Page 45 of With a Cherry On Top

“I think so. I’m eating it for the first time tonight.” She leans against the table on both arms, her little feet swinging inches off the floor. Then, with all the casual ease of someone who hasn’t yet learned the concept of social boundaries, she asks, “Do you want to eat pizza with me and my daddy?”

“Sadie,” I scold, keeping my voice gentle but firm.

She turns, wide-eyed, like she has no idea what she’s done wrong. But she does. She knows she’s not supposed to invite strangers over. That applies especially to women her father should stay far, far away from.

“Why don’t you bring those sodas to Dave so Daddy can pay?” I suggest, nudging her along.

She pouts but obeys, skipping off toward the counter.

After watching her go, Charlotte turns her attention back to me, a smug smile on her lips. “Hi, Daddy.”

I blow out a breath, looking around to make sure nobody heard that.

“I’m not sure what’s gotten into her. Sorry.”

She props her chin on her hand, studying me. “From the sound of it...you were smiling at me.”

“And from the looks of it, you were drawing me.”

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip. “Right.”

“Right.”

For a long moment, we watch each other—long enough for me to regret my words. That was flirty, wasn’t it? Why is it so fun to flirt with her?

No, Aaron. Don’t.

She taps her pencil against the notebook—the one Sadie so helpfully pointed out might contain a drawing with my face in it. I have no idea what she’s actually drawing, but I know one thing: I need to get my pizzas and leave.

Though I am curious to know why she’s having nothing but a coffee at Tony’s.

“Are you getting a pizza?”

“Me?” She snorts. “Pizza?”

Yes, it goes against every one of her mother’s rules, but she skipped both main meals today.

“Beatrice has a date over,” she explains, not quite meeting my eyes. “And I can’t go back home until she’s done with him.”

She’s banished from her own house?

A low simmer of anger stirs in my bones. What kind of mother kicks her daughter out every time she brings a man home? Where the hell is Charlotte supposed to go?

I glance at Sadie who’s at the counter, bouncing on her toes as she watches the big oven with barely concealed excitement. Then back at Charlotte, picking at the corner of her sketchpad, her fingers smudged with graphite.

“Did you eat anything today?”

She blinks, as if the question takes her by surprise. “Uh...no.”

No?Nothing?Since this morning? Last night?

I rake a hand through my hair, studying her. She looks fine, but now that I’m paying attention, there’s a sluggishness to her movements. A dullness in her expression. How the hell is she still standing if she hasn’t eaten all day?

“Daddy!” Sadie’s voice breaks through my thoughts, and I turn just in time to see Dave setting the pizza boxes on the counter. “The pizzas are ready!”

“Coming, sweetheart.” I shift my gaze back to Charlotte, who’s already looking back at the sketchpad, shoulders tense.

I can’t leave her here. Tony’s will close up soon, and I’ll worry all night long that she passed out from hunger or wandered the streets for hours until her mom let her come back home.

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