Free Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) by Elise Manion Page B

help you find it.”
    “Blue is blue,” she explained, as if he were mentally deficient.
    Jarod scrubbed at his sleepy, beard-stubbled face and looked at the clock. It was two in the morning.
    He turned back to his little girl and thought for a moment before the lightbulb finally turned on in his head and he grinned.
    “Are you looking for that dirty ol’ blanket?”
    Lip trembling and eyes closing to squeeze out another fat tear, she nodded, still not making any kind of sound. Weren’t children supposed to be noisy when they cried? Hell if he knew, but her silence did bother him; however, he wasn’t going to question her about it at the moment. Right now, he had an urgent matter to attend to.
    He had to find Blue. His daughter needed her blanket.
    Scooping her up, he hugged her to him and said, “Nana put Blue, and the rest of your things, in the washing machine when you fell asleep.” He brushed a tear away from her rosy cheek with the tip of his large finger.
    “But Blue is ’fraid of the washin’ sheens. They live on the dark street and Blue needs ta be with me,” she explained.
    “Jessica, Nana has her own washing machine. Blue is here in the house. Actually, it’s probably in the dryer.” He studied her tearful face for another moment and asked, “Do you want to see if Blue is clean and dry yet?”
    She was clasping and unclasping her hands under her chin, but she nodded her head. Those fat tears still rolled down her face. He hugged her to him again and kissed her wet cheek, unable to stop himself from offering her comfort.
    So, with her in a giant t-shirt and him wearing only his boxers, they padded downstairs to the washer and dryer to look for his daughter’s beloved blanket.
    When they entered the small dining room that led to the utility room, they found Lauren sitting at the table sipping from a teacup. Lauren’s eyes bugged out of her head, obviously surprised to see them at this unholy hour and in such a state of undress.
    With a wicked grin on her face, she asked sweetly, “What’s goin’ on, guys?”
    Jessica said, “We’re lookin’ for Blue.”
    Lauren raised her eyebrows.
    “She needs her blanket,” he explained.
    Lauren immediately got up to open the utility room door.
    “Of course you do, sweet pea. Let’s see if it’s in the dryer.”
    Good God, she wasn’t wearing much more than either of them. Jarod watched her firm behind sway in soft gray yoga pants that hugged her heart-shaped tush. Her white camisole left nothing to the imagination, especially with it being a little chilly. The central heating system was set to automatically dip down at night so everyone could sleep comfortably.
    He did not want to see her like this, right now, while he held his very afraid, and very new, daughter in his arms.
    He closed his eyes and prayed for self-control.
    Jessica squeezed his neck. “We need to rescue Blue, Jar’d.”
    Hearing her mangle his name in her sweet voice startled him. And he was beginning to think she might have some speech problems.
    “Sorry, Darlin’,” he said distractedly and followed Lauren-of-the-awesome-behind into the utility room, where she was bending over to dig through the dryer.
    Damn . He squeezed his eyes shut again. Get it together, Man!
    Just then, she turned around excitedly to present the now-clean blanket, which did very interesting things to the front of her camisole. Lauren’s eyes were bright with excitement when Jessica squealed at the sight of her blanket. Jessica squirmed to get down, so Jarod gently put her feet to the floor.
    She ran to Lauren, who was now bent down to hand the blanket over… Lord have mercy… which gave him the perfect view of her fantastic cleavage.
    He was never getting back to sleep tonight. No way. No how.
    Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched the two females squeal with delight over the clean, ratty blue blanket.
    Lauren picked up Jessica and asked, “Are you ready for bed now?”
    Jessica hugged her blue