"Okay. Kind of," I amend.
"You can say so. It's not like I'm going to be offended by you cutting and running right after I cooked you a fantastic dinner and then gave you some D." He grins.
"Gave me some D?" I ask, laughing. "That's so classy. You're just screwing with me."
"Of course I'm messing with you. What kind of guy do you think I am? Do you actually think I'm going to give you shit for wanting to be with your child?"
"Obviously I want to be with you, too," I protest lamely. Opal's going to give me hell for being totally neurotic about this.
Killian grins. "You moaned my name loud enough. I'm definitely aware of that."
"Oh, shut up."
"Lily?" His expression is suddenly serious.
"What?"
"You love Chloe, and she adores you. That's obvious to anyone. Don't apologize for being crazy about her." He pauses for a long moment. "No one looked at me when I was a kid, the way you look at Chloe. No one cared that much where I was or what I was doing when I was her age. I lov– I like that about you."
He clears his throat and looks down, shrugging like he didn't just say what's probably one of the most touching things anyone's ever said to me. I think my heart swells to twice its size as I stand and wrap my arms around the big brute of a man. He lets out a little 'ooph' as I collide with his chest, before sliding his hands to my back and pulling me tightly against him.
35
Killian
"Mom!" As soon as the door swings open, Chloe runs full-throttle toward Lily, launching herself into her mom's arms with the speed of a freight train, her legs wrapped around Lily's waist.
"Did you miss me?" Lily asks, laughing.
"I had fun with Miss Opal, but –" Chloe sighs audibly. "But I couldn't fall asleep. You didn't tuck me in."
Opal smiles. "She was great all night, but not as keen on staying over once it came time to go to bed. She needed her mom." Opal pauses. "You're looking quite handsome this evening, Killian."
Suddenly I feel about as awkward and self-conscious as a teenager. "Thanks."
"I'll let you get on home now," Opal says. I stand there as she piles Chloe's bag, pillow, and fuzzy blanket onto my outstretched arms, followed by three Barbie dolls and a stuffed dog.
"Wait, I need Bones!" Chloe squeals, still in her mother's arms.
"What bones?" I ask.
"My dog! Bones!"
"Ah, of course." I hand her the stuffed animal as Opal hands me a plastic seat. "And this is. . ."
"For the truck," Lily says. "It's Chloe's booster seat. I left it with Opal in case of an emergency." She apparently notes the blank look on my face and laughs. "Don't worry. It's not hard to put the seat in."
Chloe chatters nonstop on the way to Lily's place, apparently too hopped up on excitement and adrenaline to take more than a two-second pause between sentences. She peppers me with questions during the ride.
"Are you bringing me to my house?"
"Yep, he's driving us home, Chloe," Lily interrupts.
"Are you going to help read stories?"
"Uh… sure, if your mom says it's okay."
"Sweet. Can I do your makeup?"
"No." Lily and I blurt it out at the same time, and Lily starts laughing.
"Where did you have dinner?"
"At Killian's cabin," Lily answers.
"You mean, like camping?" Chloe asks.
"Sort of," I tell her. "My house is up on the mountain, so there's a lot of trees around. It's kind of like being out camping."
"My mom says that sometime she'll take me camping. But she hasn't taken me camping. Are there animals at your house?"
"Sure. There are a couple of deer that come up to the salt lick outside of the cabin, and I get elk out there sometimes."
"There are deer at your house?" Chloe squeals. "I love deer. Mom says we have to drive slow at night because they jump out in the road."
"That's true."
"Do you have fish? Mom said that when we go camping sometime, she'd take me fishing, even though she doesn't like fishing because she doesn't like worms. But I pick up worms all the time on the sidewalk after it rains. Earthworms are helpful because they dig through the dirt."
"Well, there's a creek near my cabin. There's a little fishing pond down at the park right in town, too, you know. If your mom says it's okay, I'll show you how to put your bait on your fishing pole and your mom won't have to touch any gross worms."
Chloe squeals. "Can Killian show me fishing?"
"Yes, he can show you fishing. Sometime."
"Can I see the deer at your house? Is there a baby deer? I've never seen a baby deer, only in books. Baby deer are so adorable. That means cute."
"Maybe sometime your mom can bring you up to the cabin and I'll show you the deer."
"And go hiking?"