The Truth About Lennon

by K. L. Grayson

  “You look good in my kitchen.” Noah’s arms wrap around my stomach. He places his chin on my shoulder as he watches me. “I could get used to this.”

  My stay in Heaven was supposed to be temporary. It wasn’t my intention to grow roots, but I have, and standing here, it’s blatantly clear that if I want this to work, I’m going to have to tell Noah the truth. I’m going to have to tell him about my parents and the mess that brought me here. I can only hope he’ll understand once I explain it, and I vow to tell him everything sometime in the near future.

  I pour the mixture into the skillet and turn in his arms. “Me too.” Placing a chaste kiss on his lips, I shoo him away. “Now go before I burn the pancakes.”

  “Maybe I want to watch you cook. Is that a problem?” he asks.

  “It is when you’re touching me.”

  His voice drops deceptively low. “You like me touching you.”

  Oh God, I do. So much that I’m considering scrapping breakfast all together if he’ll keep sprinkling kisses along my neck the way he’s doing.

  “I can’t concentrate when you’re doing that.”

  He smiles against my skin and adds his tongue, sucking lightly. “That?”

  “Yes, that. Ohhh—” Noah brings his lips to my earlobe and bites gently while his hand settles on my ass. “And that too. That’s good.”

  The smell of pancakes burning jerks me out of my Noah-induced haze, and I push him away. Okay, I try to push him away. Turns out Noah isn’t keen on letting me go.

  “Noah Cunningham,” I say in my best commanding voice. “You take one giant step back.”

  “Not a chance in hell.” He makes another move for my neck, and I whimper.

  “I’m trying to impress your daughter.”

  That must do it. With a sigh, Noah releases my ass and pulls back. He cups my face in his hands and brings my mouth to his. “Thank you.”

  “For what? For burning pancakes? Because that’s what’s about to happen.”

  Reaching around me, Noah turns the heat down. “No. Thank you for wanting to impress my daughter even though you don’t have to. Nova already thinks you’re a princess; that alone gives you an in.”

  “Do I smell pancakes?”

  Noah steps back and we both look over at Nova, who’s standing in the doorway wearing her Little Mermaid pajamas. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and ambles toward us. Brown curls stick up in every direction, and one section of hair is plastered to the side of her face. She’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.

  She looks at me and offers a sleepy smile. “Did you have another sleepover?”

  My eyes snap to Noah, and he quickly swoops in. Picking Nova up, he sits down at the kitchen table and settles her on his lap.

  But before he can say a word, Nova looks up at him and says, “It’s okay if you did.”

  Noah’s lips part. “It is?”

  “She’s your friend.” Nova makes it sound so simple.

  “Well…” Noah’s eyes dart to mine, and I give him an encouraging smile. He adjusts Nova on his lap and clears his throat. “What if Lennon were more than just my friend?”

  I hold my breath, waiting for Nova to say something, but she just stares at Noah with her nose scrunched. Finally, after several long seconds, she says, “What do you mean?”

  Noah takes a deep breath, and I can practically see the wheels turning in his head as he comes up with an explanation a five-year-old will understand. “What if she were my girlfriend?”

  The breath rushes from my lungs when I see Nova’s face light up. “Like a princess?”

  “Kinda,” Noah says, laughing.

  Nova frowns. She fiddles with the bottom of her night shirt and then looks up at her dad. “Will I still be your princess?”

  “You will always be my number-one princess,” Noah says, kissing her nose.

  I move across the room and sit down next to them. Nova looks at me. “We can both be Daddy’s princess,” she says.

  In all of my years, I’ve never felt so loved and so easily accepted. Pressure builds behind my eyes and a smile stretches wide across my lips. “I would love that.”

  “Can I have pancakes now?” Nova asks, and just like that, the moment that Noah and I were stressing about is over.

  “Well, I think I burned them.”

  “That’s okay.” Nova hops off her dad’s lap and grabs my hand, tugging me toward the stove. “We can make more.”

  And that’s what we do. Nova and I spend the next twenty minutes making new pancakes, and when we’re all done, she helps me clean up our mess while Noah gets ready for work. As we’re putting the dishes away, Noah comes into the kitchen.

  “Nova, I need you to go change your clothes and pack a little bag of things to keep you busy. You’re coming to work with me today,” he says, grabbing his boots from behind the door.

  “What?” she whines, slumping down in the chair. “Why? I hate going to work with you. It’s boring. I thought I was going to Grandma’s.”

  Noah looks up at her. “Please don’t argue with me, sweetheart. Grandma isn’t feeling well. We’ve got to get going. Go get dressed, and pack a bag.”

  Nova slinks from the chair and down the hall with a full-on pout.

  I wipe my hands off on the kitchen rag and drape it over the sink. “Is your Mom okay?”

  “Yeah.” Noah blows out a heavy breath, looking up at me after tying his boots. “She woke up with a bad toothache, and the dentist could get her in first thing this morning. I’ll bring Nova to work with me, and she’ll come by and get her when she’s done.”

  “What about your dad?”

  Noah shakes his head. “He’s already got plans. It’s really no biggie. She’s come to work with me before. She’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll keep her,” I blurt.

  Eyes wide, Noah studies me.

  “What? I’m fully capable of watching a five-year-old girl for the day.” Sure, there are a few orders of business I’ve got to take care of, and a contract on a building I have to sign, but I can do those things after Noah picks her up.

  Noah stands and stalks toward me in all of his muscular glory, and I can’t help but notice how his work shirt accentuates all of his tattoos as his biceps flex against the fabric. He gives arm porn a whole new meaning. I swallow as he wraps those delicious arms around me.

  “I wasn’t insinuating that you weren’t capable; you just caught me off guard, that’s all. But if you really want to take Nova, I’m sure she’d love that.”

  “Good.” I pat his chest and make him take a healthy step backward before I climb his body like a tree. “It’s settled. She’ll come with me. I’ll just plan on keeping her until you get off. Tell your mom to enjoy an afternoon to herself.”

  “I’m ready to go,” Nova moans, dragging her bag into the kitchen.

  Noah picks her bag up from the floor. “Change of plans, kiddo. How would you like to spend the day with Lennon?”

  Nova’s eyes sparkle when she turns to me. “Really? I get to go with Lennon?”

  “Really,” Noah says, earning a giant hug from his daughter. “I want you to be good for her today, okay?”

  “I will. Thank you, Daddy.”

  “Don’t thank me,” he says, smiling at me over Nova’s shoulder. “Thank Lennon. She’s the one who offered.”

  “Thank you, Lennon,” she says, unwrapping herself from her father. She runs across the kitchen and throws herself against my legs.

  Squatting down, I engulf her in a tight hug.

  She buries her face in the side of my neck and says, “I promise I’ll be good.”

  Something blossoms inside of me, a warmth starting in my chest and radiating out, filling me with so much love.

  I’ve loved a lot of people in my life—my parents, Helga, Mathis, at one time Lizzie, and quite possibly Noah. But nothing, none of those feelings are the same as what I have for Nova. It’s a simpler kind of love. It comes easy, without any rules or guidelines. It just i
s, and I tighten my hold on her, trying to preserve the moment.

  Eventually she pulls back and looks at me, and I’m nearly knocked on my ass because everything I’m feeling I see reflected back at me in her eyes.

  “We’re going to have so much fun today,” she whispers, as though Noah isn’t privy to that little piece of information.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” I whisper back. I grab Nova’s bag, she takes my hand, and out the door we go.

  “I don’t even get a kiss goodbye?” Noah calls. I glance over my shoulder—something Nova doesn’t even bother with—and blow him a kiss as we walk out the door.

  “Hold your arms out to the side.”

  Nova does as I instruct, and I wrap the tape measure around her bust, followed by her waist, and then her hips. Probably a little overboard considering she’s only five and flat as a board, but I want the princess dress to fit perfectly. I measure her height and decide to go for the length of her arms just in case I add sleeves.

  “What are all of those numbers for?” she asks.

  “I need all of those numbers to make your princess dress.”

  Nova bounces around. “I can’t wait. Is it going to be poofy?”

  “Do you want it poofy?” I ask.

  “Yes, but not too poofy.”

  “Got it.” I nod. “Just enough poof.”

  “And I want it to fan out when I twirl.”

  “That I can do.”

  “And will it have sparkles?”

  I stop measuring and look up, giving Nova a really serious look. “It wouldn’t be a princess dress if it didn’t sparkle. Do you know what color you want it?” I ask, finishing my measurements.

  “Can I have any color I want?”

  I had planned to have some material shipped here, but I’m not sure I want to wait that long. I’m anxious to get started on Nova’s dress, so I’ll probably just take her to the fabric shop I saw in town and let her pick out what she wants.

  “Any color.”

  She taps her chin. “Hmmm… Maybe purple.” She quickly shakes her head. “No, pink.” Biting on her bottom lip, Nova thinks some more. “How about yellow, like Belle?”

  “Yellow is a great color,” I say, rolling the tape measure back up. I tuck the measurements under the sewing machine so I won’t lose them. “How about we go shopping and you can pick a color, and then we can go grab lunch.”

  “Can we take some to Daddy?”

  “That’s a great Idea.” I gather my purse, and Nova follows me out of the house. I make sure to lock the front door and grab the booster seat off the front porch. Thank God Noah thought to leave it for me. I wouldn’t have even thought about it.

  Once Nova’s all buckled in—and trust me, she’s buckled in; I checked four times—we make our way into town. Turns out Sew Lovely, the little shop I’d found, is so much more than just a little shop. It’s fantastic—a sewing girl’s dream—with fabrics of all different textures and colors and patterns. I was concerned I wouldn’t find the quality silk I needed to make this dress, but Deb, the owner, took me to her secret stash in the back.

  Lucky for me, Deb is a grandmother and had ordered silk to make her granddaughters dresses, and she had some fabric left over. Nova’s eyes instantly lock on the yellow, so that’s what we go with.

  After matching up some thread and choosing sequins and lace, Nova and I wave goodbye to Deb and lug our haul to the car. Of course, I can’t walk away with just silk because I found a killer pattern for a quilt, so I had to buy material for that as well. Needless to say, I’ve got enough side projects to keep me busy for quite sometime.

  Nova and I make a quick stop at the deli and pick up sandwiches and chips, enough for the entire shop. Then we head over to surprise Noah.

  “Noah, there’s someone here to see you,” Sara hollers.

  I slide out from under a car and look over. Nine-months-pregnant Sara is sitting in her roller chair in the doorway looking absolutely miserable.

  “What are you still doing here? I told you to quit coming in. You need to rest, and if that baby decides to come into this world while you’re at work, I will not be happy.”

  Sara rolls her eyes. She brings a hand to her swollen belly and rubs lightly. “My doctor says I’m fine to keep working, and I really don’t want to stop yet.”

  “I know you don’t.”

  Sara and her husband, Danny, are old friends of mine. We grew up together, and they mean a lot to me. A couple of months ago, they ran into some financial problems when Danny got laid off from his job.

  “But I told you, I’m paying you twelve weeks of maternity leave, so don’t worry about that. You won’t lose any money, I promise.”

  Sara’s eyes well up with tears, and I push up from the creeper, wiping my hands off on a shop rag.

  “Stop worrying so much,” I say as I approach her.

  “Thank you, Noah.” She grabs my hand, gives it a squeeze, and then pulls me down close. “Lennon’s a keeper,” she whispers. “Don’t screw it up.” She flashes me a sweet smile before rolling back into the office.

  Where the hell did that come from, and how does she know Lennon?

  I follow her into the office to find Nova and Lennon standing by the front desk.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Bending down, I give Nova a kiss, and because I’m so damn happy to see the two of them together, I throw all my worries and anxieties out the window. Leaning forward, I plant a soft kiss on Lennon’s lips.

  She blushes.

  My cock twitches.

  And Tommy lets out a whistle from the other room.

  “We brought you lunch.” Nova seems completely unfazed by my show of affection toward Lennon as she roots through the bags on the counter. She pulls out sandwich after sandwich until she finds the one she’s looking for, which she hands to me. “Your favorite.”

  I take it from her, amazed at how much food they brought. Lennon must be able to read my mind because she says, “We brought enough for the whole shop.”

  “And chips too,” Nova adds.

  Sara pushes up from her chair, and I move to help her, but she holds a hand out. “I’m fine,” she says. “Stop treating me like I’m going to break.”

  “I’m not treating you like you’re going to break. I’m treating you like you’re going to pop.”

  “Your dad’s a little protective, you know that?” Sara says, looking at Nova, who nods her head. “What do you say you and I take these sandwiches out back for the boys?”

  Nova drapes a bag over her arm and Sara grabs the chips. When they’re out of the office, I turn to Lennon. “You didn’t have to do this. But thank you.”

  She takes a step toward me, her soft vanilla scent permeating the air. “I wanted to, and you’re welcome. In fact,” she says, dropping her voice seductively low, “if you’re really grateful, I can think of a few different ways you can repay me tonight.”

  Ah, fuck. Now I’ve got a hard on. “Oh yeah?”

  Lennon nods, running her hand down my chest. She peeks over my shoulder, most likely to make sure no one is watching, and then she palms my dick.

  “Babe.” I grab her wrist. “I have to go back out into that shop and spend another four hours with several fucking dudes. I’m gonna need you to either stop, or slip into my office over there.” I nod to the door in the corner.

  Lennon wags her eyebrows. “Oooooh… I’ve never had office sex before. You know, it’s always been a fantasy of mine to go down on a guy as he sits on the phone behind a desk—”

  I moan, dropping my head back. “You’re killing me.”

  Laughing, Lennon removes her hand and kisses me on the cheek. “Sorry. No more workplace groping—”

  “Unless you can deliver.”

  “If your daughter weren’t here, I would.”

  “Speaking of Nova, how’s she been today?” I ask, unwrapping my sandwich. I take a hearty bite as Lennon tells me their trip to the fabric shop, and by the time she’s finished, so
am I.

  “Did you even chew your food or just swallow it whole?” she jokes.

  I pat my stomach. “I’m a growing boy. Speaking of food, what do you want to have for dinner tonight? I think Mikey is going to join us. He has the night off.”

  “Whatever you want. I’m up for anything. Oh! Speaking of Mikey, I’m totally playing matchmaker.”

  ”What do you mean you’re playing matchmaker?”

  “I swear he and Charlotte had a moment at the soccer game, so we’re all going out for drinks this weekend.”

  In the back of my mind, I knew a moment like this would come: the stark reality of what it’s like to date as a single parent, the reminder that there are reasons I might not be a good fit for Lennon. She’s young, beautiful, and vibrant, with the whole world in front of her and nothing holding her back. I don’t see Nova as holding me back by any means—that girl means the world to me, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything—but I’m a single father, and my time isn’t really my time.

  “I can’t.”

  Lennon’s face falls. “What do you mean, you can’t?”

  “I’ve got Nova.”

  “We can get a sitter. Maybe your mom can…”

  I shake my head, and Lennon’s words trail off.

  “My parents watch her all week long. I refuse to ask them to help out on the weekends unless it’s an emergency.”

  Understanding washes across her face. “Right. I understand.”

  “But you should go. Have fun with your friends and stop by the house afterward.”

  “No.” Lennon grabs my hand. “I’d rather stay home with you and Nova anyway. I’ll just tell Charlotte I can’t go, and if she decides to go out with Mikey regardless, it’s her choice.”

  “Lennon—”

  “I said it’s fine. Now stop. It’s not a big deal.”

  “What’s not a big deal?” Nova asks, running into the room.

  Lips pursed, I give Lennon a stern look. “This conversation isn’t over,” I whisper before turning to Nova. “Geez, you’re nosy.”

  She gives me a wide grin and grabs Lennon’s hand.

  “What do you two girls have planned for the rest of the afternoon?”