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‘Ah…yes, I do, actually,’ he said, despite Carrie’s finger poking into his ribs.
‘Come on, then. Pancakes are Mummy’s favourite.’ Dana pulled at the edge of the sheet.
‘Darling!’ Carrie said, grabbing the sheet and holding it fast to Charlie’s flat stomach. ‘Why don’t you go and get the bowl and jug and eggs out and Charlie will join you in just a moment?’
‘OK,’ Dana said agreeably. She dropped the sheet and skipped out, dragging blanky behind her.
Carrie collapsed back, groaning, and stared at the ceiling. Charlie pressed his lips together really hard to stop himself from laughing. He knew this was bad. Very bad. That Dana could read things into this that he wasn’t sure he was capable of, but after an amazing night he was relaxed enough to see the humour in the situation.
Carrie punched him lightly on the arm. ‘This is not funny, Charlie.’
He chuckled out loud as he stared into her mortified face.
‘You were supposed to be gone two hours ago!’
‘I know, I know, but you wanted to snuggle for just a bit longer and, well, frankly, you wore me out. I just closed my eyes for a second.’
‘This is a disaster,’ Carrie muttered, trying not to think about the eyeful her daughter would have had if she’d managed to pull back that sheet. Or how they’d made love over and over until the wee small hours. Even when their supply of four condoms had run out, Charlie had laid her back and made it all about her.
Charlie should have been concerned. He should have been worried, too, but he was too happy at this moment to care. He hadn’t felt this good since before his marriage had fallen apart. He rose from the bed and stretched languorously.
Carrie swallowed hard as she watched his naked buttocks tighten and his muscles undulate through his broad tanned back. Oh, God, the things he had done to her. ‘Charlie, for heaven’s sake, put something on. Dana could wander in here any second.’
Charlie turned and grinned down at her. He saw her gaze widen as she stared at his naked body. He felt himself twitch at the desire he saw in her eyes. ‘Are you sure?’ He smiled.
His voice was deep and lazy and sexy and she wanted to reach out to him and pull him back into bed. ‘Charlie,’ she warned.
He laughed and hunted down his clothes. ‘My shirt is in the lounge room.’
Carrie groaned again. ‘Great.’
He looked at her lying in bed, the sheet pulled primly up to her chin. He suppressed the urge to yank the sheet down and just stare at her. She couldn’t hide behind her morning-after primness with him. Not when he knew every delicious inch of her body.
‘Are you getting up or shall Dana and I make you breakfast in bed?’
Dana and I. The way he’d said it had been so possessive it scared the hell out of her. It was something a father would do with his daughter. A partner would do. But he wasn’t Dana’s father and he wasn’t her partner. To get caught up in this little fantasy was dangerous. ‘No. I’ll have a quick shower and be out in a flash.’
‘Sounds like fun.’ He grinned.
Carrie felt her toes curl at the flirtatious tone and promise in his grey eyes. This was insane. Do not read anything into this! ‘Go, Charlie, now.’
He chuckled. ‘OK, OK, I’m going.’
Charlie scanned the lounge room for his missing shirt. He was looking under the lounge when Dana found him.
‘Here’s your shirt, Charlie,’ she said, holding it out. ‘Did it get hot last night?’
Oh, baby. It got very, very hot. ‘A little,’ he said, ruffling her hair and putting on his shirt. ‘OK, let’s make pancakes.’
Charlie laughed and joked with Dana as he cooked. She cracked him up with her four-year-old observations and her baby jokes. The longer he spent in her company the more charmed he was by her mix of exuberance and innocence. The enormity of what they’d done last night, and its implications, hit him square between the eyes as he flipped pancakes.
This little girl was looking at him as if he were God, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny all rolled into one. He liked kids, had wanted his own. It had been the deal-breaker in his marriage. But this was reality. What did he know about four year-old girls? How could he be a good father when he’d had such a lousy example? Did he have the right to impose his inexperienced parenting on this close-knit, loving mother-and-daughter team?
‘Mmm, something smells good.’
Charlie started as Carrie entered the room. He felt a warmth spread through his chest at the sound of her voice and he smiled at her gently, despite his chaotic thoughts. Her hair was damp from the shower and he wanted her all over again. He cursed his weak body.
