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“What? Where did you get that idea from?” His daughter was smart, but she wouldn’t ask a question like that without having heard it from another source.
“Isabella and Sophia. They said it at recess yesterday. That Terra’s gonna be my new mommy.”
Son of a bitch. He should have known that his fake engagement would get around town and eventually make its way onto the playground at the school.
“I’m sure you’re going to hear a lot of talk about that kind of stuff, pumpkin,” he explained to her. “But Terra is just your nanny, okay?”
Allie shook her head. “Nuh uh. Terra’s my friend, Daddy. She told me we could be friends. I asked her.”
Jesus, she always has to be right. Wonder where she gets that from. “Okay, so she’s your friend and your nanny. But remember what I said before Terra started hanging out with you? It’s only for a little bit, until the daycare opens back up.”
Allie seemed to think about this. A little too much, if Gray was honest. “Maybe I’ll just keep hanging out with Terra after school instead of going to daycare.” She said it so matter-of-factly, nodding, like that was her decision and it was final because she said so. Her assertiveness made the corners of Gray’s mouth turn up.
“Nah, pumpkin, I’m sorry. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to go back to daycare.”
“But I want Terra to be my nanny instead.” Her eyes widened, rounding in that puppy-dog way she’d perfected far too young. Allie knew that look usually ended up in her getting her own way when it came to Gray. This was one time it wasn’t going to work, however.
“I’m sorry, Allie,” he said, meaning it. “You have to go back to daycare.”
“Then, I want Terra to be my new mommy,” she insisted.
Fuck. “Again, pumpkin, I’m sorry,” he replied softly. “The girls at school misunderstood. Terra’s not going to be your new mommy.”
Allie’s bottom lip jutted out, quivering slightly. Not often did she not get her own way with Gray, within reason. This was one thing that Gray couldn’t control, though, and there was no way to explain to his five-year-old daughter that he’d made a huge mistake by lying about his relationship with Terra.
He’d made an even bigger mistake by letting her into his heart.
Allie was disappointed that Terra wasn’t going to be a bigger part of her life—he could see that. The sad part was, so was he.
Chapter Eight
Terra
She couldn’t stop hearing Gray’s words from yesterday, or the cruel tone he said them in. She hated that he thought she was so damn scared of her feelings. That she was so damn scared of him.
Mostly, she hated that he was right. She was scared of those two things, but it was because they collided together to form a petrifying truth—she was scared of her feelings for Gray.
She thought she hated him—hell knows she wanted to—but once Terra saw beyond that obnoxious front he put up she knew there was no denying that Gray Radden wasn’t just the cocky asshole he pretended to be. He was a sweet man with a heart of gold and loyalty to a fault. It might have taken him being a single dad to his daughter for that truth to come out, but Gray wasn’t the boy she remembered from years ago. He’d grown into a man, and a sexy, stand-up one at that.
That wasn’t going to stop her from ending this fake relationship, though. She couldn’t be his fake fiancée, couldn’t be his fake anything. This town wasn’t big enough to allow that kind of charade to go on much longer, anyway. Someone was going to ask too many questions, and someone was bound to get hurt in the process.
Someone like her. Or him. Or even poor Allie.
Terra had noticed how quiet Allie was when she’d arrived earlier in the morning to take the little girl to school. She’d noticed how silent Gray was, too, and the way his jaw remained clenched throughout their entire short interaction, but she’d done her best to focus on Allie. She was the sole reason Terra was there, especially after her and Gray’s argument the day before.
It hurt Terra to know she’d somehow hurt Allie, too. Hurting Gray had been gut-wrenching enough, but Allie was an innocent bystander in this game. She had nothing to do with the fake relationship game, yet everything to do with Gray’s reasons for wanting to play it.
Allie was Gray’s reason for everything, she knew that.
He adored his daughter, had a good heart, and was a strong and loyal man...who wouldn’t want that?
Terra, apparently. But only because their whole relationship was built on a lie. Hell, even that was a flimsy foundation, so she didn’t know why it was bothering her so much. She was upset about her fake relationship breaking up.
Except it wasn’t, was it? Fake, that is. It might have started that way, but the way he’d held her and kissed her and yearned for her...and the way she’d begged for him...
That wasn’t fake at all.
She shook her head. That was exactly why this all had to end now. They’d made a mistake, and if Gray wasn’t going to, she would be the one to own up to it.
