“I’d love that. He’s never had a real dad.”
Caleb presses a kiss to my temple. “I know you’re a package deal. But I’m here. And I don’t plan on being anywhere else.”
“It’s a lot to ask. I know that.”
He chuckles. “We can take our time. Get to know each other. But I want you to know the fact that you have children isn’t going to stop me. Wait until you meet Chloe’s mob.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “I’m hoping you’ll let me in. Especially now I know you’re the mother of my child.”
I turn my head toward him. “He’s a grown man. I’m not expecting?—”
“I don’t want to spend time with you because of him. I want you, Emma. I’m not sure I ever stopped.”
Caleb presses a long kiss to my forehead.
“Caleb, I …”
“I’ll get out of here before your kids come back. I think we’ve all been through enough for today. The door is done. I’ll see you again early next week.”
I’m numb as he jogs up the stairs to grab his things, and before I can even react, he’s gone.
The silence won’t last.
Before long there’ll be laughter and all the wonderful noise my children couldn’t make in our past life.
Now it’s unbridled.
Caleb’s words churn through my thoughts. He wants me? I never saw that coming.
He’s ridiculously attractive—even more so than when we were younger, but me?
When I look in the mirror, I see an older version of me—one who had the life sucked out of her. I can’t say the spark is fully back, but every day I get a little further away from everything I went through.
And now my father threatens to drag me back.
I’ll fight tooth and nail if I have to.
He can’t win.
Thirteen
Emma
Noah’s quiet when he comes back from getting Jason from school.
He disappears into his room, only emerging when I’m cooking dinner.
I turn over the chicken pieces, my mouth watering as I breathe in the aroma of the food.
“Mum?”
Despite knowing this was coming, my stomach pinches.
“Noah.”
“Can we talk about today?”
I turn toward him. God, he looks like Caleb—that’s even more clear now I’ve seen them together.
