Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
“Oomph!” Ava grunted as Cassidy plowed into her. But she wrapped her niece in a hug and shot to her feet to steady herself. “I missed your hugs, Cassie-bear,” Ava sighed as she squeezed both of my daughters to her chest.
Lucky girls…
“We missed you, too!” Cassidy squealed before smacking a big kiss on Ava’s cheek. “Guess what? I got a new pack-pack! Want to see it? Not for school, though. I’m too big for diapers. Auntie Iris got me the pack-pack. Want to see my toys? Want to see my room?”
Ava laughed and carried both girls with her to the couch where she plopped down. “Slow down, Cassie-bear. You can show me all your cool stuff. I can’t wait. What else have you been up to?”
I moved to a chair at the end of the couch closest to Ava and sat down, simply observing their dynamic. The girls chatted—well, to be fair, Cassidy did most of the talking, but Ava was clearly enjoying it—for around a half hour, and in that small amount of time, I came to the conclusion that Ava was as sweet as she seemed. Intelligent, loving, and sexy as fuck.
“Oh!” Cassidy exclaimed. “We’re going to the zoo tomorrow!”
Ava gasped. “The zoo? How fun!”
“’Member when we went before?” Cassidy asked, bouncing in her seat as she looked over at me. “Daddy! Aunt Ava took us to the zoo yesterday! Um...we was supposed to go with…um…” She broke off and scratched her head, staring at me in confusion.
“You other daddy? Darren?” I offered. I hated referring to him that way, but I knew it wasn’t healthy for me to speak negatively about him to the girls.
Cassidy nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t come, but Ava took us, and we ate popcorn and saw the monkeys.”
Ava’s smile dimmed for a moment, then she wiped it away and beamed at Cassidy. “Of course, I remember! But it was several months ago, not yesterday,” she corrected with a chuckle.
“Oh, right! Daddy, can we have popcorn tomorrow? And can Ava come see the monkeys?”
Ava turned to face me with a concerned expression. “Um, I’d love to, but if you’re having some daddy-daughter time, I completely understand.”
In the time that she’d been here, Ava had turned my world upside down. Everything I’d assumed about her was obviously bullshit. The girls clearly loved her as much as she loved them. Just in that small amount of time, I could tell that she was kind, intelligent, and sexy as fuck. I decided right then and there that we were going to keep her. And I wasn’t above using my sweet daughters to convince her.
“We’d love for you to come with us,” I assured her with a warm smile, but I bit back a grin when twin spots of pink appeared on her cheeks and her blue eyes looked a little dazed. She was definitely affected by me. I could work with that.
4
Ava
I had been so focused on earning the money I needed for the lawyer that I didn't realize how much I missed Daisy and Cassidy. Not until their sweet voices filled my ears and their little arms wrapped around my neck as I hugged them close. It felt as though I could take my first breath in months…just in time for Roan to steal it right back.
My attraction to the man who’d been given custody of the girls was all kinds of trouble. Getting involved with Roan wasn’t a good idea since it had the potential to blow up in our faces, and I couldn’t afford to mess up with their future on the line. Assuming he would even be interested in me, which I didn’t see ever happening.
As a professional football player—with an underwear campaign that I really needed to look up as soon as possible—Roan was way out of my league. Not to mention that I wouldn’t be surprised if he tarred me with the same brush as my brother. It was something that’d happened to me all my life, but the possibility of Roan seeing me as no better than Darren really hurt for some reason. But him inviting me to the zoo tomorrow gave me hope that he’d be different from everybody else, which made turning him down even harder.
“And I’d like nothing more than to join you guys but finding an apartment close enough so I can see the girls more easily isn’t going to be easy. I need to start looking tomorrow.” Cassidy groaned, and I stroked my finger down her cheek. “But I promise as soon as I’m settled into my new place, you’ll see me all the time, whenever I’m not working.”
Roan’s brows drew together. “Did you find a job out here already?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I do have an interview lined up for Saturday, though.”
He raked his fingers through his hair, giving him a rumpled look that made him even more attractive. “I can take care of one of those problems for you.”