually,” Scarlet said, and Ben’s gaze shot to mine, then to Presley.
“Miss Presley probably wants her own photo, girls,” I said, offering her an out.
Ben’s brows rose up his forehead, and I shook my head, knowing he’d jump to all the wrong conclusions because I was with a good-looking woman.
“The more the merrier,” Presley said. “You get some of you four first, so your dad has some good family shots. Then you can be in my pictures too.” She took out her debit card as Evelyn came our way.
“Hi, Evelyn,” Scarlet said.
“Hi,” Ben’s daughter said to my three. She was older than my twins by a couple of years, but she and Ben and Emerson’s other three played with my kids whenever the dads’ group got our families together. “Come this way, and I’ll show you where to stand.”
As Presley looked on from her spot next to Colby and the animal photos, one of Ben’s techs snapped photos of us with my phone. He stepped forward to hand it back to me.
“Wait, we need some with Miss Presley,” Nova hollered.
“Use your indoor voice around the llamas,” I told her, even though Ben waved it off.
Evelyn went up to Presley and said, “I’ll show you where to stand.”
“Why don’t you make it a girls’ pic?” I suggested, uncomfortable with how it would look for both Presley and me to be in it. I was her contractor, not her husband. Not even her friend, really.
“We want you in it too, Daddy,” Sienna said.
I met Presley’s gaze and saw the hint of a challenge there, as if she was daring me to join them.
I nodded, resigned and determined to get it over with quickly. “Where do you want me?”
“Can you pick me up so I’m taller?” Nova asked Presley.
“Nova,” I said.
“Come here,” Presley said and hoisted my youngest into her arms.
Soon enough, the photo shoot was over, with the tech getting shots on both my camera and Presley’s.
“That’s a wrap,” I said, relieved she’d placed Presley and Nova on one end, the other two girls between the llamas, and me on the opposite end.
“Daddy, can we go see the fire truck next?” Nova called out as the girls bounced out of the llama tent, Presley surrounded by them, with me at the back.
As I went by, Ben came up to the fence, his brows still raised. “That was interesting as hell,” he said so only I could hear. When he flicked a glance at Presley, I knew what he was getting at.
“That was the girls’ doing,” I growled quietly.
“Food for thought though,” he said with a sly grin.
I should’ve ignored him, kept walking, but I stopped, leaned forward, and said in no uncertain terms, “You know my stance. Not going there.”
He nodded, but it was smug and knowing.
Fuck that.
“Good luck with your fundraiser,” I said and went to catch up with my girls.
They and Presley had stopped near the lemonade stand. All four were engaged in an animated discussion—about lemonade flavors, I realized as I got closer. I grinned, because to look at my daughters’ faces, that topic was an important one in life.
Those girls… They were my everything. My reason for doing what I did.
For working my ass off. For giving my all to the summer project that could get me a promotion.
The raise that would come with it might enable us to move to a bigger place.
The extra cash that would come from working on the coffee shop would fund the girls’ first road trip. I couldn’t wait to travel with them.
We were on our way to better things, the four of us. Everything would be good…as long as I could resist the pull of the enchanting woman who was currently making them smile.