Page 76 of Under My Skin

Ian, Kyler, and Melissa all grinned as they watched Braden carry Isaac upstairs, where we’d made a makeshift nursery out of one of the spare bedrooms – complete with a baby monitor that he’d bought and installed a couple of days ago just to make sure we had it for tonight.

I knew it was too soon to have the conversation about moving in together, but more and more every day, I found myself wishing we could talk about it. Or at least talk about taking steps in that direction. He’d spent more nights at my apartment than in this house lately because he didn’t want to be away from Isaac,but while I loved having him there, I knew it wasn’t a permanent solution. Not to mention, it was a tight fit having him, a security guard, and Lina all cooped up in the 750-square-foot apartment with me and Isaac.

“Fatherhood looks good on him,” Kyler chuckled softly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“So does being in love,” Melissa chimed in.

“It does,” I agreed. “Every time I try to say anything about it, he shuts me up, but after watching how he’s stepped up to the plate the past couple of weeks – and honestly, even before that when I saw him interacting with Isaac – I just don’t know how I ever thought he would have abandoned his kid.”

“You didn’t know, Dani,” Morgan reminded me, rubbing my arm. “You could only operate with the facts you had. And once you hadallthe facts, you adapted. Accepted that he wasn’t that man and let yourself admit that you love him.”

“And trust me when I say I’veneverseen him like this before,” Ian added. “You and Isaac have been really good for him.”

“He’s been good for us too,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks flush.

“Hey, speaking of you and Braden, do you have a dress for the premiere?” Kyler asked. “And you, Morgan?”

“I do,” Morgan chirped.

“I have a couple of nice dresses, but I’m not sure if I have anything that’s appropriate for the red carpet,” I mumbled self-consciously.

I knew I should have dealt with that way before now, but with everything that had been going on, especially with Vicki still eluding the police’s grasp since she hadn’t actually done anything she could be arrested for, going clothes shopping had been the absolutelastthing on my mind.

“Ooh, girls’ day tomorrow?” Melissa asked. “We can get mani/pedis and find Dani a dress.”

“Um…” I trailed off.

Maybe it was stupid, but something about being out and about somewhere like a mall or a boutique or nail salon made me nervous. It was just so…open. Exposed. There would be all kinds of opportunities for Vicki to try something.

Ever since Braden had pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago that Vicki had nothing but time now that she’d been fired from the PR firm, I’d basically stayed at home all the time. I’d even had my groceries delivered so I didn’t have to go to the store. Honestly, I didn’t even really feel safe at my apartment, even with security. Not now that I knew for sure that she knew where I lived. But I also didn’t want to tell Braden that and make him spend evenmoremoney finding me and Isaac somewhere else to stay until this was over, so staying cooped up inside was the next best thing.

“You should go, sweetheart,” Braden said as he carried Isaac back downstairs and sat next to me on the couch, still cradling the baby in his arms. “You deserve a day to de-stress. One day where you don’t have to worry about any of the shit we’ve been dealing with.”

“But…what about?—”

“You’ll have Brian and Leo with you,” he cut me off. “And I don’t have anything happening tomorrow, so Isaac can stay here with me just to be safe.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” I said hesitantly. “I mean, she’s still out there.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” he insisted. “I trust Brian and Leo with my life – and, more importantly, withyourlife. You’ll be safe. And you need the distraction.”

I still wasn’t entirely sure about it, but hewasright. I was wound up way too tight. A day of relaxation and retail therapy sounded like exactly what I needed.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Okay. I’m in.”

“Okay, I let the girls go first, but it’s my turn now,” Ian said as he got up from where he was sitting next to his fiancée and walked over to Braden. “Isaac needs to meet Uncle Ian.”

“Wait, are you serious? He took you to arage roomfor a date?” Kyler said from the other side of the dressing room door.

“Yep,” I chuckled as I zipped up the fifth dress I’d tried on. “Not gonna lie, it was weird, but also kind of sweet. He knew I’d been through a lot and he just wanted to do something to give me a safe space to let it all out.”

“Why does thatnotsurprise me?” Melissa snickered. “No joke, this completely tracks for me. It’s so Braden to be like, ‘Hey, you know what this girl needs? She just needs to break a bunch of shit and scream.’”

As Kyler, Morgan, and I all started laughing, I walked out of the cubicle, and all three of them simultaneously gasped with wide eyes.

“Oh, my God. That’s the one,” Kyler said. “It wasmadefor you.”

“I feel bad for Braden, having to look at you in that dress all night and not being able to do anything about it,” Morgan teased. “You lookhot, babe.”

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