“Maybe you’ll find out sometime.” He stood. “Right now, I have a princess to make happy.”
Kendall couldn’t shake the feeling of curiosity that Cooper had ignited in her. Why had he asked all those questions? As she watched him play with Livie and Ruby, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. The two of them had taken to each other as if they had known each other for years, not mere days. The way he interacted with Livie, so patient and kind, warmed her heart in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. What would it be like to have him a part of her and Livie’s life permanently?
They kept dinner simple, grilled cheese and canned tomato soup. She and Cooper worked together to grill the sandwiches and heat the soup. His kitchen was small, and it seemed he took every opportunity to brush against her, to touch her. Each time he did, her heart did a funny fluttering thing.
After dinner, they settled down on the living room couch, with their daughter snuggled between them, and watchedFrozen, Livie’s favorite Disney movie. When Cooper told her he’d never seen the movie, Livie was stunned.
“It’s the bestest movie ever, Daddy. Why did you never watch it?”
“Because I was waiting until I could watch it with you, Princess.”
From Livie’s big smile, that answer pleased her. “We can watch it now, right, Mommy?”
So,Frozenit was. Livie made it halfway through the movie before she began to drift off to sleep.
“Should I carry her to bed?” he asked.
“Bath first. She played hard today, and she’s stinky.”
“How dare you call my daughter stinky.” He sniffed Livie’s neck, then wrinkled his nose. “Even if she is.”
“You’re a good daddy, Cooper.”
He glanced down at Livie before lifting his eyes to hers. “I’m planning to be.”
Chapter 17
While Kendall gave Livie a bath, Cooper sat on the couch with his laptop open. After jotting down Kendall’s dream for an adult evening so he wouldn’t forget anything, he read the emails sent to Kendra Hartley. Most seemed harmless, but he’d forwarded a few so far to a separate file he’d created. Grayson and Liam were also reading them tonight, and tomorrow, they’d compare notes.
“Livie wants to know if her daddy will read her a bedtime story,” Kendall said, poking her head around the hallway wall.
As if he could refuse his princess. “Absolutely.” He set his laptop on the coffee table. He’d read Emmie bedtime stories countless times when his sister was a little girl and it was left up to him to get her to bed.Thank you, Emmie, for training me on how to make bedtime stories fun.
“What are we reading?” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed. Ruby had followed him into the bedroom, and she curled up on the floor at his feet.
Livie thrust a thin book at him. “This one, Daddy.”
“Attack of the Underwear Dragon? Sounds…uh, fun.” Children’s books sure had changed since he’d read bedtime stories to Emmie some twenty years ago. And since when did dragons start wearing underwear? Turned out it was a cute story that Livie knew by heart and interrupted his reading to tell the story herself. He loved every minute of it.
“Read me another one, Daddy.”
Kendall, who’d been lying on the other bed listening to them, sat up. “No more tonight. It’s time to go to sleep.” She came to Livie and kissed her cheek. “Sweet dreams, precious girl.”
He leaned over and kissed Livie’s forehead. “See you in the morning, Princess.”
“Can Ruby stay with me? She’ll bite the bad man if he comes.”
“She sure can, but I promise you, I won’t let the bad man come here.”
“Okay. I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy.”
This girl.“I love you, too.” He’d only known her for a few days, and she already had him wrapped around her little finger. He’d plugged in a night-light earlier so the room wouldn’t be so dark in the hopes that would help her sleep without a nightmare.
As soon as he’d turned to leave, Ruby jumped on the bed, curling up next to Livie. He should probably tell the dog to get off the bed, but Livie already had her arm around Ruby, and having the dog with her probably made her feel safer, so he let Ruby stay where she was. He followed Kendall out of the room, leaving the door open so he could hear her if she cried out.
“I promised my sister I’d call her tonight, so I’m going to do that,” he said.
“Okay, I’m going to jump in the shower while you talk to her.”