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“You got this, sweet pea. Yes, you do. Look at you. A champ.” Corey wanted to reach out and brush a hand across his daughter’s back as she worked on lifting her head during tummy time. But he didn’t. It might make her think he was picking her up and he couldn’t yet. Not until she did her full time on the mat.
Her cries told him she wasn’t happy with him. She wassonot a fan of tummy time. Yet, she got better and better every time. For the moment, he was only doing ten minutes at a time, a few times a day.
“One more minute and you get all the snuggles you want.”
The way her cry intensified, it felt like she was saying ‘screw you, Dad.’
A knock on his door had him glancing that way, then back at Amelie.
“You’re lucky. Saved by the knock.” He scooped her up, rubbing her back as he walked to the door. “There, there. Don’t be too mad at me. It’s for your own good. You’ll hear that a lot from me growing up, especially when you grow into a woman and boys start looking at you. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to lock you up in your room. I know how boys think. It’s not good. Sex is always on their mind.”
He chuckled, then frowned when he opened the door to see Genevieve standing on the other side. She was bundled up in her winter jacket with a bright-orange scarf around her neck. Her cheeks were rosy red and her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of Amelie. Definitely lit up at the sight of his daughter because why in the hell would she get excited to see him. They didn’t even like each other. And she had a boyfriend.
That didn’t stop his mind from wandering into the sex territory and what it’d be like to have her under him.
Yep.
Just like he told his daughter. Boys—men—couldn’t help themselves thinking about sex. All. The. Time. Even when they shouldn’t.
“Hi.” Genevieve finally looked at him, her smile dimming some. Her apprehension was peeking through.
“Come in. She just got done with tummy time and isn’t too happy.”
“Oh, you poor thing. It’s for your own good, sweetie pie.” Genevieve looked like she wanted to reach out and take Amelie from him but she didn’t.
He didn’t offer to hand her over. Not yet, anyway. They could ease into that. The woman had taken her. For over an hour he had to wonder and worry and go out of his mind that he’d never see his daughter again. Yeah, it was going to take him a while to forget that. If he ever did.
And he was a combination of annoyed and pleased that they thought the same thing. Things being for Amelie’s own good. At least he knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Of course, the doctor had confirmed that as well.
“You can hang your jacket there.” He tossed his head to the tiny closet near the door.
He took a seat on the couch while Genevieve removed her shoes—sneakers, sensible wear—and hung up her coat. He’d never dated a woman who didn’t dress to impress, which typically included high heels. Well, he actually wouldn’t say he dated much. More like, had sex and that was it.
Relationships were never his thing, even with his own damn family. Why try with a woman?
Not that this was a date. It was far from it.
Genevieve wore yoga pants again, but this time, not just a bra—thankfully. She had on a tie-dye shirt that said ‘work it til you sweat it’ and orange socks that matched her pants. Her color of choice today was orange. He almost laughed out loud at the way she color-coordinated her entire outfit, including her outerwear.
It was adorable.
No, it was not. He would stop those kinds of thoughts immediately. Nothing good would come from thinking nice things about her.
She took a seat on the couch, careful to keep her distance.
Good. That’s what he wanted.
They stared at each other, the silence awkward and stilted. He didn’t know what to say and he wasn’t ready to hand over Amelie yet. He never said he would, he only told her she could come by and see her. So it wasn’t like he was breaking his word or anything.
“How was your day?” she finally asked, offering a half smile.
“Fine.”
She nodded with the same small smile lingering. Though, he could tell she was forcing it out.
Shit. He could try to be semi-pleasant with her. She did help him out a lot last night.
“I stopped by the doctor’s office and gave them Amelie’s records. It’s great I found them.”
