Page 76 of Love Notes & Lifelines
Beck stands with the lazy self-assurance his title and position affords him, then jogs bare-ass naked down the stairs while I grab a throw blanket, tie it around my body, and follow him.
I catch him on the second-floor landing, jumping into a pair of sweatpants.
“You get the girls—I’ll get the door.” His jaw flexes as he focuses on the drawstring of his pants, but awkwardness is settling in around us.
I give him a thumbs up, which makes him pause and turns my face an uncomfortable shade of embarrassed.
A thumbs up, Stella? Really?
“Stella?” Emmy’s sweet voice calls from her doorway, followed by unhappy babble for Ruby. I have no idea what time it is, but it’s ass-crack of dawn early if they aren’t awake yet.
“Hi, honey. Sorry, I was, um, getting out of the shower. Can you go chat with Ruby and I’ll be in there in two minutes?”
She flashes a sleepy nod, then turns and walks next door to Ruby’s room. Daisie stands in front of her, growling at the stairs. Emmy’s been sleeping better with Daisie in her room, but as she walks toward Ruby’s door, Daisie nudges her away from the stairs.
Crap. Way to go, Stella. The kid isn’t even five years old, and you just showcased the walk of shame, complete with the scent of sex still lingering on your skin.
I dart into my room and pause when Beck answers the door with a “What do you want?”
I don’t wait to see who it is. I need to get dressed and get the girls down there to distract him from whoever is currently riling him up.
Pulling on a pair of panties, a sports bra, sweatshirt, and leggings, I hurry to Ruby’s room and quickly change her diaper.
I’ve never been so thankful for a double staircase in all my life. I can still hear Beck at the front door, so I usher Emmy down the back stairs that lead directly to the kitchen.
Daisie follows behind us, but instead of taking up residence under the girls’ seats, she sits directly in the middle of the doorway. She doesn’t growl, but she bares her teeth and refuses to move from her spot. What the heck is going on?
Emmy climbs into her booster with her arms raised, waiting for me to buckle her in, so I quickly set Ruby in her highchair, then secure them both.
In the cabinet I find a box of Cheerios I hope aren’t stale, then drop a handful on both trays. “I’ll be back in a few seconds, okay, Ems? I’m going to ask Uncle what he wants for breakfast.”
“Uncle Daddy,” Emmy corrects. Somewhere in the last few days, we’ve lost the Beck in that sentence.
“Right. Uncle Daddy.”
I slip past the island and around Daisie, heading toward the front of the house when I catch sight of Beck towering over a blond woman.
And my torn panties dangling off the back of the sofa like an X-rated Christmas ornament.
Beck doesn’t lift his glower from the woman, so I hurry back the way I came and tiptoe through the family room to the sofa. He sees me, I know he does, but he doesn’t flinch until I lift the panties from the sofa and tuck them into the band of my leggings.
He smirks, which alerts the woman to my presence, and she turns her poison-laced glare my way.
Danica.
Thanks a lot, Beck.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BECK
“Your…servicesare not required for this conversation,” Danica spits in the most condescending tone I’ve ever heard.
Daisie snarls from the end of the hallway but doesn’t move from her post. No one is getting between her and those girls.
Dog, you’re all right.
Danica stands in designer everything but offering nothing while Stella waltzes in with discount everything and still offering all she has. Plastic women will never hold an appeal for me again—not when Stella has seeped so deeply into my soul.
