by Elle James
Sean hugged her and whispered back in her ear. “I love you, too.” Louder, he said, “You need to do as your mother said, Mica.”
He wanted to be a part of the little girl’s life. He wanted to be a part of her mother’s life. They had quickly shown him what he’d been missing, and he didn’t want to let go.
“It’ll be all right,” he said, hoping he was correct.
Mica stepped back, her lip trembling. “No, it won’t.” And she ran down the hall to her room, slamming the door behind her.
“That didn’t go over well,” Ava muttered. “Look, we might as well get down to the nitty gritty.” She drew in a deep breath.
“Before you say anything, would you answer something for me?”
She frowned. “Okay.”
“About last night…did I do anything to make you mad, hurt your feelings, or make you hate me?” He took her hands in his. “Because, from my point of view, it was the best night of my life. I’d hate to think you didn’t feel the same.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed the tips.
For a moment, he thought Ava was going to cry; her brow puckered, and her eyes filled. “No. You didn’t. It was the most incredibly perfect night for me.”
At her words, relief washed over Sean. As long as he hadn’t done anything to ruin his chances with her, he could figure out whatever it was that was bothering her.
He hoped.
Ava stared down at where he held her hands. “From the beginning, we agreed that we didn’t want a long-term relationship.”
Sean stiffened. In the beginning, that was exactly what he’d wanted. But he’d since changed his mind. He’d met and fallen in love with Ava and Mica. There was no going back on that.
Ava pulled her hands free and turned away. “I never meant for you to meet Mica,” she said quietly. “We were supposed to date and be done. No commitment. No demands.” Her voice grew shaky.
His gut knotted. She was pulling away from him. Like Leslie had said, she was about to cut him loose. He couldn’t let that happen.
Sean closed the distance between them and laid his hands on her shoulders. “What if we changed our minds?”
She leaned her back against his chest and was silent for a long moment. Then she said, “We can’t go back on our agreement. Mica is my world. I couldn’t live with myself if she was hurt because of my selfishness.”
“Why would dating me be selfish? I would gladly bring Mica along.” He massaged her shoulders, wanting to kiss her and make her see how much he cared. “She’s an awesome kid.”
Ava’s chest expanded on a deep breath. Then she pushed away from him and spun to face him. “That’s just it. I don’t want any man near my daughter. It isn’t fair giving her unrealistic expectations. She wants a daddy. And just in the few times she’s been with you, she’s set her heart on you.” She waved her hand. “So, we can’t see each other anymore. We’re done. You can’t come back here. It’s too confusing for Mica.” The tears slipped from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. “It’s too confusing for me,” she murmured.
Her tears tore at Sean’s heart. He reached out and took her into his arms.
She tried to resist but soon gave up and wrapped her arms around his waist. Ava buried her face in his shirt and sobbed.
He let her cry, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Shh, sweetheart, it’s going to be all right.”
“No, it’s not,” she said. “Mica’s going to get hurt when you leave. It might as well be sooner than later. You have to go.” She straightened and pressed her hands against his chest. “Now.”
“Is that what you really want?” he asked. He touched a finger to her chin and lifted it, forcing her to face him. “Is that what you want?”
“For Mica, yes,” she whispered.
He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “What about for you?”
The tears flooded her cheeks. “What I want doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice choking on a sob.
“You’re wrong, Ava. What you want matters to me.” He kissed her again. “I’ll go if you don’t want me. If you want me, all you have to do is say so.”
She looked up into his face through her tear-soaked blue eyes and bit down on her trembling lip.
He nodded and stepped back, letting his arms fall to his sides. “Before I leave, you need to know this.”
Sean stood straight, his shoulders back, his fists clenched, all in an attempt to hold himself together. “I wouldn’t be here now, if I didn’t care about you. I wouldn’t have come to dinner with you and Mica, if I didn’t care about Mica.”
He laughed, the sound hollow with his fear of losing her and the little girl who’d won his heart. “I was the last person in the world who believed in love at first sight and happily-ever-afters. But you and Mica have shown me what I’ve been missing all of my damned life.” He stepped up to her and gripped her arms hard. “Do you want to know what that is?”
She dragged in a deep breath and nodded.
“You showed me what love could be. That’s right. I said the word love. Because that’s what this is. And Mica showed me I wasn’t my father, and that I had something to give to a child…” He touched his fist to his chest. “My heart.”
He let go of her arm. “If you’re set on booting me out of your life and Mica’s life, I’ll go. But you know where I live. When you realize it wasn’t me who left, you know where to find me. I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and be a permanent part of your lives.”
He waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, he spun on a booted heel and left the kitchen, left the house and climbed into his truck, his heart shattering into a million pieces.
How could it be? He hadn’t known her that long.
But it was long enough. His heart knew her…knew the truth. He loved Ava and Mica.
Yet, Ava had made it clear. She didn’t want him in her life. Mica or no Mica. Their short affair hadn’t meant as much to her as it had to him. The sooner he accepted that, the better off he would be.
* * *
Ava stood as if rooted to the floor, her entire world crumbling around her. She’d just sent Sean away when, in her heart, it was the last thing she’d wanted to do. In the few short days she’d known him, she’d fallen head over heels in love with the man.
How could that be? No one fell in love that fast.
Or did they, and she was the exception? Her love for Michael had been a slow build from friend to lover to husband. She’d thought that was the only way to fall in love.
Ava pressed her hands to her damp cheeks, every instinct in her mind and body urging her to go after Sean.
He said he wanted to be part of her life. And he’d included Mica. He understood they were a package deal. He was a good man who saved kittens and volunteered with veterans. Why would he lie to her?
The truth hit her square in the gut.
“He wouldn’t lie,” she said out loud. “He wouldn’t.”
She took one step, then another, her feet carrying her of their own accord out of the kitchen and across the living room. Then she was running out the front door.
Sean had backed out of the driveway and was pulling away.
“Sean!” she yelled and ran after the truck as he drove away.
He didn’t stop until he reached the stop sign on the corner. By then, he was too far ahead for Ava to catch up to him.
She leaned against the neighbor’s mailbox, sobbing, her eyes too filled with tears to see anything.
The rumble of a vehicle’s engine sounded near her.
Ava didn’t move. She didn’t care if someone ran over her at that moment. She’d just made the biggest mistake of her life by sending away the man she loved.
Hands gripped her arms and turned her.
Ava batted at the hands. “I’ll move. You don’t have to manhandle me. It’s just a stupid mailbox.”
“Ava,” a voice said through her sobs. “Sweetheart.”
She glanced up at the
man holding her and cried ever harder. “You left.”
“You told me to go,” he said, kissing the tip of her damp nose. “I didn’t want to.”
“I don’t want you to go. I was wrong. I do believe in love at first sight. I love you, Sean Decker.” Ava wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her.
It took her a moment to realize Sean had stiffened.
“Uh, sweetheart,” he said and pushed her to arm’s length. “You need to know something else.”
She frowned, a bad feeling eating away at her happiness. “What?”
His lips twisted into a grimace. “I haven’t been completely truthful with you.”
She stepped back, afraid. So afraid he would say he didn’t really love her or Mica. Or that he was already married. “What is it? You can tell me.”
“My name isn’t Sean Decker.”
Her brow dipped lower. “You’re not Sean Decker?” She shook her head. “Then who are you?”
“My real name is Sean, and my call name in the Navy was Decker. But my last name is O’Leary. I’m Sean O’Leary.” He waited for her response.
She shrugged. “So? I get it that you didn’t want to use your real name in the BODS system. As long as you still love me and Mica, and that you’re not married to two other women, I’m okay with that. You’re still the same man.”
He laughed and pulled her into his arms. “You really don’t know who Sean O’Leary is?”
She leaned up on her toes and kissed his lips. “Yes, I do. You’re an amazing man who has the good sense to love me and my daughter. Speaking of which, we need to get back to the house. Mica wasn’t too happy with the way I left things.”
Sean took Ava’s hand and led her back to the little cottage Ava called home. “I can’t believe you don’t know who Sean O’Leary is.”
She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing. “Should I? You’re not wanted or anything, are you?” She shook her head. “No. Leslie’s clients are vetted and go through a background check before she lets them into her system.” She canted her head to one side. “What should I know that I obviously don’t?”
He laughed. “Just that I love you. And I love Mica.” They hurried up the steps and in through the open door. “I can’t believe you came running after my truck.”
She snorted. “I can’t believe you left.”
“You told me to.” He grinned. “Truth is…I was going to drive around the block and come back to talk sense into you.”
“Thankfully, I came to the right conclusion on my own.” She stopped him in front of Mica’s room and kissed him again.
“I could get used to kissing you,” she said.
“Good, because I plan on doing it a lot.” He pulled her close and deepened the kiss, until her toes curled, and she forgot she needed to breathe.
When his mouth left hers, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Is it too early to talk about marriage?”
She laughed. “We can’t get married soon enough, in my books. At least then, you won’t be able to leave us.”
Sean frowned and stood back a step. “I want you to know, I take marriage very seriously.”
She looked up into his grave eyes and knew the truth.
“I’m in it for the long haul. Once I commit, I’ll do everything in my power to make it work.”
She smiled. “Are you asking me to commit?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“I will,” she said. “And you? Are you ready to commit?”
“I am, and I will.”
Her cheeks heated and her heart fluttered. “Should we kiss on it?”
“Absolutely.” Once again, he kissed her until she was breathless.
When they broke apart, she brushed the hair out of her face and drew air into her lungs. “Should we tell Mica?”
“I’d love to.”
“She’ll be thrilled to be getting the daddy of her choice.” Ava reached for the door handle, twisted it and flung it open. “Mica, I have good news—”
Her words fell on an empty room.
A breeze fluttered the light pink curtains at the open window.
Mica was gone.
Chapter 11
Sean ran out the door and around to the side of the house Mica’s room was on.
No Mica.
The window wasn’t that far off the ground. If Mica had sneaked out in a fit of pique, at least she hadn’t hurt herself in the drop.
If she’d gone out the window on her own…
Fear stabbed him in the heart.
What if Mica hadn’t gone out that window on her own?
Sean leaned into the window, careful not to disturb any fingerprints in case someone had come in and taken Mica. “Call 911,” he said.
Ava appeared in her daughter’s doorway with her cellphone pressed to her ear. “My daughter is missing,” she said. “Please send help.”
Sean expanded his search, looking for any sign of the little girl. If she had struggled, she might have lost a shoe or her hairbow.
He made a complete circle of the house and moved outward, performing a search of a one-hundred-foot radius of the structure.
Nothing.
He found Ava near Mica’s window, wringing her hands, her face drawn and worried. “Where could she have gone?”
“Does she have any little friends in the neighborhood?” Sean asked. “Anyone she likes to visit on occasion?”
“She made a friend of Mrs. Tripley on the corner. She likes the woman’s Yorkie.” Ava started down the street.
Sean stopped her. “You need to stay at the house and be here in case Mica comes back or the police arrive. I’ll go to Mrs. Tripley’s. Which house is it?”
Ava pointed to the house on the corner by the stop sign. “She might not answer the door to a strange man. I’ll call and let her know you’re coming.”
Sean ran down the road to the house and knocked loudly on the door.
An old woman opened it immediately. “Miss Swan told me about Mica.” The old woman shook her head. “She hasn’t been here. I’m so sorry I can’t help. I hope you find her soon.” Mrs. Tripley stared out at the darkening sky. “It’s getting dark.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tripley.” Sean said. “If you see her—”
“I’ll hold her and call,” Mrs. Tripley promised. “Good luck.”
Sean returned to Ava’s house where he found her pacing in the front yard.
A siren sounded nearby. Moments later, a police car pulled up to the curb, followed by three more. They lined the street, lights flashing.
Neighbors came out of their houses to see what all the commotion was.
Soon, the police had as many people as they could muster lined up with flashlights, each given a direction for a grid-search of the streets.
Sean put out the call to his friends. Soon, Coop, Tag, Gage, and Moose arrived with Emma, Leslie, Fiona and Jane. All four of Emma’s brothers drove in from their ranch and joined the search.
Sean stayed close to Ava, slipping an arm around her when he thought she’d collapse from worry. The woman remained dry-eyed and tense, holding herself together by a thread.
“Is there anywhere in the neighborhood that Mica likes to play? A playground, playhouse, somewhere she likes to hide?” Sean asked. “If she was mad, she might be hiding somewhere.”
Ava shook her head. “We walk to the playground every other weekend. It’s three blocks away. I can’t imagine she’s gone that far by herself.”
“She’s a smart little girl. Don’t underestimate her.” Sean grabbed Ava’s hand. “The police have your number if they need to get a hold of you. Let’s go see if she made it to the playground.”
“Leslie and I are going with you,” Tag said. “The others are working the grid.”
Ava led the way, taking the path she and Mica used to get to the playground. It involved going through an alley that connected to the street behind their house. Then she cut across a large baseball complex and, finally, came to the e
laborate playground that had swings, a jungle gym and a fort with ropes, ladders and a slide.
“Mica!” Ava called out. “Mica, if you’re here, please…let us know.”
The four of them paused and listened.
“Mica,” Sean yelled, “we’re worried about you. Please, come out.”
Again, nothing.
“She’s not here,” Ava whispered.
Sean wasn’t ready to give up. “I’m going to check out the fort.” Sean shot a glance toward Tag and Leslie. “Look inside the dugouts in the ball field.”
Tag nodded. “On it.” He and Leslie ran toward the dugouts.
Ava followed Sean. “She would have answered, if she was here.”
“Maybe. Or she could be asleep or scared. You take the castle, and I’ll take the ship.” Sean started up the ladder on one side of the fort that was shaped like a pirate ship.
Ava climbed up into the castle.
When Sean reached the top, he shined his flashlight into ship. A tunnel led out of the ship to a rope bridge on one side and a tube slide on the other.
Movement caught his eye in the tunnel to the slide.
“Mica?” he called out softly.
He ducked low to get into the pirate ship and crawled over the tunnel, shining the beam of his flashlight in front of him.
The first thing he saw was a fat, purple unicorn and a pale arm clutching it.
“Oh, Mica, sweetheart. It’s me, Mr. Decker,” he said softly. “I found her,” he called out loudly to Ava.
“Oh, thank God,” she said. “Where is she?”
“In the slide tunnel. I’ll bring her out.” He focused on Mica. “Come with me, Mica. I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to go home,” she said.
“Why?”
A tear slipped from one of her eyes and made its way down her cheek. “You won’t be there.”
“Oh, Mica, whether I’m there or not, your mother loves you so very much. She was so worried about you.”
“She doesn’t love me.”
“How can you say that? Your mother loves you very much.”
“She doesn’t want me to have a daddy.” Mica sniffed.