“Mama?”

“Hey, Angel.” I smile, opening my arms to her as she walks sleepily toward me. “Did you sleep okay?” I ask, tucking her head under my chin and wrapping my arms around her, rocking her gently.

“Like a pwincess.” She smiles, tipping her head back to look at me. “I’m hungwy.”

I know Jax said to make ourselves at home, but I still feel awkward using his stuff when he isn’t around. It feels personal…way too personal. “Can I have pancakes?”

Crap. I’m not gonna starve my daughter, so I need to pull my big girl panties up and get over whatever reservations I have with being in Jax’s house, especially since this is our home for the time being, too.

“You have to be very quiet until we get downstairs. Can you do that?”

“Like a mouse,” she whispers, making me smile.

“Okay, little mouse, let’s go,” I tell her, standing up and taking her hand in mine.

“Jax is sweepin’,” she loudly whispers when we step into the hall.

“Remember, quiet as a mouse,” I say, and her nose scrunches up and down a few times like a mouse would do, and I grin.

Getting to the kitchen, I lift her up, set her on the counter, and then look around.

Jax’s house is nice, but you can tell he’s slowly trying to fix it up. Cans of paint and different tiles sit in the corner next to a backdoor I hadn’t noticed last night. The upper cabinets don’t match the lower ones, and the linoleum floors are peeling up, completely gone in some spots. The fridge is new, stainless steel, with some kind of computer on the front, but the other appliance are old and white. The one thing that’s completed is the countertops. They aren’t granite, but look like concrete that has specks of glass imbedded in them. Looking around, I can tell that one day, when he gets around to finishing everything, it will be amazing.

“What are you doing?” Hope giggles, bringing me out of my perusal of the kitchen.

Smiling at her, I shrug then begin opening the cupboards one at a time until I come across the stuff necessary to make pancakes.

“Are you ready to be my mixer?” I ask her, putting some flour in the bowl and handing her a spoon.

“Yep.” She grins, stirring the flour, causing it to fly up out of the bowl and hit us both in the face. “Uh oh.” She covers her mouth with the spoon still in her hand, flinging flour at me and dumping some on her in the process. Then she begins to giggle louder, her little body shaking with the force of it.

Narrowing my eyes, I set my hands on my hips. “You did that on purpose.”

“I didn’t. I pwomise.”

“You did.” I laugh then tickle her while kissing her all over her face, making her squirm in my arms.

“Looks like I’m just in time.” Freezing in place, I lift my head and meet Jax’s sleepy gaze.

“We woke you. I’m so sorry,” I mumble, standing to my full height. I try to ignore the fact he’s shirtless and his hair is rumpled from sleep, giving me a visual of what it would look like if I were to run my hand through it.

You do not need that visual, Ellie, I scold myself.

“You didn’t. This house is too quiet; I could get use to waking up to the sounds I heard this morning.” He smiles, and I feel my cheeks heat up when his eyes drop to my legs. I know I have shorts on, but the shirt is so long that it hides them. His eyes turn darker then travel up, meeting mine again before dropping to my mouth when I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

“We’re makin’ pancakes, Ax,” Hope chimes in, and his eyes go to her, the heat disappearing, and softness enters them.

“I love pancakes. What’s your favorite kind?”

“Ones wiff syrup.” She grins.

“I like chocolate chips in mine,” he tells her, making her eyes light up like he just told her there is a real life unicorn in the backyard and she gets to ride it.

“Chocowate chips,” she repeats then looks at me and frowns. I have never made her pancakes with anything in them, and apparently she thinks I’ve been holding out on her.

“We can make them with chocolate chips another time, after I have a chance to go to the store,” I promise her.

“We have chips, baby.” Pulling my gaze from Hope, I meet his again. “Like I said last night, use anything you want,” he says, picking up a dishtowel and smiling while wiping off my face then Hope’s.

“Thank you,” I murmur. I swear the only words I have really spoken to him have been thank you. He’s constantly doing things that are sweet and catch me off guard. I’m not use to anyone being nice.

“So can I have chocowate in my pancakes?” Hope asks, making me laugh.

Leaning in, I kiss her chubby cheek and whisper, “Yes, you can have them in yours.”

“Yay.” She smiles, rubbing her face against mine like a cat.

Feeling something strange coming from Jax, I turn my head, seeing a look in his eyes that sends a shiver through me. It’s tender and dark, but so soft, and I wonder what caused it.

Clearing his throat and running his hand over his jaw, he walks across the kitchen and pulls down a bag of chocolate chips from the cupboard, handing them to me.

“Thanks.” When I smile, his hand lifts and he runs his fingers down the side of my face then looks at Hope, tapping the end of her nose, making her grin before he moves to the coffee pot and starts it up.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?”