Page 21 of A Mustang River Christmas

He chuckled. “What time did you even get home last night?”

“Late,” she said.

“And why are you up so early? I haven’t gone to bed yet,” Chloe said.

“Right. Well. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m not worried about you. For the first time in a while, I’m actually less worried about you than I have been, and that makes me a little bit concerned.”

“I don’t really follow that logic, Chloe.”

“Laney is really great.”

He lowered his head. “She is.” He started to walk downstairs toward the dining room. “I like her.”

“And I support you pursuing that.”

“I can’t say that I’m pursuing anything,” he said.

“You’re having a relationship with her.”

He sucked air in through his teeth and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m sleeping with her, Chloe, and you know that there’s a difference.”

He heard a small sound and turned, saw Laney standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

Shit.

“Anyway. I have gingerbread stuff to get to. But I’ll catch up with you later. We’ll probably still be at the resort at the same time.”

“Okay. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too.” He hung up the phone. “Sorry. I... That was not something I would have wanted you to walk in on.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Laney said. “We are sleeping together. That’s it.” She genuinely didn’t sound upset or precious about it. And it was fair enough. It was the truth.

It was just it felt harsh and impersonal when it was laid out plain like that. And nothing about what they had done together felt harsh or impersonal.

“I’m not mad at you,” she said.

“I just don’t believe it.”

“I’m going to be as honest with you as you are with me,” she said. “I’m not looking for a relationship. I hated the only one that I’ve ever been in. I lost parts of myself that I’m still working to get back. I’m not looking for a Hallmark movie with you, Pike. I just really like fucking you.”

Something loosened in his chest. It took the pressure off. He needed the pressure off. Because this was territory that might as well be uncharted for him. And not having any expectations on it felt important.

“I’m okay with that,” he said. “But what I’m not okay with is making it sound like it doesn’t mean anything. Because it does. I could have taken plenty of women up on offers over the last few years. Trust me.”

“I have no doubt.”

“I didn’t,” he said. “I haven’t. Because punishing myself felt more important. And for the first time, you felt more important. So that’s something.”

It felt like an admission, certainly more of one than he had intended to make. But it was true. The only other time a person had felt more important than his self-imposed strictures was when he had started baking again for Chloe.

“You have a lot of rules, don’t you?” Laney asked.

“Yeah. But you do too, I bet.”

“How did you know?”