Chapter 20

Milo

 

 

I never wanted the moment to end. Sitting here with my daughter was an experience I’d never even dreamed about. I hadn’t ever wanted kids, but now, after tonight, I wanted lots of them. They were so full of love and joy. It was a very strange experience to have this connection with someone who shared your DNA. It was a bond I never understood before. I never had it with my parents and didn’t even know it was possible.

Putting the book down, I looked into my daughter’s eyes. She was looking at me expectantly, as if she wanted me to give her a review of the book.

“I think that monkey is a bad influence on you,” I told her in complete seriousness.

She stared at me. “But Curious George is only a baby. He’s curious,” she stressed the word. “I’m not going to do what he does.”

I laughed. “I’m kidding. I know you would never be so silly.”

She started giggling and jumped up to pull another book from the shelf. I didn’t know much about kids, but I knew early reading was promoted a lot. As part of my charity work, I had gone to plenty of elementary schools and read to kids. Ainsley seemed to love reading without some celebrity telling her it was a good thing.

“You’re a smart girl, Ainsley,” I told her, rubbing her head.

“I know.”

That made me laugh. The girl had no filter. She called them like she saw them. “You get that from your mom. You got the red hair from me, but you got your brains from your mom. I bet you’re going to be tall like me, too.”

“I’m the tallest girl in my class,” she said proudly.

“I bet you are. You’re going to be pretty like your mom, though,” I told her, looking at the delicate features that resembled Liza.

She shrugged her little shoulder. “Can you read me another story?”

“Of course.”

She obviously didn’t care about her genes and handed me the next book. It was one I remembered from my childhood.

“This is my favorite book,” she told me.

“Good. It was my favorite when I was little too,” I said, opening the first page of Where the Wild Things Are.

“Did you know they made it a movie?” she asked.

I bit back another laugh. She sounded like she was an adult talking to another adult about the new movie they saw over the weekend.

“I did not know that. Have you seen it?”

“Nope. Mom says I can’t. She thinks it’s too scary.”

I nodded my head, agreeing with Liza. “I think your mom is right. Seeing monsters in a book is different than seeing them in a movie. Besides, I like the book better. You get to use your imagination more.”

“You don’t know because you haven’t seen the movie,” she pointed out.

I bit back another laugh. “You’re right. I don’t. Please forgive me for speaking out of turn.

She looked at me like I was crazy. “What?”

“Never mind. How about we read the book?”

“Fine.”

She crawled into my lap, and I began to read. I wanted to hug her and hold her close forever. I couldn’t believe I had a kid. A little girl who was super smart and witty. I had a feeling she was probably going to make my red hair turn gray before long. I could see she loved to challenge Liza quite a bit. I was the shiny new penny. Once I had to be her dad and discipline her, I would also get those dirty looks, too.

I didn’t care. I liked her stubbornness. I wanted to brag to the world about her. I wanted to share my joy, but I didn’t have anyone to tell. I knew Stan was going to flip out when he found out. He would demand all kinds of confidentiality agreements in order to protect my reputation. 

I’d put him in his place if he tried to stick his nose in. This was my business. I didn’t need his advice nor did I want it. I had a very high-priced lawyer that could take care of that. Stan had a way of meddling in my personal life. He claimed it was to better my image while taking care of me, but I knew it was more about creating a false image in order to make me more valuable.

“Ainsley, it’s time to brush your teeth and get your jammies on. It’s almost bedtime,” Liza said, walking into the living room.

I knew she’d been hovering. She was giving us time alone together, though, which I truly appreciated. We had been on very rocky ground the past couple of weeks, but I hoped she was softening towards me. I kept flipflopping between being crazy pissed at her for keeping Ainsley from me and wanting to slam her against a wall and fuck the shit out of her.

“Mommy,” Ainsley protested.

“Don’t Mommy me, young lady. You have school in the morning, and the teacher doesn’t want a grumpy girl. Neither does Mommy,” she added.

Ainsley groaned. “I’m not tired. I don’t want to go to bed.”

I lifted her off my lap and told her to do as her mother asked. Hopefully, that would win me some brownie points with Liza.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, sending Ainsley moaning and groaning down the hall.

We were alone in the room together, which gave me an opportunity to talk to her without our little eavesdropper.

“Thank you. Really. Thank you so much for tonight. It means a lot,” I told her, standing and walking towards her.

“It was fine,” she mumbled, not looking at me.

“It wasn’t fine. It was amazing. She is a good kid, a smart kid. You’ve done a really great job with her, Liza.”

“Thank you, that means a lot. Just wait until you get to see the other side of her. She can be a naughty little girl at times.”

I chuckled, believing every word of that statement. 

Ainsley came back into the room, and I knew it was time to say goodbye. I didn’t want to push my luck.

“I’ll see you later, Ainsley,” I said, bending down to give her a hug.

“I don’t want you to go.”

I smiled and felt a little tug at my heart. “I have to go to my house. I’ll see you again real soon, okay?”

She looked up, and I kissed her on the forehead. “Not on my head, on my cheek,” she pointed.

“Oh, my bad.” I quickly kissed her cheek and waited for her approval.

“Now, Mommy!” she squealed.

I winked at her before I stood up to look at Liza’s stunned expression. I didn’t think twice about what I was going to do. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. I pressed my lips against hers and felt her stiffen for a brief second before she relaxed and fell into the kiss. Her hands went to my biceps and held on while I continued to kiss her.

I could hear Ainsley below me, clapping and giggling. I didn’t care about our little witness. Having Liza in my arms with her lips against mine stirred up feelings I had locked away after that first night. I wanted her, but this was not the right time or place. I reluctantly pulled my lips from hers, took a few seconds to catch my breath and opened my eyes.

Liza was still standing there, frozen. Her eyes were closed and her lips still moist from my kiss.

“You kissed Mommy!” Ainsley was yelling while jumping up and down clapping her hands.

I winked at her. “I did.”

Liza opened her eyes and looked at me, then her daughter. I had kissed her speechless, though it wasn’t something I would soon forget either. Despite all her bluster, she liked me. I knew she did. There was more between us than she wanted to admit. Our interlude may have been five years ago, but she wanted me, and I wanted her.

“You should go,” she said, clearly a little perturbed.

I grinned. She could be mad at me all she wanted, but I knew the truth. I had felt it in the way she relaxed under my lips. Her hands had squeezed my arms as if she never wanted to let go.

“Bye, Red,” I said to Ainsley, tapping her nose as I did.

She giggled. “Can I call you Dad? Or Daddy?”

“You can call me whatever you want.”

“Bye, Daddy,” she said, her little face all smiles, and those familiar blue eyes gleaming.

I looked back at Liza, who was now glaring at me.

“See you soon,” I whispered and walked out the door.

I couldn’t help but whistle as I strolled down the walkway of her building and into my rental car. My life was definitely on the upswing.

Cruising around, I swung by a mall that was open late. It catered to the night owls that were so prevalent in Miami. I felt like shopping. I couldn’t exactly show up like Santa Clause on Christmas morning, but I could buy my daughter a few things.

The first place I hit was the bookstore.

“Can I help you find anything?” a young woman salesclerk asked.

“I need some books for a four-year-old girl,” I said, really having no idea where to start.

She nodded. “Right over here. Does she have any particular interests?”

Standing there, I felt like an idiot. I didn’t really know. I had spent the evening with her, but it felt like I had barely scratched the surface. I had a lot to learn about my little girl.

“She likes Curious George,” I said, remembering the first book we read.

“Perfect. We have all of the Curious George books right here.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking at all the titles.

I picked out a few and slowly made my way around the children’s area, picking out a few more books I thought she would like. I found a bookbag with a bunch of bright flowers on it and picked it up as well.

Once I finished at the bookstore, I wandered around the mall, picking up a few Hot Wheels cars and a new Barbie doll. I remembered playing with her that first day. I looked at some of the dresses in a boutique store but had no idea what size she wore or what her favorite color was.

The books and toys would have to do for now. I needed to get a house and set up a bedroom for her. I couldn’t wait to outfit it with all the toys she liked and have it done in her favorite color. Feeling good about life in general, I went back to the hotel and managed to fall asleep relatively fast. The only thing haunting me that night was Liza.

She haunted me in the very best way. My imagination conjured up images of the past and brought them into the present for me to drool over. I wanted her in my bed with me pushing into her. I remembered those little moans she made, and the moment when she asked me to fuck her. Those were words I would never forget.

I had been with plenty of women since her, but none of them came close to satisfying me like she did. She had always been in the back of my mind, whispering in my ear that none of the other women were good enough. She had been right. Only she could give me what I needed. What I had been craving for so long.

Coach Summers was going to shit his pants when he found out I hadn’t only gotten his daughter pregnant, but I was going to work very hard to convince her she should date me. I grinned and put a hand to my eye. The next time he called me into his office, I better wear my helmet.