Page 120 of Chris

Cara’s thumb stroked his unshaven cheek. “And just what do you plan to do with the two of them now, hmm?”

Chris smiled. “We have all the time in the world to figure it out.”

Inside, though?

He already knew.

Keep them forever.

“That’s three books,” Valeria said, laughing.

Chris grinned to himself in the doorway when Maria gave her mother a dramatic sigh. The girl wasn’t at all spoiled, but she still had her mom wrapped right around her pinky finger, as cute as that was.

“But—”

“And we had to get the concierge of the hotel to find the books, Maria.”

“Just one more?”

Valeria was trying to get her daughter to fall asleep, but Chris figured the events of the past couple of days had been a bit much. They all needed time to absorb what happened, calm down, and get back to a normal routine. Maria included.

Behind him, the echo of water running into a tub reminded him of what Valeria had been trying to do before Maria crawled out of the bed meant for her, and found them in the bedroom as they talked.

“I’ll read her another book,” he said, “and you can go have your bath.”

Valeria gave him a look. “I don’t mind—”

“Neither do I.”

“Yes, Chris can read,” Maria said. “I want him to read me a book now.”

He hid his chuckles when Valeria shook her head and tossed the handful of children’s books to the bed.

“Anything to get out of bedtime,” she teased, strolling past him in the doorway.

He caught her with his hand to her wrist before she could leave. Dropping a quick kiss to her mouth, he murmured, “Enjoy your bath, okay? She’s fine with me.”

“She is.”

That was all she said before leaving him alone in the bedroom with Maria. Chris gave the little girl dwarfed by the big bed and huge blankets a look.

“One book,” he said.

“Three,” she shot back.

Oh, now they were bartering.

Kids were great.

“Two,” he countered.

Maria considered that before nodding once. “Fine, two. Chris?”

“Hmm?” he asked as he crossed the room. “What, bambina?”

“Do we get to stay with you now?”

He hesitated as he sat on the edge of the bed, already reaching for the books. “Do you want to stay with me?”