Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Just Val? “I’ll miss her, too, of course.” His daughter had burrowed deep into her heart. Just like her father. “Owen…”
He squeezed her thigh. “She won’t want you to go. She loves you.”
“I love her, too. You’re raising her right, Owen. You should be proud.”
“I am.”
“Since we’re discussing Val,” she started, “I’ve been meaning to tell you this because I think it’s really important for you to hear.”
Did he just hold his breath?
She covered the hand now clamped tightly, and almost painfully, around her thigh with her own, giving his a reassuring squeeze. “Whenever you call yourself Val’s daddy, I can hear the quotation marks you put around that title. You need to stop that. She loves you. She trusts you. She looks up to you. You are her world. She knows no other father than you, Owen. You are her real father. Now and always. Every time she calls you Daddy, she means it. She sees you no other way.”
His nostrils flared and his chest began to visibly pump.
“Family is family, whether by blood or by bond.” She quoted his own words back at him. “She’s your blood and you two have an unbreakable bond. Stop using those invisible quotation marks and own who you are to your daughter. Nobody will ever love her as much as you do. Nobody. Not a boyfriend. Not a husband. You will always be the main man in her life. And, quite frankly, you’ve more than earned that spot.”
He swallowed hard enough for her to see it while he took a few moments to consider her words. Then he admitted, “I guess my guilt about what happened with Amelia made me not embrace it a hundred percent. As ridiculous as this sounds, I worried that claiming Val as my daughter would add to that guilt. But you’re right, I need to own who I am to her. Val became mine the second I found her and took her home. I’ve only ever wanted what was best for her and I was determined to give her a good life. So, right here and now, I’m saying it out loud and putting it out into the universe... Val is my daughter. Always was, always will be.”
“And no one can ever take that from you,” Sloane whispered with a sting in her eyes. His love was so deep for that little girl, it couldn’t be mistaken.
She would be lucky to experience even half of that kind of love and loyalty from him. Anyone would.
His next words made her go still.
“But the truth is, Sloane, I don’t want to raise her alone. I,” he took a deep breath and the rest tumbled out in a rush, “also don’t want her to be my only child.”
Whoa. What was he saying? Whatever he was hinting at, he needed to actually say the damn words and be clear about it. “I’m sure you’ll find the perfect wife and mother.”
He nodded. “I’m sure I will, too. Because I already have.”
She blinked back the tears as his words seeped into her gray matter. Was he saying…?
“You said I’ll always be the main man in Val’s life and while that’s great, it’s not what I want for her. I hope she loves her future partner, whoever it is, more than me and she gets that same love and devotion in return. But also on that note… She’s got a long way to go before I’ll ever let anyone date her. I’m thinking twenty years, at least.”
After she sniffled away the tears, a grin curved her lips.
He traced her smile with a fingertip. “Sloane… I didn’t come in here to talk about Val. I came in here to discuss us…”
Just say it. Either make me happy or put me out of my damn misery.
“The truth is, I don’t want you to go, either. I want to be the main man in your life, too.”
“What does that mean?”
His eyebrows pulled together. “You don’t know what that means?”
Was that a trick question? “I mean, in general I do, but can we go over the specifics?”
“Like?” he teased gently.
“Decker!”
“Okay, fine. Here are the specifics… I want you to stay. In this house. In my bed. In my family. In Val’s life. You belong here. You belong with me. With us. I never thought anyone would fit so seamlessly into my life. Our lives. Sloane Parrish, you make us better. As individuals and as a family.”
She swallowed hard.
“Am I wrong?”
“I hope not,” she breathed. “I hope I’m all of that to you and Val. I’ve fallen…” Shit. It was too soon, wasn’t it? “I’ve fallen down this family’s well and don’t want to be rescued.”
Maybe that wasn’t the best description, but he got the picture. That was all that mattered.
“I’m glad you’re stuck in our well,” he said with a perfectly straight face.