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I felt terrible and said, “Dean, I’m so sorry. Here…” I handed him a napkin to wipe his face. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. How’s your arm?” He gently reached for me to inspect where TJ had a grip and there were finger marks causing my skin to turn red.

“It’s okay. It’ll go away. I feel like this ruined the day. Thank you for helping me.”

Ada came skipping over to us, oblivious to everything that had happened, and pleaded, “Daddy, when are we getting puuuumpkins?”

Dean looked at me and said, “It doesn’t have to ruin the day, Elly. Do you wanna get some pumpkins?” He picked Ada up.

Nodding, I could feel a blush on my cheeks, so I turned to Ada and said, “Yes, let’s do it. Let’s do it, little miss.” I tickled her with my finger until she giggled. Looking over my shoulder one more time, TJ still had his hand on his jaw as he stared me down. Dean Thorne punched TJ… for me. Dean’s words kept replaying in my head on loop. She’s not yours anymore.

Chapter 10

Dean

Decking that asshole gave me the most incredible satisfaction. The way he grabbed Elly made me want to bounce his skull off the pavement. Who gave a shit if their parents worked together and wanted them together? He was a woman abuser, and he wasn’t going to get a second chance to do it to Elly.

We didn’t let that dickhead ruin our time at the festival. We picked out pumpkins, got Apple Cider Donuts, and took Ada through a corn maze. She was a little freaked out by the maze, but we made it work. The three of us took a photo in front of a giant FALL IN LOVE sign, which felt a little premature, but it happened. Elly tried to insist it only be me and Ada, but I begged her to be in the photo with us. I wasn’t sure why. It just felt right to have all three of us in it.

Ada had fallen asleep on Elly’s shoulder while she carried her around. “Want me to take her?” I asked.

Elly smiled and said, “No, it’s alright. Let her sleep. She’ll have to wake up eventually and get ready for bed.”

Nodding, I whispered, “Let’s head to the car.” I placed my hand at the small of her back to support her and Ada as they got into the car. Ignoring what I was feeling for Elly after only two days of knowing her felt possible. Without her realizing it, she was burrowing her way into my heart, a heart that was only ever supposed to be for my daughter. Even more so after what went down with her ex. I was feeling protective of her. My mind switched to Ada. I needed to protect her too, so I had to ignore whatever it was I was feeling for Elly. I admonished myself for getting caught up in the moment.

When we pulled into the house, I picked Ada up from her seat in the back. Elly followed us inside. I said, “I’m going to put her to bed. I’ll be right back.” Elly smiled but didn’t say anything.

As I came back from tucking Ada in, a million questions were running through my head. The biggest one was whether or not her arm was hurt. “Can I see your arm?” I could tell that I startled her because she jumped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She smiled. “You’re fine. I was lost in a thought.” I watched as she lifted her sleeve to show me her arm. There were bruises shaped like fingers.

“That kid is lucky I didn’t kill him. Does this hurt?” I gently touched the bruised area.

She winced slightly. “Only a little. Like a any other bruise would.” I stepped back as she pushed her sleeve down. “Thank you, Dean. Thank you for defending me. If you want to find a new nanny, I understand. Taking your nanny to the Fall Fest and having to punch her ex-boyfriend in the face probably wasn’t exactly on your Bingo card.”

She couldn’t be serious. Whether she was my kid’s nanny or not, I would’ve defended her. No woman deserves to be disrespected. “I would never do that. What happened with that asshole isn’t a reflection of you, Eliana.”

“You know, you aren’t as grumpy as Flora made you out to be.”

“What did my dear sister say about me?”

Grinning, she explained, “She text me before I started my first day to tell me you weren’t so bad. You were kind of grumpy, but it was all for show.”

That made me chuckle a little bit. Flora was a trip. “Can I get you something to drink?” I kept taking quick glances at Elly, trying not to get caught staring too long.

“Let me.” She darted into the kitchen.

I tried to protest. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, I know. It’s fine, really.” Elly moved around the kitchen like she’d already memorized everything about it. “What would you like?”

“I’ll have a beer. There’s a few in the back of the fridge.” She opened the fridge and bent over slightly to look inside. She was sexy as hell and I couldn’t help but imagine myself standing behind her, rubbing up against her thick ass. My cock was getting hard. Elly had curves for days and I could picture gripping those hips from behind.

“Oh! Found it. I don’t know why that was so hard.” She opened the beer and brought it over to me.

“Thank you.” I made sure I was scooted into the table to hide the hard-on busting through my jeans. “Are you doing alright after tonight?”

She sat down across from me. “I’m good. Like I said, I’ve been wanting to break up with him for some time now. This was the proverbial icing on the cake. What a dick.” She shook her head.