Page 17 of Lack of In-between
Nine
Wolf
Connecting the call with a tap of his finger on the phone’s screen, he lifted it to his ear with a smile for Rose. She looked over her shoulder at him, rolling her eyes at his expression and going back to what she’d been doing. She was busy at the stove, two pans going, one with eggs and one frying bacon and sausage.
“Yeah?”
He hadn’t noticed who was calling, so wasn’t expecting his ex-wife’s voice. “Paul?”
“You got me. What’s up Colleen?” Staring at Rose, he didn’t miss the way her shoulders stiffened at his ex’s name. They’d talked the subject to death as far as he was concerned, and he trusted Rose to know he wasn’t interested in Colleen, had nothing to do with her outside of their daughter’s needs. “It’s early.”
“It is not. I waited until after ten to call.” Colleen was laughing, and he blew out a breath that had caught in his lungs, fear always a visitor when she called out of the blue. “I wanted to let you know the daddy/daughter dance is next weekend.”
“A father and daughter dance?” Rose turned half around, head tipped to the side, and he watched as a tiny smile curled the corners of her mouth.Wanna kiss that off you, baby. His dick started to take notice, and he quickly turned his attention back to the phone. “When and where? You know I’m on it if Erika wants to go.”
“It’s Saturday evening, there’s a dinner before the dance, and everything ends by eight o’clock. She’ll need flowers, but I can get those if you want.” He heard noises in the background, shouted laughter ending in a splash. “Or you can pick something up. Let me know.”
“Kids in the pool?” Rose’s smile had grown as her expression softened. He walked to her and slipped an arm around her waist, dropping a kiss against her temple.
“Yeah, Temple and Masters are trying to beat Erika in a cannonball contest.” The fondness in Colleen’s voice didn’t discriminate between her three children. No matter they had two fathers among the kids, she loved them all.
“You’re a good momma, Colleen.” Tipping his chin to his neck, he watched as Rose flipped bacon, using the spatula to stir the scrambled eggs.
“Thank you, Paul. You’re not a half-bad dad yourself.”
God, I’m glad we figured out how to be friends through this. Life would have been a hell of a lot harder if they didn’t get along.
“How about this idea. I’ll pick her up at noon, and we’ll go for lunch. I’ll take that chance to introduce her to Rose, my girlfriend. If they want to, they can girly it up that afternoon, and I’ll bring her back in time for you to help her get dressed. Erika can pick out the wrist corsage she wants that way, make it match her nails or whatever.” Rose had gone board stiff in his hold, and he angled his head to look at her face. Longing was mixed with fear, but the need, the desire for what he’d talked about was there, and that emotion was strong. “And if you’re okay with it, she can stay here Saturday night. I know it’s not my weekend, but things have been jumbled and I haven’t had her in too long.”
“I know our vacation messed with the schedule, Paul. We appreciate you being so flexible. Of course she can stay with you. As often and as long as you want.” Colleen, her husband, and all three kids had taken an end-of-summer vacation, traveling to the coast and over into Florida for two weeks. The weekends leading up to their vacation, Erika’d had plans with friends, so that meant he’d only had Erika a couple of times since he’d started seeing Rose. Both of those had been on weekends Rose worked, and it hadn’t been a good time to do the introductions. Erika knew he was dating and had been supportive when he told her it was getting serious. Her exact words were, “About time, Daddy. I don’t like you being alone.”God, I love my girl.
“No problem, Colleen. Let me know if she’s cool with the plan, and I’ll execute on my end.”
Colleen laughed softly, the sound nearly lost in the splashes from the kids in the pool. “Ever the military man.”
“I stick with what I’m good at.” Rose glanced at the cabinet, and he released her and opened it, bringing down a couple of plates at her approving nod. “Gonna go. Tell my girl I love her.”
“Will do. Talk soon.”
He laid the phone on the counter and turned back to Rose, bracketing her in on both sides with his arms braced against the counter. He brushed her hair aside with his nose and pressed a line of softly possessive kisses along the nape of her neck. “You okay, baby?”
“You’re cute when you’re in daddy mode.” He didn’t have to see her face to know she was smiling, and that earned her a nip at the juncture of neck and shoulder. She shivered, and he grinned against her skin. “So.” Her shoulders rose with a deep breath. “A daddy and daughter dance, huh? I want pictures.”
“You heard me talkin’ to Colleen. What’d you think about what I said?” His lips brushed against another warm patch of skin that he grazed gently with his teeth, following with a sucking kiss. “You down for a day with my little girl?”
“For you?” She turned in his arms and lifted her chin. He dipped to touch his mouth to hers. “Totally ready for some girly time, if she’s okay with it.”
“She likes to see her old man happy. Erika’s a smart kid. She knows her mom’s happier married to her stepdad than she’d have been with me, and she knows I wouldn’t have been happy at all. I don’t know how much she remembers from before, but if she even remembers a little, it’s too much. We weren’t kind to each other when things were falling apart.” He stared into Rose’s eyes, willing her to understand and believe. “She’s gonna see what this is between us, and she’ll be on board. I guarantee.”
It turned out he was right. Erika not only was okay with having lunch with the two of them, but the idea of doing mani-pedis with Rose had her giggling into the phone later that evening. When he disconnected from that call, he caught another soft, sweet expression on Rose’s face that he liked a lot. He’d seen it off and on all day as he and his closest brothers in the BFMC had packed up her house and shifted all her stuff either to his home, now theirs, or into a storage unit he already rented. He hadn’t realized most of her furniture was leased until a truck showed up to take it away.
Wolf loved knowing that from now on, wherever he called home, Rose would be there.
The day of the dance dawned, and he hung the dark gray suit he owned on the closet door to take a lint brush to it. Rose walked in and studied him for a minute, then asked, “Not your dress uniform?”
He cut a glance at her to see if she was joking but found a puzzled look instead. “No, I’m not up to regulations and not likely to shave.” He lifted a hand to rub the thickening beard across his jaw, then threaded it through his hair, back to front, letting the longer, curly strands settle behind his ears. “Nor am I willing to cut my hair. So civvies it is.”
“Did you have a military wedding?”
