Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Simona fell silent and was staring up at my young wife. I waited for the
inevitable outburst, an even worse crying fit than before, but Simona only let out
a small cry. “Shh. You’re the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen.” And then Giulia
bent down and kissed my daughter’s left cheek then the right. “With the cutest
chubby cheeks that I can imagine.”
My heart thudded in my chest, an uneven staccato I could feel in my ears. I
couldn’t move. Simona reached for Giulia’s bangs and tugged, but my wife only
laughed and blew out air, sending her hair flying up, causing Simona’s eyes to
widen. Then she giggled.
Simona giggled.
Giulia looked up and smiled, unguarded, happy, hopeful. I turned around and
stalked out. “I’ll prepare the bottle,” I pressed. Even though I wished she
wouldn’t, Giulia followed me downstairs. She watched me the entire time as I
prepared the formula. I could feel her questions hovering in the room between
us. She didn’t ask, only kept cooing at my daughter.
When the bottle was ready, I went over to her. She leaned into me. “Why
don’t you feed her while I hold her?”
I stared into those blue eyes, feeling reminded of the way I felt when I stood
on the dunes in front of my beach house, peering toward the ocean.