He seemed to hesitate for a moment. “To stay.”
A shimmer of anticipation warmed her chest at the thought of sleeping in Cole’s arms, waking up next to him, having breakfast together with Zachary.
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay.”
* * *
Cole awoke to the feel of Amber spooned in his arms and the realization that he had to tell her the truth. Up until last night, he’d been prepared to breeze into town, make sure Zachary was settled and breeze back out again. But things had changed. She had changed them.
She rolled onto her back, blinking her eyes in the dim light from the window.
“Morning,” he said softly.
A pretty smile grew on her face. “Morning.”
Otis whimpered at the door.
Then Zachary let out a cry down the hall.
“Is Isabel in yet?” Cole asked.
Amber craned her neck to look at the bedside clock. “Not for an hour.”
Otis whined more insistently and Zachary’s cries grew steady.
Cole grimaced. “I’ll walk the dog if you feed the baby.”
“Sorry,” said Amber.
“Not your fault at all.” He sat up, shaking off sleep. “We jumped from a one-night stand to an old married couple in the blink of an eye.”
“Not the morning you had in mind,” she asked from behind him.
He turned, already smiling. “Oddly, it feels like the perfect morning. Shall I pick up some bagels while I’m out?”
She rose from the other side of the bed, gloriously naked and indescribably beautiful. “Make mine blueberry.”
“You got it.” He forced himself to look away and pulled on his jeans.
Otis’s leash was at the front door, along with Cole’s jacket. They took the elevator, and once they were on the sidewalk, they headed to the park.
Cole let the fresh air clear his brain. While they walked, he formulated and discarded several versions of a speech to Amber. Should he plunge in with the fact that he was Samuel’s long-lost son? Or should he go about it chronologically, outline his motivation and rationale before hitting her with his real identity?
He didn’t want to upset her. He didn’t want to worry her. And he certainly didn’t want to make her distrust or dislike him any more than he already had. But last night had been too amazing for anything less than complete honesty.
He and Otis ended up on the opposite side of the park. They made their way down the block to a bakery Cole had found a couple of days ago. He left Otis outside and chose a variety of bagels, then they started back to the penthouse.
He found himself wondering what Zachary ate. Would he like to try a bit of bagel? Or did he stick to pureed foods?
Cole knew absolutely nothing about babies or toddlers. All he knew was that Zachary was adorable, and that he was curious about the stages of development to come. He hoped once he told Amber the truth, she’d be willing to send him pictures and videos. Maybe he could even come back occasionally and check up on Zachary.