But relief didn’t come, not when happiness had once again been ripped from her grasp.
“Sorry, Ky,” Daisy said, backing toward her car. “I was just leaving.”
“Daisy, please.”
Jameson rushed after her, closing the car door she’d begun to open. “Daisy, I’m sorry. Please, I’m begging you… don’t walk away.”
“Jameson, I don’twantto walk away. I was ready to choose you, to choose us, but—”
“But nothing! It’s still me, Daisy. How can you change your mind in seconds?”
“Because reality just slapped me in the face. You let me think you and Jenna…” She couldn’t finish. “Knowing our history, knowing what it would do to me. And then to think I’d be capable of that kind of cruelty? I can’t just move on from this.”
“But you love me.”
And there it was—the truth that had brought her here.
Daisy lowered her gaze, steadying her heart. “I do, Jameson.” His eyes flickered with hope.
“But…” And with that one word, the light in them dimmed.
“This isn’t how I want this to be. The last thing I wanted was for our drama, our past, to bleed into our daughter’s future.”
“It doesn’t have to,darlin’.”
She closed her eyes, savoring the softness in his tone. Resting a hand over his wild, beating heart, she whispered, “But don’t you see? It already has.”
“What do I have to do? Name it. I’ll do anything. I won’t lose you again.”
“You’ll never lose me. You’ll always have a piece of me… the best piece. But right now… I need to stand still. To figure out how to move forward. Without Matt. And without you.”
Jameson slowly dropped the hand still holding her car door. “And what does that look like?”
“It looks like co-parenting. Healthy, present co-parenting. And nothing else.”
No more dinners. No more tender moments. No more late nights.
Daisy needed time. Time to heal, to be alone, to finally understand what was best for her and Amelia.
As she pulled out of the driveway, the headlights washed over him, Jameson standing barefoot on the pavement, shirtless and silent, watching her fade into the dark. The light from the house glowed behind him, haloing his muscular frame, a man caught between love and loss.
Chapter Thirty
Three Months Later
THE CALIFORNIA SUN BURNED BRIGHTon Daisy’s back as she lay facedown on her beach chair. The crash of waves mingled with seagulls’ cries and the distant laughter of children, all blending into the perfect summer afternoon.
Well, itwasperfect, until the sharp shrill of Anna’s voice cut through the air. “Okay, is there something on my face, or do I just lookthisgood in turquoise?”
Daisy cracked an eye open, squinting up at her friend. “You have nothing on your face.”
“Huh, because every guy on this beach is checking your girl out right now. Seriously—either I’m radiatingeasy, or I look amazing in this swimsuit.”
“Definitely the latter…” Daisy murmured, then added under her breath, “And maybe a little of the former.”
Anna swatted her arm. “Brat.”
Daisy rolled onto her back with a groan. “Now that my peace has been destroyed, can you hand me my phone?”
