“Dayton?” she whispers, looking terrified but stunning with her lips swollen and her cheeks flush.

Fuck, I want to kiss her again.

Unable to help myself, I smooth my thumb over her bottom lip. “Molly is going to be here soon, and you need to go get ready.”

“But—”

“I’ll be down to get you at seven thirty,” I cut her off, hating the worry I see in her eyes. But there isn’t time right now to reassure her that everything will be okay. And I know that even if I tried, she wouldn’t believe me.

The situation between us is too delicate for words alone. It’s going to take time to win her and her trust and to make her believe that this can work—something that has become more and more clear over the last couple of weeks.

“Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?” Kingston shouts across the apartment, and Franny’s eyes widen in horror.

“Oh my God,” she whispers, and I reluctantly loosen my hold on her and turn toward the kitchen.

“Did you find the butter?” I ask, and Kingston—who has PJ up in his arms hanging sideways, with his paws kicking at air while trying to find purchase—grins.

“I did.” Winter holds up the box while slamming the fridge door closed with her hip.

“All right, take it upstairs to your dad. He’s probably waiting on you two,” I tell her, and Kingston disappears behind the island as he sets PJ down.

Winter skips toward the door, singing, “Hi, Franny!”

“Uh… hey, sweetheart,” she replies, stepping away from me.

“Do you want us to bring you cookies after we make them?” my niece asks, looking between Franny and me with a bright smile that reminds me of her dad’s knowing one.

“We’ll be leaving soon, so we’ll come get some tomorrow,” I tell her, and her smile gets brighter.

“Cool. See ya!” She rushes out the door, and Kingston shouts a goodbye before following after her.

“She is totally going to tell your brother what she walked in on,” Franny says, watching the door close.

“Yep,” I agree, and she turns to face me.

“You need to tell him that she didn’t see what she thinks she saw.”

My brows shoot up. “You want me to make her look like a liar?”

“No.” Her shoulders slump.

“Don’t think about that right now,” I tell her, suddenly sorry for teasing her when she seems genuinely distressed.

“Don’t think about it?” she breathes, looking up at me with her eyes going wide again.

“You need to go meet Molly downstairs.”

“Right. You’re right.” She looks around. “Do you know where my phone is?”

“In your hand.” I press my lips together to curb my grin.

Her eyes drop to it, and she shakes her head.