Seeking Happily Ever After (Ever After #8) - Elena Aitken Page 0,18

left hand. He hadn’t thought of that. But to be fair, he hadn’t thought Charlotte was going to jump in to be his fiancée. No, when he’d woken up, that was definitely not part of the plan. But…wow. If he could get his brain to catch up to what was happening, he might be able to start thinking logically and understand the ramifications of what she’d just done. But right now, he was in total survival mode. “Sorry,” he said to both women, no longer really sure what exactly he was apologizing for. “It’s just been so…well, you know how it is with a baby. The sleep deprivation will be the death of us all.”

He smiled at Amelia, who waved her arms in his direction. His heart instantly swelled and he remembered exactly why he was putting himself through all this. It was for her. All of it. The lies and stories would be worth it if it meant she got to stay with him permanently.

“Oh, I remember those days myself.” Susan smiled kindly as she sat heavily in the chair. “If she’s keeping you up at night all of a sudden, she might be working on a tooth.” She directed the comment toward Charlotte, who didn’t miss a beat.

“You know, I think she might be.” Charlotte smiled at Amelia, who immediately giggled.

Nick stood, transfixed, and more than a little stunned at how things were playing out. But he needed to get hold of the situation. And soon. He needed to— “Susan, do you want to hold her?”

He surprised himself with the question, but the woman seemed delighted by the offer. “I…well…yes,” she finally settled. “I think that’s probably a good idea.”

“Great.” Nick nodded at Charlotte, who handed the baby to Susan. “Char, can I get your help for a second? I want to grab some cream and sugar.” He raised his eyebrows and thankfully Char followed him quickly without question.

As soon as they were far enough away, Nick whispered, “What are you doing?”

“I told you I’d help you however I could.” She kept a smile on her face, but Nick didn’t miss the flash of doubt in her eyes. “You mentioned how hard it is for a single dad to get custody. The opportunity presented itself, so I’m helping.”

“I didn’t…” He stopped himself at the look of intense concern written all over her face. She had no way of knowing that he already had things figured out. Her motives were good. She really was trying to help. Besides, it wasn’t the time to go into the details of it all. “Okay. But you know you’re committed now.”

She hesitated but nodded. “Anything you need, we got this.”

Together, they gathered up a little jug of cream and a selection of sugars before they turned to head back to the table. Char stopped him before they moved. “I’m supposed to meet Stephanie Starz here for a meeting. Should I call her and—”

“No.” He shook his head quickly. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He sure hoped it wouldn’t, because if Susan asked any questions that they didn’t have answers for—which would be all of them—they were going to be in big trouble. “Follow my lead here, okay? If she asks any questions about…well, anything.”

“Got it.” Char nodded. “I know I probably should have thought it out first…but I’m here to help, Nick. I’m sorry if I—”

“Don’t worry about that right now, okay?” He reached out and lifted her chin gently so she was looking at him. It was a tender touch and if it had been under any other circumstances, he might have followed it up with…no. He couldn’t even let himself think of Charlotte in any other way. Especially now.

Nick waited until Char’s eyes cleared. She nodded and offered him a small smile. “Great,” he said, releasing her and immediately missing the feel of her skin under his touch. “Let’s go dazzle.”

They probably didn’t dazzle, but to Nick’s pleasant surprise, they did make Susan laugh a few times. Nick did his best to keep the conversation light and focused primarily on Amelia.

“Okay,” Susan finally said as she set her now-empty coffee cup down and reached for her notebook. “Let’s talk next steps.”

“Next steps?” Nick nodded knowingly despite the fact that he didn’t know anything. “What does that look like?”

“Well, it’s my understanding that you’ve requested an expedited process.” She looked up to meet his eyes. He nodded sharply and she refocused on the notebook, scribbling something down on the pages. “So, the