Page 42 of The Fiancé Hoax

It hurt that I apparently didn't mean more to him than just a hookup. But after all, we had agreed to not get attached.

I returned to the living room. The girls were watching a movie while Cooper stood behind the sofa, taking Eva's temperature.

“Mind if I join you?” I asked.

The girls both smiled up at me. Eva patted the cushion between them.

“What are you watching?”

“The Little Mermaid,” Lily said.

“Oh, that's my favorite,” I said, settling in between them.

“Mine too,” Lily said.

Cooper gathered his things. “I'm going to be in my home office for a while. Let me know if you need anything.”

“No, Daddy. Stay with us,” Eva said.

“Just for a little while,” Lily added.

Cooper glanced at me, then at the girls.

He set his stack of paperwork on the coffee table. “Okay, just for a bit.”

He started to settle into the armchair, but Lily insisted he sit on the couch so she could sit in his lap. He sat next to me with Lily in his arms.

His presence oozed sexy masculinity. I just hoped I didn’t smell like vomit.

“Daddy, why does Ariel want to be with the prince so bad?” Eva asked.

“I guess she likes him,” Cooper said.

“Yeah, but enough to leave the ocean?” Eva frowned. “I don’t get that.”

Cooper chuckled, then he glanced at me. I smiled back.

“I guess she really likes him,” Cooper said.

Eva shook her head. “I would never give up my mermaid tail for some dude.”

Cooper and I laughed, and Eva and Lily broke out in giggles, too.

Even though my body ached, it felt good to be with Cooper and his girls. Really good.

Cooper ended up finishing the movie with us. At lunchtime, he made us chicken soup. I tried to help, but he insisted I rest.

I watched him as he cooked in the kitchen, talking to the girls as we ate at the table. He was unlike any man I’d ever known. Totally comfortable in his own skin. Confident. Take-charge. And his daughters were the apples of his eye.

It was incredibly sexy.

Part of me regretted running out of his bedroom the night before. A big part.

Couldn’t I not follow the rules, just this once?

* * *

The kids and I spent the next three days at home watching movies, running to the bathroom to puke, and resting. Cooper took care of us in the mornings. He went to his office downtown to work when Inga arrived in the afternoons.