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Rachel blinked rapidly, her jaw opening and closing but no words coming out. When she finally spoke, she didn't even try to hide her shock. "So, it's true...Claire is..."
Lucas sighed. "My daughter. Well, our daughter."
Scratching her scalp, Rachel chuckled awkwardly. "Well, you know, we should set up a play date. What do you think? All of us, the twins, Claire? We can get some other kids from school too." " She looked at Lucas. "I'm sure Carter would love to have you over."
Lucas looked at me. "What do you think, hon?"
I shrugged and looked directly at Rachel. "Maybe. But, you know, I'm not a single mother anymore now. So my schedule is just so open that I really get to decide how I want to spend my free time."
Lucas pressed his lips together, failing to hide his smirk.
Rachel's lips pursed. "Right." She kept her well trained smile twisted on, ignoring my insult. "Well, you let me know."
"Rachel, there you are!" A little girl and her mother entered the park, and Rachel smiled at us again and strode off across the park.
Laughing, Lucas kissed me again. "That was...direct. Do you feel better now?"
My eyebrows lifted. "Golden."
I glanced around the park at the woman Rachel was animatedly talking to. It was the new mom named Helen who I'd met outside the school not long ago. The one who'd failed to catch my sarcasm. There was something about her that was so...familiar.
Lucas sighed. "I know you don't like her, and I don't blame you, but maybe a playdate could help Claire make friends...and stop them from bullying her."
Helen glanced across the park, saw me, and waved. My stomach plummeted. Lifting my hand to wave back, I couldn't take my eyes off her face. Specifically, the mole on her upper left cheek. Suddenly, it dawned on me that Helen was the woman in the video I'd stolen, the one blackmailing Jessie Isaacs.
I looked up at Lucas. "You know what? I think a playdate with the moms at school is a great idea."
16
LUCAS
There was nothing that could have dampened my mood that Sunday. Never before had I experienced such lightness in my heart. As Olive and I sat on the park bench watching Claire play, there were no words to describe the happiness settling inside me.
Maybe it was the crisp blue skies, the orange leaves falling around us, the easy breeze...or maybe it was Claire's excitement in discovering I was her father. My hand was draped across Olive's shoulder, my hand twirling her hair, tickling the back of her neck. She sighed, leaning against me, and the sound warmed my heart.
Had I ever felt this comfortable with a woman before? I didn't think so. Silence in my previous relationships were always tense and awkward. It never felt this comfortable. I had never imagined I could feel like this before.
The happiness in my chest was vast and expansive, a warm hug I was falling into. Falling. I looked at Olive, smiling as I watched her eyes light up as they followed Claire across the park. Was it possible that I was falling for her?
My gaze lifted above her head, and a flash of sunlight reflected off the lens of a camera. But it wasn't the camera I was looking at. It was the man holding it. Mother fucker. I'd recognize that balding ginger from anywhere, his beady eyes bulging out of his round head.
I pretended to glance at my phone. "Ah, Jessie's calling. Probably about the press conference. I should take this."
She smiled, her chin resting in the palm of her hands. "Kay, baby."
I stood up and squeezed Olive's shoulder.
Kyle, the bodyguard I'd hired to protect Olive and Claire from houndingreporters, perked up. I nodded at him, giving him the signal to stay with Olive.
When I reached the gate to the park, Jake Hall was already outside, waiting for me. Of course, he'd seen me coming. He snapped three photos and grinned. "Lucas, how's it going?"
"You sleazy fuck. Don't you have anything better to do?" I stepped toward him, and he lifted his camera like a shield.
"Come any closer and that's assault. And I'll have photos to prove it."
I rolled my eyes. "Can you just give us some fucking privacy for once?"
"Lucas, you know this is my job. And I'm good at it since I'm the only one here."
