Page 117 of Sloane

“And she’s hot, in a MILF kind of way. Not that she’d ever date one of us.”

“But I think she did go out with Dr. Connolly last Friday night.”

Stu turned to look at Crash. “Do you think so?”

“I’m pretty sure. I heard her talking to her friend Tammy about it.”

Her friend Tammy?!

I felt Ryan clutch my shoulder.

“What about Millie’s dad?” I asked, my tone a little more urgent than a normal person’s probably would be.

“She hasn’t talked about him, but from what I’ve gathered, he’s not in the picture.”

“Does Ashley have a port-wine stain on her face?” Ryan asked.

“No,” both men replied at the same time, then Stu said, “Let me show you to your room.”

“See? It’s not her,” Ryan murmured quietly.

He didn’t know that she’d made an appointment to discuss having it removed.

As we walked toward the back of the house, Stu explained, “We’ve got the main living area here.” The kitchen and family rooms were one great room with floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the beach.

“There’s a workout-slash-therapy room off the kitchen,” he gestured to a doorway off the kitchen, then stopped at a room left of the family room. “This is you.”

He pointed to a hallway on the opposite side of the family room, past the kitchen. “My and Crash’s rooms are down there, and Ashley’s quarters are up there.” He gestured to a staircase by my door.

Chimes rang out, and Crash said, “Speaking of Ash. She’s home.”

I tilted my head in confusion and Stu said, “The driveway camera just went off.” He then flashed his phone screen that showed a white Camry pulling up next to Ryan’s Audi.

I wanted to grab the phone and watch who got out, but he tucked it back in the pocket of his joggers.

“We can get you the code so you have access to the cameras, too.”

There are millions of white Camrys on the road, I reminded myself, but I glanced nervously at Ryan when we heard the front door open.

It felt like it took an hour for this Ashley-person to go from the front door to the living room entry. But when she did finally make an appearance, it felt like all the air was instantly sucked from my lungs.

It was her. My dulzura.

I stood there quietly, staring at her—the woman who’d haunted my dreams for the last year. She was more beautiful than ever, but there was something different about her. Probably because she’d just had a baby.

My baby.

I knew the second I looked at the little girl in the carrier that she was mine. She was so small. And beautiful.

Meanwhile, I’d never been more aware of my appearance, and I shifted my body, so my left side was away from her view.

Ryan leaned over to murmur, “It looks like Schrödinger's cat is not only alive, but it had a kitten.”

Ashley’s eyes got wide when she recognized me, and the bags she’d been holding with her free hand dropped with a thud onto the wood floor, causing the contents to spill out.

Ryan’s hand clutched my shoulder, and he continued softly, “I think you’re a daddy, buddy.”

Yeah, no shit.

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