Page 79 of Love Is Ale You Need

My heart jackhammers in my chest as I blurt out, “I lost your kid.”

Her eyes jump out of their sockets as her purse falls to the floor. “What!?”

“I mean, I found her.” In five long strides, I’m standing in front of Rylee. “She’s sleeping in her bed. But for a brief moment today I lost her.”

She clutches her chest and inhales a deep breath. “Back the confusion train up. How about you lead with that instead of ‘I lost your kid.’ What happened?”

I bend down and pick up her purse off the floor and set it on the counter. “We went to the park, and she was swinging on the swing set. I had to take a phone call, and I turned away for like five seconds and she was gone. I lost your kid. I’m going to be a terrible father. Who loses a kid?” I jab a finger at my chest. “This terrible soon to be father.”

“Oh, Trey.” Her eyes crinkle in the corners before she bursts out laughing.

“I’m glad you find my traumatic experience so hilarious.”

“I’m sorry.” She brushes the tears from under her eyes as she regains her composure. “You’re not going to be a terrible father. A terrible father wouldn’t care.” Her warm palms cup my cheeks as she takes a step closer. “Based on your reaction, you care. A lot.” She rises on her tippy toes and presses a soft kiss on my lips.

If she wants to show her apology in kisses, I’m all for it. Before I can deepen the kiss, she pulls away.

“Come with me.” She grips my hand and leads me past the open kitchen and dining room and into the living room. She takes a seat on one side of the couch and pats the cushion next to her. “You’re not going to be a terrible father. You want to know what I did?” She sits up and tucks one leg under her as she faces me. “One time when Abby was an infant, I went to the grocery store. I got her stroller all ready, put her favorite plush toy inside, and I had a bottle in hand. I patted myself on the back for remembering all her things. Halfway through the produce section I realized I left Abby in the car. I had her stroller and all her things, except no Abby.”

“Oh shit. Was it hot out?”

“No. It was springtime. But that’s not all. Another time I had her carrier with her inside in one hand and two bags of groceries in another. A flight of stairs stood between me and my apartment. Halfway up, one of the bags started to rip. While I was fumbling with not losing all my groceries, I lost my grip when the carrier bumped against the stairs and Abby slid halfway down before coming to a stop on the landing.”

“Oh damn. And she was alright?”

“She slept through the entire thing. Not only are they safe enough for a car accident, but they’re also safe enough for a half a flight of stairs.”

My muscles relax a little as I lean against the back of the couch.

Rylee sits up on her knees and crawls toward me before hoisting a leg over my thighs to straddle me. I run my hands up her thighs, around her hips to her ass, and stop at her waist.

She cups my cheeks and forces me to meet her gaze. “So again, you won’t be a terrible father. Keeping another human alive is hard and we all make mistakes, but we just keep doing our best and hope they turn out to be good people.” She bends down and kisses me. It’s chaste and entirely too quick. “And I’ll talk to Abby because she knows better than to run off like that.”

I blow out a breath and rest my forehead on her chest. “It was my fault.”

She places her finger under my chin and lifts, forcing me to meet her gaze. “What do you mean?”

“When I took that phone call, that’s when she bolted. Afterwards, when I talked to her, she said that’s what her dad would do. Whenever they would spend time together, he would always take phone calls or busy himself with other things. She thinks that’s what will happen with me.” I felt like the world’s biggest asshole after that. Like it should be stamped on my forehead for everyone to see. My very own scarlet letter, or in this case scarlet word.

Her gaze locks with mine. Soft and sincere. “In the short time I’ve gotten to know you, you’re nothing like her father. And Abby knows that. She’s just having a hard time with everything. But we’ll get through this. All of it. We’ll do it together.” She clasps her hand around mine. “I was thinking, maybe we should get out of Harbor Highlands for a few days and spend some time together. Just us two.”

“I’d like that. And I know the perfect place. I’ll ask Seth and Parisa if they’ll watch Abby since she had fun playing with Maddox at Adventure Land.” I lift our hands and press a kiss to her knuckles. “Also, I should tell you Abby’s name for the baby.”

“Oh yeah? What’d she pick?” Her hands roam over my shoulders and chest.

“Acorn.”

She softly smiles. “That’s cute. It goes with all the other nicknames.”

“She picked one for you too.” I bit back my grin.

Her hands freeze and she tilts her head in curiosity. “What’s that?”

“Bunny,” I spit out, unable to hold back my smile any longer.

She drops her head to my shoulder, a laugh bubbling out of her. “Of course, I get the porn star name.”

“Now, I fully expect you to live up to your namesake. We can start by doing deep sea fishing.”

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