There with You (Adair Family 2)

“Eilidh, we won’t be long.”

“I want to go now!” Her voice got louder, her scowl deeper.

I gave her a stern look as she tried to slide out of my arms. “Eilidh Adair, today is your dad’s day. This is for his birthday. And your dad doesn’t ask a lot from you, so you’re going to behave and let him enjoy his day.”

She pouted, her eyes brightening with tears, but to my relief, she clamped her lips closed and snuggled her head against my chest.

“Good girl,” I whispered, turning to look toward the show.

Instead, I caught Thane staring at me. His eyes smiled and he mouthed, “Thank you.”

I smiled back, wishing my heart didn’t race at a mere tender look from him.

Thankfully, he turned back to the display. It was pretty awesome, but Eilidh was getting heavier and more restless in my arms by the second. I was grateful when it ended.

“That was really cool, Dad,” Lewis said as they followed us up toward the castle.

“Glad you enjoyed it … do you fancy stopping in at the tearoom for something to eat?”

“YES!” Eilidh yelled.

I winced. “Eilidh, my ears.”

“Sorry!” she said, not sorry, and then slipped out of my arms like an eel before I could stop her. She made to rush precariously down the stairs to be with her father, and my heart leapt into my throat. Thane, however, quickly dove forward and grabbed her up into his arms. Happy to be there, as well as delighted food was on the agenda, she let him carry her with no complaints up the steps.

A little out of breath when I reached the top, I bugged my eyes out at Lewis who grinned at me. “I think I need to start running with my sister.”

“Nah, you’re just old,” he teased.

I guffawed, horrified, and glowered at Thane as he laughed. “If I’m old, what are you? Ancient?”

That just made him laugh harder.

Sexy bastard.

Trying to get Eilidh to sit down in the tearoom was a nightmare. There was a glass cabinet filled with cake, and she just wanted to stare at it. Not that I didn’t understand the fascination. Eventually, after promising she’d get a piece of whatever cake she liked, we got her to sit down at a small table. And by small, I mean, my knees kept knocking against Thane’s.

The proximity was driving me nuts.

I tried to ignore it as we sat and talked with the kids about the castle and then about school. While the rest of us were eating scones with our tea, Eilidh had, of course, decided on a piece of messy chocolate cake. “You’ll spoil your lunch.” I tried to tell her.

“It’s Daddy’s birthday. There should be cake,” she argued.

“Fine, then you can share a piece with your dad.”

Thane’s lips had twitched at having been given no choice in the matter, but we both knew Eilidh would be sick if she ate the entire thing. As it was, she got most of it on her face. Trying to avoid cake crumbling onto her new red coat, I pulled baby wipes from my purse and swiped at her face as she continued talking about the argument she’d had with a boy in her class over how Marvel films weren’t for girls.

“But I said, I watch all the Malver films with Lewis—”

“Turn your face to me, sweetie,” I murmured, tilting her cheek.

She did as I asked but kept talking. “—and how can it not be for girls when there’s one with a girl called Captain Malver!”

“It’s true,” Lewis agreed, for once engaged in one of Eilidh’s many retellings of her school-day “discussions.”

As I got the last of the chocolate off her face and tenderly brushed a stray curl behind her tiny ear, I felt heat on my cheek. Glancing at Thane, I found him watching me with an intensity that made my breath catch.

“Ree-Ree, I need a wee-wee!” Eilidh announced loudly, breaking our staring match.

Thane pressed his lips together to stop his laughter at the answering titters around the tearoom, but his gorgeous eyes glittered with amusement.

Lewis giggled around a bite of scone, and I cut Eilidh a half-amused, half-stern look.

She grinned with her teeth comically pressed together.

“Eilidh Adair, we do not call it wee-wee, especially since it rhymes with my name.”

“But that’s why I should call it wee-wee.”

I narrowed my eyes, and she mirrored my expression. This kid! “If you need to use the restroom, what do you say?”

She opened her mouth, and I just knew she was going to repeat the Ree-Ree/wee-wee thing.

“Not that,” I cut her off and heard her father choke on his amusement. Shooting him a quelling look only made his shoulders shake harder.

Eilidh sighed like a world-weary eighty-year-old. “Fine. Ree-Ree, I need to use the restroom even though I don’t need to rest, I need to wee-wee.”