“Patience, for one. Present-moment awareness.” He smiles. “She’s good company.”
My chest feels tight. “That’s… that’s really sweet, Calvin.”
“I’m not saying it to be sweet. I’m saying it because it’s true.” He glances at Ella, who’s now attempting to put both feet in her mouth. “Plus, you need to work. Really work, without constantly being pulled away. Let me do this.”
“Is this because of last night?” I have to ask. Have to know. “Are you offering to spend time with Ella because we kissed?”
“No.” He says it firmly, without hesitation. “The kiss has nothing to do with it. I’d have offered this morning regardless of what happened last night.”
Relief washes over me. Because that was my fear: that he was trying to win me over by being nice to my daughter. That his interest in Ella was performative.
“Although,” he adds, and his voice drops lower, “I wouldn’t mind another.”
“Another what?” I ask, even though I know exactly what he means.
“Kiss.” He’s moving closer now, and my pulse quickens. “If you’re amenable.”
“I might be amenable.”
“Might be?”
“Definitely am.”
He cups my face with one hand, and just the touch of his palm against my cheek makes my breath catch.
“The tent entrance is open,” I whisper. “Anyone could walk by.”
“Then we should be quick.”
He kisses me, and it’s just as wonderfully overwhelming as last night. Maybe more so, because now we’re not tentative, not testing. We know what this feels like, and we want more of it.
I rise to my tiptoes to get closer, my hands fisting in his shirt. He makes a low sound in his throat that does things to my insides.
When we finally pull apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“We should stop,” I murmur against his lips.
“Probably.”
Neither of us moves for a long moment, but then he kisses me once more, quick and sweet, then steps back.
“I should go,” he says. “Before I forget all the reasons why I should go.”
“Probably wise,” I laugh.
He glances at Ella, who’s watching us with wide, curious eyes. “Ready to hang out with me today, Ella?”
“Cav-cav!” she chirps happily.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He looks back at me, and the warmth in his eyes makes my heart stutter. “Go do brilliant work. I’ve got this.”
After he leaves with Ella, I stand in the tent for a moment, touching my lips, trying to process everything that’s happening.
I’m not ashamed of what we’re doing. Not at all. Calvin is wonderful—more wonderful than I expected, more than I thought possible when I first met him. But I understand why we need to be careful. The team would worry. They’d wonder if my judgment was compromised, if Calvin’s expectations were based on personal feelings rather than professional standards. They’d fear that a relationship could complicate the dig, create conflict, potentially sabotage everything we’re working toward. And they might be right. This is risky. Kissing your boss is the kind of thing that could blow up spectacularly.
But as I head out to the excavation site, I catch sight of Calvin sitting with Ella in her play area, tracing something in the sand with a stick, and I can’t bring myself to regret it.
Some risks are worth taking, even if they could end badly. Because the possibility of something real, something genuine, something that could actually make you happy… sometimes that’s worth all the risk in the world.
