Page 17 of Hidden Desire

He picked up his phone and called his housekeeper.

“Hello,” Taylor said.

“He’s gone. Come on back to the house. I’ll be waiting by the back door,” Robert said.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Robert walked out the back door and watched for them. When he caught sight of the three, he studied Grace’s expression and saw the fear she was trying to hide. Taylor must have told her why they were hiding. He smiled, lifted, and hugged his daughter when she raced to him.

“Daddy, I pottied on my dress.”

Taylor grinned. “We’ll have to get her in a bath. We tried to get her to lean against a tree, but it was a disaster.”

Robert chuckled. “That can be fixed.”

Taylor tossed her head at Grace, where she stood a few feet away, looking down at the floor. “I’m going to take her up. You need to calm the other girl down before she has an anxiety attack,” she whispered.

Robert sighed and nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

He waited until Taylor and Hannah were gone before he cleared his throat. When she didn’t look up at him, he sighed. “Sweetheart. There is no way in hell I’d ever let that man around you again.”

Her head snapped up, and he saw hope take away the shadows of fear. He opened his arms and waited. It didn’t take long before she flew into them and let him hug her tightly.

“I promise you everything is going to be okay. This is your home now.”

She tipped back her head to look at him. “But what happens when Hannah doesn’t need me anymore?”

“I’ll still need you.”

Her brows puckered. “How?”

“It’s something we’ll discuss later. I don’t want you to worry about it.”

She nodded, sighed, and leaned her cheek against his chest. It made him feel content, and it was a feeling he’d never want to end.

Chapter Eight

Grace sighed. It was going to be another night without sleep. A few days before, when her father had been there, it had threatened to take away any positive feeling she had since coming to the Crenshaws.

It helped tremendously when she remembered what Robert had said about never having to see her father again, but there was always a chance she would. Besides that, it frustrated her that she couldn’t control the way her body reacted when Robert was around. She knew she blushed more than she had in the beginning because the closer they got, the more his touching her became normal.

Knowing sleep was not coming anytime soon, she slid out of bed and pulled on her robe. Maybe warm milk would help. Hell, she was willing to do anything to get some sleep.

She’d lived there for over three months, so she pretty much knew where everything was. Grabbing a coffee cup from the shelf, she filled half of it with milk and stuck it in the microwave. When it was ready, she stood in front of the sink, sipping from the cup, and staring outside.

“What are you doing up, Sweetheart?”

A startled shriek burst from her, and her body jerked, causing her to lose her grip on the cup. It fell and shattered in the sink and on the counter.

“Aw, fuck. I’m sorry, Sweetheart. Don’t move. You have bare feet. I want to make sure there’s no glass on the floor,” he said.

Robert turned on the light over the sink and squatted next to her. Her body jolted when she felt his hand cup her lower leg.

“Easy,” he murmured. “I don’t see any on the floor.” He stood.

“I’ll clean it up. I’m the one that made the mess,” she said.

“But I’m the one that caused it. Let me help.”