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Her squeals of laughter make me warm, and I can't help but laugh with her. Linc puts Luna down in the hall, and she immediately takes off.
“Come on! I want to play dress up!” she calls.
“Of course you do.” Linc shakes his head, biting back a smile.
As we reach the little girl’s room, I realize I need to pee, so I let Linc know I’ll be right back, and laugh when Luna tugs him down, so he can sit in one of the smallest chairs I’ve ever seen. His knees are up by his ears, and it looks like the whole thing will splinter into pieces under his weight if he so much as shifts a finger.
I finish doing my business and washing my hands, before heading back to Luna’s room. The sight that greets me is one I never want to forget, so I grab my phone and snap a picture, much to Linc’s displeasure.
Before me, Linc is somehow still sitting on the tiny chair, but he’s now gained a pink tutu that looks like it’s stretched to the max around his muscular waist. He’s got a princess tiara on his head, fairy wings on his back, and a wand in his hands, and Luna is serving him with her play tea set wearing a princess dress.
“Come on! You can be a panda! I’m Princess Belle!” she squeals, pointing to the chair next to Linc, and shoving a panda mask into my hands. I accept it and sit down, chuckling at the authoritative tone she used that reminds me so much of Linc.
“You know, this is the real Belle,” Linc says and Luna’s eyes go wide.
“Are you a princess?” she asks in awe. I laugh.
“Definitely not. You’re the only princess in this room,” I tell her and she beams at me. “Well, and your uncle.”
Luna giggles and Linc leans in close to whisper in my ear. “You can be the hardest badass around, but if your niece tells you that you’re a fairy princess, you’re a fucking fairy princess.”
I snigger.
“If you keep laughing, I’ll turn that perky ass bright red,” he warns under his breath, and I clench my thighs together. It’s highly inappropriate of him to whisper things like that in this setting.
It just isn’t the threat he thinks it is…
“Don’t you think your uncle would look so pretty in this pink lipstick?” I ask, as I pull the tube from my purse.
“Yeah!” Luna shouts, clapping her hands. The look in his eyes tells me exactly what I need to know, and I smile mischievously. I’ll be paying for it later, but he obviously thinks my back and ass are healed enough to handle it.
We play in her room for a while, before she announces that she wants sushi for lunch, and my eyes go wide.
“Sushi?” I ask, and Linc shrugs.
“California rolls. I like to spoil her when I watch her,” he tells me, and once he puts the order in for lunch, we settle in the living room for a movie.
Luna ends up sitting at a small table, coloring away, while I sit next to Linc on the couch.
“Where did your sister run off to?” I ask.
“School. She’s got class all afternoon, and her sitter had to cancel yesterday. I offered to watch the little monster, so she wouldn’t miss out.”
I nod. “Where’s her dad?” I ask, gesturing to Luna.
“Jail. He was abusive. Put his hands on her one night, and because we grew up here, I had friends all too willing to step in while I was out of state. Actually, it was the guys who helped us set up shop back here. They grew up with my sister and me, and Levi swooped in like a white knight while I was in Miami. I flew down as quickly as I could, but thankfully Levi had been here to pick up the slack. He’s got a daughter of his own, so Luna had company while my sister got checked out by doctors, and gave her statement to the cops.”
“Wow, that was kind of him. I’m glad your sister and niece are okay.”
“Dude’s been in love with my sister since we hit puberty, I’m pretty sure he would have done it for any woman in need, though. He’s a good man.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t have her ex assassinated,” I joke, and Linc grunts.
“I thought about it. But it wouldn’t help anyone if I was in jail. Adele got a scholarship for single moms, and goes to school part-time for her teaching degree. I help her with rent, and watching the kid.”
Luna cries out in pain suddenly, and Linc moves so fast I jump a little, surprised.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, rattled, and Luna holds up her finger, a tiny drop of blood on her finger.
