“Do I even want to know why you happened to have an adult-sized pink tutu in your closet?”
Sheldon grinned. “Tracy ordered it online for Adira a couple of months ago, thinking it was child-sized, and didn’t feel like returning it once she realized it wasn’t.”
“And you just… wore it to the park?” Aidan asked.
“Sure. A promise is a promise.”
Dana smiled. “That was very sweet of you.”
He shrugged. “Adira has me wrapped around her little finger.”
Aidan grunted. “You and everyone else who frequents David’s home. Didn’t the other adults at the park find your attire odd?”
Sheldon laughed. “Are you kidding? The women loved it. Two moms and three nannies gave me their phone numbers.”
“Hey!” a woman called from down the hallway. “I heard that!”
Grinning, Sheldon called back, “I only took their numbers in case Ami wanted to arrange a playdate or something.”
The woman—Tracy?—grumbled something Dana couldn’t hear clearly.
Sheldon held up his plate. “Are you two hungry? I saw Ethan and Heather pass by a minute ago and it looked like you guys might have had a long day.” Word must not have gotten around yet about the battle with Gershom.
Aidan nodded. “I could use a bite.” He looked down at Dana.
“I could eat,” she said, only then realizing she hadn’t had a meal in a while.
Sheldon handed her the plate. “I’m glad recent events haven’t scared you away.”
“Not yet,” she said with a wry smile.
Sheldon waved a hand. “I wasn’t worried about the violence. You kinda give off a Xena, Warrior Princess vibe, so I knew you could hold your own.”
Dana looked up at Aidan. “Really?”
Aidan smiled. “I don’t know who Xena is, but the term Warrior Princess suits you well.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t help but feel pleased.
“Nah,” Sheldon continued. “I figured if anything would send you fleeing to the hills, it would be Aidan’s age.”
She looked up at Aidan in time to catch him glaring at Sheldon.
That was the second time Aidan’s age had come up, and he seemed no more interested in imparting it now than he had before.
She turned back to Sheldon. “Why? How old is he?”
Sheldon’s features slipped into a comical oops expression. “Oh. He, uh… he hasn’t told you yet?”
“No.”
Recovering from his gaffe, Sheldon waved a hand. “You know what? It’s not a big thing. It really isn’t. Some people are just weirdly sensitive about their age. Hell, Tracy is only eight years older than me and she still freaks out about it.”
“Nine,” Tracy called from down the hallway. “I’m nine years older than you, loose lips.”
Sheldon laughed. “See what I mean? She’s only nine years older than me and still can’t believe I’m not going to ditch her for a younger woman. But I keep telling her that I don’t care how old she is. She could be a hundred years older than me, or a thousand years older, or even a million years older and I would still want to be with her.”
Tracy entered with a smile. “Yeah, but what makes you think I’d still want you if I were a million years older than you?”
He grinned down at her. “All the wisdom you would’ve acquired over the ages would make you recognize my value.”
She smirked. “And if it didn’t?”
“Then vanity would make you want me for your boy toy.”
Laughing, she curled a hand around the back of his neck and drew him down for a quick kiss. “I’m sure it would.” She turned to Dana. “Hi, Dana.” She jerked a thumb toward Sheldon. “Ignore this one. He’s still high from all the female attention he got at the park.”
Aidan shook his head. “Who would’ve thought a man wearing a tutu would evoke such adoration.”
Tracy rolled her eyes. “I know, right?”
“Unca Aidan!” a small voice cried with glee.
Aidan’s face lit with a wide grin. “In here,” he called.
The redheaded toddler Dana had seen briefly the previous night ran into the room on chubby legs. A fluffy pink tutu like Sheldon’s covered pink shorts while matching pink fairy wings bounced on her back and a flower garland sporting a pink veil jounced on her curls.
“There’s my lovely fairy princess,” Aidan crooned, bending to scoop her into his arms.
Giggling, she wrapped adorably plump arms around his neck and gave him a hug.
She was beautiful. And Aidan looked damned appealing, hugging her and bussing her rosy cheek. This must be the little one for whom he had cleaned up his language.
“You did, did you?” he asked, his brown eyes alight with pleasure as he grinned at the little girl.
Nodding, she waved a glittery wand with a pink butterfly on the end.
“So he told me. And you had fun?” Aidan asked. A minute passed, then he laughed.
Dana looked to Tracy.
Tracy smiled. “Adira doesn’t talk much yet, but she has strong telepathic abilities.”
Dana looked at the child in surprise. Really? She couldn’t be more than two years old.
The little girl turned her attention to Dana.
“Hi there,” Dana said with a smile.
Giving her a grin that exposed little white teeth, the toddler lunged toward her.
Sheldon grabbed the plate of sandwiches while Dana scrambled to catch Adira and wrapped her arms securely around the little beauty.
Adira raised bright green eyes to meet hers and touched her cheek. “Annie Dana,” she said with a grin.
Tracy’s eyebrows flew up. “I think she just called you Auntie Dana.”
Adira rested her head on Dana’s shoulder and snuggled against her with a happy sigh.
“Dude,” Sheldon said, his eyes going from the toddler to Dana to Aidan. “Adira can see the future. I’m pretty sure that means you’re in.”
Dana glanced up at Aidan, who looked as surprised as she was.
After a moment, he smiled and touched her shoulder. “Don’t worry. You still have choice.”
She smiled back and rocked from side to side, enjoying the feel of the baby against her chest, all anxiety fleeing amidst the comfort the child brought and the light, family atmosphere that welcomed her. “I know.” But she didn’t really. At least not where Aidan was concerned. She was in love with him. And that made choosing anything other than a future with him impossible.
The hallway behind them darkened as a figure filled it, then moved forward to join them.
Dana’s eyes widened as she tilted her head back and stared up at him.
Wow.
Tracy laughed. “I bet I had that same expression on my face the first time I saw him. He’s a handsome devil, isn’t he?”
Chuckling, the man met Dana’s gaze with dark brown eyes that infused her with as much warmth and comfort as the child did. “I’m David,” he said, offering her a slight bow. “Welcome to my home, Dana.”
“Thank you,” she managed to say.
She estimated his height to be about six feet seven inches. His smooth, flawless skin was as dark as midnight. Pencil-thin dreadlocks—pulled back from his face with a leather tie—fell all the way down to his hips. Like the other immortals, he wore all black and wore it well. His shoulders were as broad and his body as muscular as Aidan’s.