Page 47 of Skate the Line

My cheeks burn. I cross my arms angrily and act fast. “Well, obviously! I was just shocked because I wasn’t aware that you could make jokes.”

He smirks, but it’s fleeting.

I’m thankful he turns away, because the heat on my face isn’t going away.

The tiniest thought slips into my head that ishighlyinappropriate and shocking. Rhodes chaining women up shouldn’t make my belly dip.

“Again, I’ll get you a bigger bed. This was all I had on short notice.”

I decide to give Rhodes a dose of his own medicine as payback. I shrug nonchalantly. “That’s okay. I can just sleep in yours.”

He snaps his head over to me so quickly I hear a pop echo throughout the near-empty room. My laughter comes next. “Sorry! I thought we were on joking terms now.”

Thesmallestsmile—or twitch of his lips is more like it—catches my eye. I turn at the sound of Ellie walking into my new room. She gives it a once-over before her nose scrunches. “Maybe you should paint it…” she says.

“What’s wrong with the color?” Rhodes acts offended.

Ellie makes a face. “It’s…what’s the word?” She taps her little finger on her chin. “Borrrrrring.”

I giggle.

Rhodes glances at me and looks as if he’s perturbed that I’m half-siding with his five-year-old daughter.

He glances around once more. “I guess you can paint it since it’s…boring.” He directs the last part of his sentence to Ellie, and she smiles.

“Okay, well, let’s get you to bed, Printsessa.”

Ellie creeps a little farther into the room. “Sunny, will you read meRapunzelbefore bed?”

She bats her sweet eyes up at me, and I can’t help but nod.

“Ellie,” Rhodes warns. “Remember our ground rules.”

“Ground rules?” I ask.

Rhodes rubs his palm along his face. He tells Ellie to go brush her teeth, and once she’s out of his sight, he starts to explain.

“I told her that just because you’re living here, doesn’t mean you’re alwaysavailable to her. If I’m home and you’re upstairs, then she needs to give you space.”

“That’s not necessary.” I glance over to the door and can see that Ellie is walking as slow as humanly possible.

She’s quite the eavesdropper.

I wait until she’s fully out of sight before moving a little closer to her father. “I should probably tell you what her teacher said to me today when I picked her up.”

He puts his hand up. “You don’t have to. Ellie already told me.”

I make a noise that resembles a laugh. “She did, now? What exactly did she say?”

Rhodes reiterates everything Ellie told him, and I'll give it to her—she’s honest.

“Well, then you can understand why I’d rather be available to her at all times. I’d like to build that trust with her.” I pause, and a thought occurs. “Oh god.” I slap my forehead. “You probably feel like I’m trying to take over your parenting role. Duh. Just ignore m?—”

His hand briefly falls to my arm. He removes it quickly, but the warmth stays. “I don’t think that. Honestly, I much prefer the help, Sunny.” His gravelly, quiet tone drives his desperation that much deeper. So does the fact that he just used my real name.

He steps away, and I nod. “Well, then. I’m off to readRapunzel.”

Before I get too far, he calls out, “By the way, there’s a working lock on this door. I left the key on the bathroom sink.”

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