Jax lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Right now we’re going to build a fort and have shadow puppets on the wall because I can just about bet the electric will go. We’re going to comfort Piper and laugh and tell stupid jokes until she falls asleep. That’s all you need to focus on.”
But when he touched her like that, so caring and so gentle, and when he looked into her eyes like she was special, precious, she had to worry about so much more. Like her heart, her mind . . . her life. She was getting too cozy here, she saw it happening. Little by little each day something happened that made her fall more for her hometown, for the people in it. For Jax.
“Daddy,” Piper cried. “Hurry.”
He shot Olivia a wink and darted up the stairs to retrieve blankets. Piper had all the pillows spread all over the floor. Throw pillows, sofa pillows, the pillows from the oversize chair.
“Can you move the foot thing?” Piper asked.
Olivia glanced around the room. “Foot thing?”
Piper pointed to the ottoman. “Daddy puts that here.” She pointed to the open area in front of the fireplace. “Then we put blankets over that and he sets the big pillows up. I crawl in the fort first.”
Olivia bent down to slide the ottoman across the hardwood floor. Conscience of the fact Jax’s shirt was huge on her, she didn’t bend at the waist because she would totally flash a toddler.
Trying to keep her breasts concealed by the shirt, Olivia carefully scooted it to the spot Piper still pointed to. Apparently, there was a system she and her father had down pat and Olivia didn’t want to screw it up.
“Why are you wearing my daddy’s shirt?”
Piper glanced down to the oversize tee that he’d apparently had from his air force days. “We were outside roasting marshmallows when it started storming and we got soaked. My clothes are in the dryer.”
There, that was vague, but honest.
“Okay. I have all the usual blankets.” Jax came down the stairs carrying an armload of comforters and blankets. “We’ll have to see about making this a bit larger since we have a guest tonight.”
Piper slid her hand in Olivia’s. “I’m glad you stayed so I can still have my first sleepover.”
Olivia couldn’t pull her eyes away from the delicate hand inside of hers. There was such innocence with Piper. She was sweet and honest and everything about her was Jax’s doing. He’d raised this precious girl from just a few weeks old and he’d done so single-handedly. Well, she was sure he had help from Tanner and Cash.
Everything about Jax was becoming more and more difficult to resist.
Jax dropped the blankets in front of her, pulling her from the moment. When she looked over and met his eyes, she saw that same look she’d seen earlier. It went beyond desire, beyond lust . . . and it ventured into a territory she wasn’t sure she could accept. Because if she let these emotions in, if she let them overtake her, someone was going to get hurt.
“I’m glad I could stay for your first sleepover too,” she told Piper as she turned her attention back down to the smiling toddler.
The lights flickered once again as a rumble of thunder boomed. Piper’s hand tightened around Olivia’s.
“It’s all right,” Olivia assured her. “You’ve got two adults here now and we won’t let anything happen to you. I’m excited to see shadow puppets. I don’t know that I’ve done that since I was a little girl.”
Jax worked on shifting pillows and spreading out the blankets. Olivia picked up Piper and held on to her as the lights flickered once more.
“Let’s get that flashlight and you can show me your best shadow puppet.”
Piper nodded. “But hold me until Daddy gets the fort ready.”
Her little arms wrapped around Olivia’s neck and something in her heart turned over—almost as if something clicked into place. Never once had she thought about a family of her own. Never once did she dream of having children or a husband. No, Olivia had been too busy building her corporate world exactly the way she’d envisioned. She’d had a plan and she was well on track to the biggest success she’d ever known.
Getting sidetracked by her hometown and diving into renovations at her father’s airport was one thing, but falling headfirst in love with Jax—
Damn it. She’d let that word slip into her mind. She’d tried so hard to avoid it. She knew once that dreaded “L” word entered the scene, she would be screwed.
“The flashlight is over there,” Piper said, pointing to the end table.
Olivia turned her head and Piper ran her little fingertip over the side of Olivia’s neck.
“You have a birthmark?”
Confused, Olivia glanced back to Piper, whose eyes were still focused on her neck. “Birthmark?”
“This red mark. I have a birthmark, too. It’s on my shoulder, but Daddy says it’s shaped like a strawberry.”
Red? On her neck?
Olivia jerked her attention to Jax, who had the nerve to start whistling. As if that weren’t frustrating enough, he shot her a quick glance and winked. If Piper weren’t in her arms, Olivia would be all too happy to explain to him she’d never had a hickey and at the age of thirty-four she sure as hell didn’t intend to start getting them now.
“I must’ve burned myself with the curling iron and not realized it.” The excuse was lame, but it was all she could think of on the spur of the moment.
The electric flashed once, twice, and finally went. Tiny arms tightened around Olivia’s neck.
“It’s all good,” Olivia assured Piper. “I’ve got the flashlight.”
She clicked it on and shone it against the far wall. Piper lifted her head. Instantly she started with her puppets and before long she was giggling.
“Let me see yours,” Piper exclaimed, clearly having more faith in Olivia’s talents than she should.
“I can’t
