The Single Dad (The Dalton Family, #3)

by Marni Mann

“Hey, hey,” I whispered into her face. The heat from her crying thick like steam. “I know you don’t know my voice or the feel of my arms, but I’m going to tell you something.” I pressed my lips against her forehead, breathing her in, her scent so clean and powdery. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you.” I held my lips there, my eyes closing, my heart pounding away. “I promise.”

“What I’m thinking about is your mouth.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and then the top. “What it would taste like. What it would feel like.” His gaze was there, on the spot he was speaking about, making those same lips part. “And I don’t know how much longer I can wait to find out.”

“I promise … I’ll give you and Everly everything I can.”

When you came along, I wasn’t ready. Even though my feelings were different after spending time with you, I expected to push you away like all the others. But you’ve been here, every day. Caring for her. Loving her. And every day, I want you to be doing the same for me.”

“You need to believe me when I say this, Sydney: there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I would pick her over and over again. Everly means everything to me.” She took a breath. “But I want you both, and the truth is, I always have.”

Some of the moments we spent together were so pure that they didn’t need words. They were raw, honest. Full of emotion.

I didn’t get the impression that anyone had ever taken care of Sydney. She was a giver, not a taker. But I wanted to be that person—to ensure she never wanted for anything, to fulfill her.

I wanted her to know what it felt like to be cared for.

God, she was gorgeous. I would never stop thinking that. I would never be able to get enough of her.

When I glanced at my reflection, I didn’t see someone who was weak. I saw someone who was surviving.

I couldn’t get enough. Of that coconut scent. Of the feel of her. Of the heat from her mouth enveloping me. I separated us, and a swell moved through me. One that made everything in my body tingle.

“Syd, Daddy and I want you to be our ever and ever.”

She hadn’t realized I’d gotten on my knee.

That I was holding out my hand.

That I was asking, “Be my wife?” “And my mommy,” Everly chimed in. I slipped my other arm around Everly, glancing at ...

“Forever and ever.”