Call Her Mine (Harmony Pointe #1)- Melissa Foster Page 0,69
getting all googly-eyed in the boardroom.”
“I’d like to get you all googly-eyed in the bedroom.” He slapped her ass. “Swap with me.” He handed her the baby and took her phone, snapping a picture of the two of them. “That’s the picture I want to stare at.”
Aurelia hammed it up as Ben took more pictures. She puckered against Bea’s cheek with smiling eyes; then she held Bea above her head, which Bea loved.
“Let’s both kiss her cheeks at the same time and take a selfie,” she said, moving next to Ben. “That’s the picture I want to stare at.”
It took five tries to fit them all in the picture, and they both ended up laughing. He might be exhausted, but everything he had never known he’d wanted was right there in that room, and he wouldn’t trade either of them for the world.
“Can you text me all of those pictures?” he asked as he set her phone on the table. “I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise? I was hoping for another one of your fabulous foot rubs tonight.”
He leaned in for a kiss. Monday night Bea had fallen asleep on his chest while he was reviewing documents for his meeting on the couch and Aurelia was reading another baby book. They’d had their feet in each other’s laps, giving foot massages. Aurelia had fallen asleep with a small smile on her face, and given the chaotic day she’d had at work, that smile meant the world to him. They’d slept there, with both his girls safe and happy, until Bea had woken up to eat.
“Nothing will preclude another foot rub, babe. Promise.” He went to the bookshelf and retrieved a small handheld recorder from the top of a row of books.
“You hide things up there?” Cradling Bea in her arms, she said, “I’m making a mental note to have a library ladder installed.”
“Oh, so you don’t want me to give you surprises?”
She pretended to zip her mouth closed.
“You said that Bea was calm when she heard my voice, so while you were in the bookstore yesterday, I taped myself reading to her.”
“Are you kidding? You did that?” She cradled Bea in one arm and pulled him closer. “You’re the best daddy in the world, you know that?” She pressed her lips to his and said, “Thank you!”
“I’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m hoping that might make things easier for you today. Now you can stop listening to Zachary Whatshisname.”
“You mean Bea can stop listening to him,” she said.
“I meant you. At the end of the tape there’s a reading meant for your ears only.” He kissed her again, and she smiled so big, it illuminated the room.
“Benjamin Dalton, did you read something naughty for me?” she asked with a lift of her brows.
“You’ll have to listen and see.” He grabbed his keys. “Text me if you need anything. I’ll keep my phone on vibrate during the meeting. I love you, babe.” He kissed her. Then he kissed Bea’s head and said, “See you soon, peanut. Be good for”—holy shit, he almost said Mommy—“Relsy, okay?”
Ben downed coffee throughout the day as he met with their finance and legal teams about the offer they were preparing for Barrister Hotels. His mind whirled as they went over figures and discussed travel plans and schedules. Ben had worked his ass off to make this deal come to fruition. His head should be in the game so deep, nothing else registered. This was the American dream, finally seeing all his hard work come together, and yet his mind wasn’t even in the outfield. It was miles away with his daughter and Aurelia, and rehashing his earlier conversation with Bridgette.
“Ben?” Nadia Clayton, the head of their financial team, was a cutthroat redhead. She sat ramrod straight, wore her hair in a tight bun, kept their finance department on an even tighter rein, and she was staring at Ben over the rims of her black-framed reading glasses.
Shit. He’d zoned out and hadn’t heard the question. He glanced around the table at the rest of their financial and legal teams, who were watching him expectantly. He looked at Aiden, hoping to catch a sign of what he’d missed. But Aiden was staring down at his phone, thumbing out a message, his brows slanted angrily.
“Sorry, Nadia,” Ben said. “I missed the question.”
She smiled inquisitively and said, “It wasn’t a question. I wanted to be sure you heard the figures. By conservative projections, if we follow the