Page 154 of Fighting Chance

“Something caught your attention, Ashford?”

I wait for him to feel embarrassed that I caught him ogling but in true Kieran fashion, he just smirks, looking at me through those thick black lashes. “Sunshine, I was caught about two years ago.”

“Don’t feel like releasing yourself?”

“Never.”

I come to a stop, Emmy’s hand dropping from mine at the heated word he all but growled. My lips part, but all thoughts of Kieran leave me as a very small voice whispers my name.

“Layla?”

Before I can stop myself, I gasp. Emmy’s wringing her small hands as she rocks back and forth on her heels, her eyes lowered to the ground as she tries to make herself as small as possible.

My knees buckle. Dropping to the floor, I try to catch her eye, my cheeks aching from how wide I’m smiling.

“Oh, sweetheart,” I breathe. She’s so unsure of herself, so quiet and timid, that she has no idea she’s just made my day. That the sound of her calling out my name will be playing on a loop in my mind. “What is it, my sweet girl?” I ask around the lump in my throat.

She lifts her eyes quickly before darting them away.

“It’s okay, Emmy. Layla loves to hear your voice. Don’t you, Layla?”

I nod frantically. “It’s my favorite sound,” I confess.

She looks at me then and my heart begins to beat a frantic rhythm.

She said my name!

“Can I show you what Daddy and I made?”

With my hand over my chest, I gush, “Of course! Please, please show me!”

Tears bubble up in my eyes, along with such unending warmth I wouldn’t be surprised to look in the mirror and see that my cheeks are the same color as my hair. Looking over my shoulder I spot Kieran and by the look on his face, just as much joy is flooding his system.

Emmy grasps my hand and pulls me along, coming to a stopin front of her room. She jumps into a star formation, yelling, “Ta-da!”

I don’t know what I want to cry over first—her excitement, or the pink bookshelf mounted to her wall. She runs over to it, pointing at the books filling the shelves. She points to a Lego flower vase, too, her smile coy.

“Like my daddy’s,” she whispers, suddenly shy and unsure of herself at my quietness.

Shaking myself out of my frozen stupor, I mentally tell myself I can cry later. Right now, Emmy needs all the encouragement to keep talking. I kneel before her, my joy no doubt written stark across my face.

“Did you and Daddy build Legos today?”

She nods empathetically.

Kieran’s deep voice dances along my spine. “Emmy has been hard at work today building her Lego while I built the bookshelf.”

My eyes lift to the custom project that rises to the ceiling. She has more than enough room to grow over the years.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper in awe. “Kieran, you outdid yourself. I’ve never seen such a beautiful bookshelf before.” Looking over my shoulder, I tease, “What can’t you build?”

His smirk is smug. “There’s no limit when it comes to my girls.”

My girls.

Goosebumps prickle my skin as I turn back.

There are small details in the wood along the base.Did he carve the small fairies?My fingers trail over the design, my breath catching. “Kieran, it’s—” A gasp of shocked laughter escapes me. “It’s more than beautiful, it’s art. I’d do despicable things to have this in my room.”