Page 91 of Rescued by the Single Dad

Elation and relief vibrated through Brooke as she looked at her brother. There were smudges of shadows beneath his eyes, his blond hair was mussed like he’d run his hand through it a few too many times and the sides of his mouth seemed bracketed with tension. But he seemed healthy, and he didn’t stink as badly as she anticipated after spending nearly a day in airports and on airplanes.

“Milk and cookies?” Talia asked, directing her question back to Brooke. However, a noise from her father had Talia seeking permission from Clint. “Can we, Dad?”

Clint nodded slowly. “Two, max. Don’t want to spoil your dinner. I ordered chicken fried rice from the kitchen.”

“Mmmm,” Talia hummed as she headed into the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t mind grabbing a shower, actually,” Rocco said. “I feel like airplane.”

Brooke and Clint both snorted, and Clint nodded. “I’ll show you to the guest room and bathroom.”

Brooke’s eyes widened. “Uh ...”

Clint gave her a curious look, tilting his head.

“Uh, I’m in the guestroom, am I not?”

Understanding dawned on him, and he cleared his throat. “Oh, uh ... right. Sorry, I ...”

“You two are sleeping together, hmm?” Rocco asked, with an almost bored tone.

Brooke couldn’t look her brother in the eye. Neither could Clint.

“I’m guessing Talia doesn’t know, though, and me staying in the guestroom blows your cover?”

Brooke nibbled on her bottom lip.

“We can put you in the study slash gym on a blowup mattress,” Clint offered, a look of guilt creasing his face. Brooke felt guilty, too. She was exiling her brother to the study and a blowup mattress while a proper bed was going to sit completely empty upstairs, all so she could have sex with a man she’d just met and who kept saying they had no future.

Rocco lifted a shoulder and bobbed his head. “Sure. That works. I’m not picky.”

“Sorry,” Brooke mouthed as Rocco took off up the stairs after Clint.

Rocco shrugged again and shook his head in dismissal. “It’s all good.”

Brooke took off toward the kitchen where Talia was ready at the table with napkins, Oreos and two glasses of milk.

Brooke smiled as she absorbed the little girl’s new attitude. She hummed an upbeat tune and smiled as she put the Oreo box back in the pantry. When she spied Brooke, her smile grew wider. “Your brother seems nice.”

“He’s very nice.” Brooke took a seat at the table. “He’s a veterinarian. He works mostly with hurt jungle animals in Brazil. Like monkeys and toucans, jaguars and sloths. Pretty cool, huh?”

Talia nodded with wide eyes and joined her at the table. “Have you ever seen a monkey in real life?”

“Last time I went to visit him, I got to hold a baby howler Monkey. It slept in my arms.”

“Wow,” Talia said with amazement. “That’s a really cool job. I’d love to work with baby monkeys.”

“I think you’d make a great vet.”

Shyly, the little girl lifted one shoulder, but Brooke could see the cogs spinning in her head. “So your brother and my dad are going to help find the person who pushed you off the boat?”

“That’s what we’re hoping for. I can’t do much since the whole world thinks I’m dead and we need to keep it that way a little longer.”

Carefully pulling the first Oreo apart, Talia licked the cream filling, then dunked the bare cookie side into her milk, holding it there for several long seconds.

Brooke smiled and glanced down at her own cookies.

“What?” Talia asked, taking a bite of the softened Oreo.

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