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Luna pushed me away once she was upright then pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and immediately flinched. She turned her hands over and sure enough they were skinned.
I encircled her wrist gently. “Come. I'm taking you to my place to get you cleaned up.”
She pulled her hand from me, and I let her. “I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“Daddy?” Alice whined.
“Luna’s okay,” I assured her. “Just a little scraped up.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “You have to come over to our house, Luna. I have Bluey Band-Aids.”
At my daughter's offer, Luna’s face softened. “That girl's trouble. She could probably convince me to do anything.”
I chuckled. “Trust me. I'm fully aware of her superpowers.” And I was well aware of the power the two of them could amass if they joined forces. They’d be unstoppable. I tilted my head toward my side of the fence. “So?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?”
“Nope!” chimed Alice.
Luna’s lips twitched, then glanced at me and her frown returned. “Lead the way and preferably not over the fence, thank you.”
I towed her through her house, out the front door, and up the stairs of my stoop where Alice waited for us. She'd rushed to get the first aid kit I’d stowed away in the downstairs bathroom.
“Oh look at your boo boos. Daddy is going to fix it up for you,” she promised. “He does this all the time.”
Luna lifted a brow, completely unimpressed. Still, I kept hold of her until she sat down on the leather couch. I bent at the knee to take a closer look at her, her face a hair's breadth away from mine. Her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“I'll get you a blanket!” Alice declared. It broke the spell Luna had cast over me. In a fluid motion, I stood and went to get some paper towels. The scrapes were an angry red.
“What happened?”
Luna flashed me a strange look. “I was trying to get some fresh air.”
“Instead you decided to faceplant on your patio?”
“It wasn't exactly planned. I forgot about the stupid step down out of my house.” She shook the hair out of her face as I wet a clean cloth from the kitchen and lathered some soap on it.
Luna was wearing a goddamn leather dress that molded perfectly to that tight body of hers.
“Something tells me you don't use that patio much,” I said as I started cleaning up her wounds.
“And here I thought it was the reason why I bought the house. Turns out wanting to have coffee outside in the backyard is something one aspires to do but never actually does.”
Alice came back into the room, her special pink blanket and favorite childhood stuffy in her hands. “These always make me feel better.”
CHAPTER24
Luna
My voice caughtin my throat as Alice came over with a tattered pink blanket and a stuffed bunny who had seen better days. They were clearly both well-loved and cherished by the little girl. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Alice squealed and plopped down next to me. “Those will make you feel better.”
And because my hands were violently red and scraped, Alice set the blanket in my lap and settled the stuffy right next to me, cuddling by my side.
Beck’s top teeth dug into his full bottom lip, his face the epitome of concentration as he used the warm, soapy towel to pat my hands clean. “You still never told me why you were outside to begin with.”
I swallowed hard. “If you have to know, I was calling a therapist.”