Olivia woke, stretching and yawning. The silky gown she’d changed into when Micah left felt good against her skin, but since she still wore it, she felt safe in assuming he hadn’t returned to her room. Olivia allowed herself a momentary pout.
Having seen the way his eyes lit up from within at the sight of her lingerie, she’d been looking forward to his reaction to the gown. But he hadn’t returned. She didn’t hear any movement above her, but that didn’t mean anything, she had no idea what time it was.
Getting out of bed, she scanned the closet. She wanted to wear something sexy but not too sexy. If there were other guests in the lodge she didn’t want to give them the wrong impression, but she definitely wanted Micah to know what he’d missed out on last night.
Thoughts of Micah led to the discussion they’d had the night before about her past. Olivia couldn’t believe she’d opened up to him the way she had. He’d been so understanding, so concerned, and later, so passionate. Her skin still tingled and her mind kept wandering to Micah with his hair loose and his body covering hers.
Suppressing a shiver, Olivia dressed quickly, tugged her fingers through her hair and ignored her makeup. She practically skipped down the stairs, hearing voices in the kitchen. Remembering Micah’s request that she take her meals with him in the kitchen, she pushed the door open and stopped at the sight before her.
A little girl, no more than five or six sat on the counter by the sink, swinging her legs against the cabinet as she sucked milk up through a straw. She didn’t look up as Olivia entered the room, but Micah did. He turned from the stove to smile at her. Four strides brought him to her side and his warm hand cupped her jaw.
“Good morning. ‘O, beauty, ‘til now I never knew thee.’”
“Good morning yourself. I see you have a helper this morning.” Olivia glanced at the child again, noticing her dark blonde hair and brown eyes. A quick look back at Micah showed an odd expression on his face. “Did a family check in last night?”
“Not exactly.” Micah kissed her cheek then took her hand. “Olivia Decatur, I’d like you to meet Talia Genaro. Talia, this is my friend, Olivia. Can you say hello?”
The child pulled the straw out of her mouth to smile at Olivia. “Hello.”
“Hello, Talia, it’s very nice to meet you.” Olivia took the little girl’s hand, smiling when she giggled at their handshake. “Micah, she’s adorable.”
“Yes she is, and hungry too. Why don’t you help yourself to the coffee? Talia, did you want to go find your books? I think they’re in one of the boxes in the living room.”
“Okay.” The child hopped down from the counter and raced from the room. Micah watched the doorway for a moment before focusing his attention to Olivia.
“Talia is one of my goddaughters. The family she was staying with brought her to me last night because the placement wasn’t working.”
“They brought her to you?” Olivia paused with her coffee cup raised halfway to her mouth. “I don’t understand.”
“Talia’s mother was…” He paused long enough to raise any number of questions as to his relationship with the child’s mother. Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. Could he be Talia’s father? If so, why had he placed the child with someone else? Why hadn’t he taken responsibility for her from birth?
“Her mother was a friend of mine, a good friend. And, no, Talia isn’t my daughter. Shelly never told us the father’s name. Since Shelly’s death, Talia has been my responsibility. I thought putting her with relatives would work, but it didn’t. The next step was a foster family. Apparently that didn’t work either, so now she’s here, with me.”
“You’re not related to her?” Olivia sipped at her coffee and moved toward the kitchen door. Pushing it open, she glanced toward the main room.
“No. I’m her guardian and godfather, that’s all.” Micah turned his attention back to the stove, pulling a tray of hot biscuits out of the oven. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”
“Apologize?” Olivia turned her attention back to Micah.
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to your room before you fell asleep.” He moved toward her again, smiling slightly as he reached her side. “I’m sorry we didn’t finish what we’d started.”
His hands cupped her shoulders as he drew her closer to his body. Bending forward, he kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry I couldn’t spend what was left of the night making love to you.”
Olivia closed her eyes as she tilted her head back to meet his kiss. Gentle, sweet, it was the perfect morning kiss. “So am I.”
She stepped out of his arms. “What now?”
“What do you mean?” Micah turned and she felt his gaze as she crossed the kitchen toward the back door.
“Well, we obviously can’t pick up where we left off with a child in the house.”
“We’ll figure it out. After all, Talia has to sleep sometime.”
Hearing the humor in Micah’s voice, Olivia glanced at him. “You’re incorrigible.”
“No, I’m intrigued and enthralled. And we will figure this out.” Micah winked and moved to the fridge. He pulled eggs and ham out and had started the makings for an omelet when Talia came back into the kitchen, both arms full of picture books. She brought one over to Olivia and smiled.
“Will you read to me?”
“Of course.” They sat at the kitchen table while Talia picked out her favorite book, explaining in great detail why it was her favorite.
Micah watched them together-Olivia with her bright blonde hair and Talia with her darker locks. Both had delicate features, but he knew that Talia would inherit her mother’s height. He wondered if she’d inherit the shifter gene as well. Since no one in the Pack knew who her father was-he could have been human. In that case, the chances of Talia being a shifter were fifty-fifty.
That bought his mind around to the mystery of Olivia’s family. Her birth family. He needed to make a few phone calls, get on the internet and do some research through some of the Pack archives. There had to be a record somewhere of her birth, her real family, her Pack.
For whatever reason, her parents hadn’t made provisions for her and that went against everything he knew to be true of Pack wolves. If they’d been Packless, they still should have made sure Olivia was placed with a shifter family. Humans had a limited range of acceptance when it came to things like people turning into animals.
A burst of laughter from the two at the table brought him back to the present in plenty of time to turn the omelet he had started. Hopefully he could find something to keep Talia occupied while he spent time with Olivia and vice versa.
Then again, if Talia were going to be living with him full time and he could convince Olivia to stay around, perhaps he’d be better off finding something for all three of them to do together…at least until Talia’s bedtime. Micah smiled contentedly. Things looked like they were going exactly where he wanted them to go. The bell over the front door pealed.
“Olivia, will you watch the omelet? I need to see who that is.”
Micah knew who stood on the other side of the door as soon as he hit the hallway. Pete Standing Elk had come calling. Micah heaved a sigh. He’d hoped to have more time before this burden was thrust back on him. With a deep breath he opened the door.
“Ya-ta-hey, Pete. It’s good to see you. Let’s step into my office.” Micah waved the other man forward.
“Micah, I’m glad you’re back.”
The two moved into the paneled sanctuary that served as Micah’s office. Pete took the chair Micah offered but sat only after Micah had folded himself into his own leather office chair.
“Pete, I know you are here for a reason. Let’s get to it.” Micah steepled his fingers to rest his chin on them. He leveled a steady gaze at the older man in front of him.