Page 76 of Lovewell Lane

26

Derek

I watched Margo’s chest rise and fall with each breath. I’d already memorized every inch of her face that wasn’t hidden by the pillow her head was resting on. The last few minutes, she’d fallen in and out of sleep. I could only determine her slipping in and out of consciousness by the quickening and slowing of her breaths.

It was past time for her to go to the diner, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake her.

“You should probably blink at some point,” she said huskily. Her morning voice only made me groan and hide my face in her hair.

She laughed quietly and gently pushed my head back, so she could smile up at me.

“You’re beautiful,” I said.

“Derek,” she gasped playfully. “It’s before five o’clock in the morning. It’s too early for flirting.”

“It’s never too early for me to flirt with you,” I challenged. “In fact, I would argue I’ve waited too long.”

I rolled her on top of me and slipped a hand behind her neck. Her quiet laughter rang in my ear as I pulled her closer. She pushed her hands up on my chest to lean up and get a good lookat me. Her smile was soft and warm, as I brushed her hair out of her face.

“How long were you staring at me for?” she teased.

“I wasadmiringyou. Not staring. And it wasn’t long enough,” I added.

She nuzzled into my palm which held her hair out of her face and let me admire her for a little longer. Her eyes glimmered even though she’d just woken up like she was still living out a dream.

“So much for taking things slow,” she murmured with a laugh. “It took less than ten minutes to fall into bed with you.”

“Not having any regrets are you?”

“Of course not,” she playfully pushed at my chest. “I’m simply noting your lack of impulse control. It’s endearing.”

“I have plenty of impulse control when you’re not involved,” I grunted.

She smiled at me, and I was grateful we were lying down. I might lose balance if she smiled at me like that while I was standing up. “I could stay like this all day.”

I hummed. “We can have that arranged. Maybe not today, but we definitely could some day.”

“Someday soon,” she crooned.

My door cracked open with no hesitation. “Daddy, I–”

Margo gasped, and I pulled the covers up over her head. “Tessa, go back to your room,” I called. “I’ll be there in a second.”

I laid still and hoped to whatever was out there that my daughter would just listen. She peeked her head around the door to look at me with a confused face. I didn’t say anything and waited. Margo and I were still as statues as Tessa quietly closed the door and walked back down the hall.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and pulled the covers off of Margo’s head. “Fuck,” she whispered. “That was close.”

“I know. Get dressed, and I’ll go get Tessa.”

I leaned in to give Margo a long and slow kiss. She pulled back before I was finished and wrinkled her nose at me. “I have morning breath.”

I stole another kiss from her before sitting up. “Don’t care.”

Tessa let me pick out her clothes for the day and sat still while I did her hair. She hadn’t mentioned anything about Margo, so I assumed we were in the clear, and she hadn’t seen her in my bed. Getting Tessa ready took about thirty minutes, so I assumed Margo had already left the house.

Wrong again.

“Why is Margo here, Daddy?”

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