Austin shook his head and frowned. “Stay on it,” he told the other man.
“Will do. More when I have it.” Dante disconnected the call.
“No news?” Mia asked as Austin placed his phone on the leather ottoman beside his opened computer.
“Half and half.” He told her what Dante had found out about Kayla’s current boyfriend. “So I’m hoping to tie her to drugs and get her out of Bailey’s life once and for all. As for your guy… I’m sorry. Nothing yet.”
He patted the couch beside him and she eased in next to him. He felt the warmth of her body and his dick growing hard. It didn’t take much for him to want her. A look, a glance, a touch.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find something to prove Alexander is behind the break-in,” he assured her.
“I hope so. It’s unnerving to think I have to testify with him sitting across from me, knowing he’s willing to go pretty far to scare me off.”
He pulled her into his arms. “My guys are good—” Before he could go on, the video chat on the computer he had open in front of the sofa interrupted them with a ring.
He shot Mia a regret-filled glance before looking at the name on the screen. Mia scrambled out of his embrace and the screen viewing area, and though he understood why, he felt a pang of regret as he hit accept.
“Bailey Button!” he said as his daughter’s little face showed up on the screen. She had high pigtails on either side of her head, obviously courtesy of her grandmother, and she grinned, her missing teeth making him smile. “I miss you!” he said.
“I miss you, too, Daddy.” She sounded funny and a deeper look showed him her eyes were glassy.
“What’s wrong, princess?” he asked.
“I have a cold.” She treated him to a big, deliberate sniff. “And Grandma says I have temperature.”
His heart squeezed as it always did when his daughter got sick.
“And I miss Mia,” Bailey said on a whine.
He couldn’t help but grin. He extended his hand to Mia, out of screen view.
She didn’t take it, but she slid closer so she could be in the screen area. “Hey, Bailey. You don’t feel well?”
Bailey shook her head. “I miss you,” she said again.
“Me, too.”
Austin had an easy fix for what ailed her. “How about a visit when I get back?”
She perked up, smiling at his suggestion. “Okay, Daddy. Bring Mia, okay?”
He laughed at the expected request. “Okay.”
Bailey took a long sniff and Austin frowned. He hated that she was sick and he wasn’t there to take care of her. “Hey. I bet your grandma would give you orange juice if you asked. And I’m also betting grandmas give the best hugs to make you feel better.” She smiled, forcing Bailey to grin back.
“Grandma! Can I have orange juice?” Bailey yelled, causing Austin to wince at the decibel level she reached.
“Let me talk to Grandma, kiddo.”
Another yell and his mother’s face appeared in front of the screen.
“How high is her fever? Did you call Dr. James? I can be home in two hours if she needs me,” he said, already thinking about what he needed to do to clean and lock up the cabin. The idea had been in the back of his mind since realizing Bailey was sick.
“Oh my God, Austin. You’d think I didn’t raise a child myself!” his mother chided him. “Bailey has a cold. Her ears don’t hurt, her throat doesn’t hurt, and she’s got 100.1. Barely a fever. If it’s not gone tomorrow I’ll make an appointment. No reason to rush back.”
“Okay,” he said, relaxing and easing back against the cushions. It was an instinctive reaction to worry.
Just as he worried now about the fact that Mia hadn’t taken his hand. He didn’t understand and wondered what had happened in the few minutes that had caused her to back off.
“Grandma, orange juice,” Bailey said to his mother.
“Please,” Austin and Mia automatically said at the same time.
He grinned but she didn’t smile in return. He shot her a curious look, wondering what was wrong.
“We’ll be home tomorrow anyway. But I need you to keep Bailey for a little while longer. I hope we’re close to wrapping up at last one of the problems,” he said, not wanting to mention Kayla in front of Bailey and upset her.
“Okay, say bye to Daddy and Mia,” his mom said.
“Bye!” Bailey said.
“Feel better,” Mia said.
“Love you,” Austin added.
No sooner had the screen gone blank than Mia rose and walked across the room. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m just a little tired. I thought I’d lie down and take a nap.”