Finding Summer - Suzanne Halliday Page 0,233

He deserved a full explanation.”

Grappling with what he was telling her, Summer didn’t see his hand move until he stroked her shoulder.

“I’ve missed you, golden girl.”

Shocked and dismayed at how she reacted to his touch, she shifted her shoulder away and frowned. It was too soon to act like the last year was a walk in the park.

“So it was her legal advisor who alerted you? He was with her when she came to the restaurant and tried to buy my baby. Why did you trust him?”

“Everyone has a hard limit.” He gave a salty sounding snort. “Lawyers know where the line is, and hers was no exception. Being a vile human being isn’t illegal. He was on board and was paid handsomely for his assistance until Giselle short-circuited. Attempted kidnapping and human trafficking upped the ante. No one has time for Ruth Lescunt,” he quipped with air quotes and a snarl, “so he hedged his bets and wisely chose to pull the alarm when it was clear she was capable of anything.”

A yawn so big she shook from head to toe ended their conversation. He murmured things, but she’d hit the wall for real this time and could barely keep her eyes open.

32

Arnie wasn’t surprised when she fell asleep in mid-sentence. Her exhaustion was easy to see and hear. She’d been through a lot—too much—and he was responsible for all of it. Even Giselle’s insanity, because Summer would never have been in the woman’s bull’s-eye if not for him.

His eyes shifted to the playpen. He was having a hard time processing the reality of fatherhood. Discovering he had a daughter rattled him big time and seriously damaged his sense of being a decent guy. Decent guys didn’t have surprise babies.

But his feelings mattered very little once he held the tiny wriggling baby in his hands. She was perfect and beautiful like her mommy. When she looked at him, he felt his soul stick to hers. They were bonded—the three of them. Daddy, mommy, and baby.

Nothing was ever going to be the same, and he better get his fucking act together if he expected Summer to forgive him sometime this century. She bounced back and forth between welcoming and damning him. Right now, it could go either way. He had to be careful, or he’d end up banished from her life once the sun came up.

Watching her sleep was a luxury he never thought he’d have again, but here she was, within touching distance. He shifted closer and gently guided her head to his shoulder. She groaned and curled into him, seeking comfort he was anxious to give.

Her sweetly seductive scent lured his nose to bury in her hair and inhale deeply. His mouth watered.

When she sighed, Arnie felt her breath on his skin. His heart ached. It had been so long, too long, since he’d held the vivacious wild child in his arms, and he wasn’t about to apologize for what touching her again did to his dick.

“Summer?” he murmured close to her face.

She was out cold.

Feeling like Prince Charming, he stood and picked her up in the same motion. She snuggled against his chest—where she belonged.

Carrying his love to the bedroom, he moved carefully and gently lowered her onto her bed. It took some clever maneuvering to pull the covers down underneath her, but anything was possible when the object of his caution snored soundly.

Eyeing up the bunny slippers on her feet, he chuckled. They made quirkily perfect sense. Getting them off presented a challenge, though. He gently lifted one foot and slid off the first with no problem. On the second attempt, she suddenly woke and scared the shit out of him when she sat straight up, wild-eyed, and wailed, “Where’s my baby?”

She had scrambled halfway off the bed before he stopped her.

“Summer, easy baby. Ari is fine. I promise. She’s asleep in that thing in the living room.”

Pushing hair away from her face, she seemed out of it and disoriented, and why not? None of this was normal.

“Do you want me to get her?” he asked in a gentle voice while he squatted by her side and met her confused gaze.

Her eyes darted everywhere. She stretched across the small bed and grabbed something off the nightstand.

“There’s another of these on the living room coffee table,” she told him in a raspy voice. “Can you go turn it on?”

“What is it?”

She turned the white object over and over in her hands. “Um, it’s a, uh …” She