Page 29 of At His Wife's Behest

“I am, baby girl. I bought you a gift today when I was exploring one of the towns. I can’t wait to see you so I can give it to you.”

“When are you coming home?”

“It’s only been a couple of days. I’ll be here a few more.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, baby.”

Abigail proceeded to recount her swimming lesson, the bird she’d found in the backyard with a broken wing that she and Ms. Price had nursed back to health and was residing in the sunroom birdcage (that was a plant holder, not a cage, but he didn’t havethe heart to tell her that), and the delicious lunch Mrs. Jacobs had made her that afternoon.

“Can we keep the bird, Daddy?”

“Darling, that’s a wild creature. Wild creatures deserve to live free and uncaged.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he tensed. Didhedeserve to live free and uncaged? For a few more days, he had the opportunity. After that? He wasn’t so sure. “When it’s healed, we’ll need to release it.”

“But I wanna bird.”

“Maybe we can look into getting you a pet when you’re a little older.”

“I’m older now.”

“We’ll talk about itlater,”he warned.

“Fine.”

Kellan had to laugh. Her exasperatedfinesounded identical to the one Emma had spat moments before. “I’ve got to go eat dinner, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Dinner? But we just ate lunch!”

“Ask Mama about time zones,” he said, grinning.

“Okay,” Abigail chirped. “Bye, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Abby.”

When he ended the call, he glanced up to see Connor in the doorway.

“Abby’s well?”

Kellan nodded, his gaze tangled in Connor’s. “Yeah.”

“It’s going to be weird not being in class tomorrow.”

“You took a week off work to come here with me. Must’ve been worth it.”

“Had I known it was you, I’d have come for nothing but the plane ticket.”

Was that true or the practiced words of a paid companion? He wanted to believe the former but knew better. “I bet you say that to all your dates.”

“I don’t,”Connor murmured, his voice low. “This is a job, just like any other. Most of the time.”

Kellan saw the heat in the man’s eyes but didn’t know how to respond. It had been years since his last encounter and that had been with a stranger. He wasn’t schooled in the art of seduction nor had experience to pull from. “I…” He swallowed the lump in his throat, cheeks flaming. He rose and turned to face Connor. “I’ve never done this.”

“Done what?” Connor asked, a hint of a smile curling up the sides of his mouth.

“This,” Kellan replied, waving a hand between them. “I think we both sense where this might be going, but in all honesty, I don’t know. I’ve never…”

“Nev—”

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