Daddy in Disguise (Crescent Cove 7)

“Halloween.”

“Oh my God.” She wrapped her arm around my waist and Velcro-ed herself to my side. “You are the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

“You need to get around a bit more, kid.” Her gleaming smile remained unchanged, but I hugged her back for a second before slipping away. “Can you do stairs?”

“Yes. As long as there’s a railing.”

“Then we’re a go for my apartment.”

There was a fairly decent network of apartments above my café. The owner, Gavin Forrester, had slowly been renovating all of them. I’d taken one of the larger corner units.

In the end, it had been worth it.

I led her upstairs to my floor and down the hallway to the quiet nook I guarded like the cranky gargoyle I could be. It was my one oasis in a busy life. I tried everything to settle my brain against the incessant insomnia I dealt with.

On the door, a wreath of ivy had year-round bats nestled in the greens. Dani grinned as she reached for one of the fuzzy rubber pieces. I braced for her to mishandle it like any kid, but she only brushed the tips over her fingers along the wing before waiting patiently for me to open the door.

I unlocked the door and a black blur shot across the wide open living area.

“Whoa.”

“That’s Trick. She’s a little shy at first, but she’ll come out.” I tossed my keys in the smoky gray bowl inside the door and automatically set my cell on the recharging pad. “Are you hungry?”

She shrugged. “Depends.”

I kicked off my sneakers. “I’m not Vee,, but I can manage a few things.”

Dani twirled on her good foot, taking in the high ceilings and web of twinkle lights I’d carefully woven through the rafters I’d convinced Gavin to put in. They were faux beams, but gave the space a great structure and had given him plenty of ideas to use on the other apartments.

Instead of making them all carbon copies of each other, he was making each one individual. Another job that Dahlia had been working on in small doses.

She’d helped me with the cafe and my own apartment. She actually put me to shame with her gothic touches. It had taken almost two years to get my apartment just right, but in the end it was pretty perfect for me.

“Are those…monsters?” Dani didn’t seem to know the term for the corner statues I’d tucked on the floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

“Gargoyles.”

“So cool.”

I grinned. “I need a shower. Think you can amuse yourself for a few?”

She hopped her way over to my stereo. “You said movies. Where’s the TV?”

I crossed to the projector tucked in one of the bookcases. “I’ve got one better.” I flicked it on and the large white wall across the room was filled with the menu on my Apple TV.

“Holy crapballs.”

I handed her the remote. “I bet you know how to use this.”

“Yep.” She plucked it out of my hand and hobbled over to my oversized beanbag chair and dropped into it with a laugh. “You have like every movie ever.”

“Not quite.” I crossed my arms and tried not to think about how cute she looked in my space. It had been a damn long time since anyone under twenty-four had been in my apartment. Even the new moms in my life rarely brought their kids over.

Mostly because my place would probably scare a lesser child.

I had a large collection of monster memorabilia as well as undying devotion to the macabre in its various forms. Anything from sugar skulls to antique glass. I had them all tucked in corners and on shelves like other women had knicknacks.

Dani Gideon looked damn comfy in my apartment though. She flicked through all my movies at the speed of a distracted teen, finally stopping on the Saw series.