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Whoa! Hold on! Am I already thinking of something permanent with him? Is he ‘the one’? True, I not only enjoy having sex with him, I enjoy his company as well. I love his dedication to work and even though he sometimes acts like an ogre, I love how he treats his employees. With respect. I also love how he wants to win his daughter back.
The election is coming up soon, and our project will be completed. Then what? Where does that leave me? Again, I ponder on the wisdom of carrying on with this secret affair.
The thought of ending things with him leaves me in despair. I have allowed my heart to get into what should have only been a sexual affair, and it might already be too late to stop it.
Shit!
CHAPTER14
GARETH
“So, what do you think?” I eagerly ask Amber after she takes a bite from the spaghetti and meatballs tomato sauce I made for lunch.
Amber shrugs. “Not bad.”
“Not bad? Oh, please stop with the praise. I can’t take it,” I tease, hiding my disappointment.
She lifts her head from staring at her plate and smiles. A genuine smile, not one of those polite halfhearted ones. This is the first time she has given me a sincere smile in a very long time.
“Do you expect me to believe that you made this delicious spaghetti and meatballs?” she demands with a short laugh. “I know about Henri.”
Laughter rumbles from my throat. Henri is my private chef.
“Young lady, I’ll have you know that I prepared the, in your words, ‘delicious meal,’ and that I can cook. I don’t cook much because I don’t have the time, but I know how to.”
Her smile widens, making me want to grab her, hug her and never let her go.
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“You may not remember, but I used to prepare meals for you and your Mom when you were little.”
She snorts. “Really?”
“Yes. Really. Tell you what, next time you come over, I’ll cook a meal, and you’ll help.”
“Okay. Why didn’t you wait for me before starting this time?”
I lower my gaze to my glass of water. “I didn’t know if you would come. We’ve had many dates like this, but you often cancel to be with your friends or to do other stuff.”
Her face pales.
“Not that I’m blaming you,” I hastily add. “I understand completely.”
“It’s not as if I’ve been blowing you off. Mom always told me that you couldn’t make it because you had to go out of town on impromptu business trips.”
I grip the edge of the table to keep from cursing my ex-wife out loud. She always made it seem as if Amber was the one who didn’t want to see me. I always believed her in the past, thinking my daughter was still mad at me for missing out on her growing years.
I shift my scrutiny from her face to look around the spacious and well-equipped kitchen decorated in red and white, so she won’t notice the anger in my eyes. Linda has been allowing me to see Amber a lot lately, although it’s partially because of her project. The gesture has me wondering what her plan is. Why the change of heart? I can’t believe she’s doing this because of Amber. She might be a good mother, but she enjoys doing things to spite me, like keeping my daughter from me.
“Dad, it’s fine. I’m here now, aren’t I?”
I stare at my daughter’s cheerful face, and I smile warmly at her. “Alright, Pumpkin.”
I pick up my fork and start eating. I start to think of a safe topic to discuss with her, but she speaks up first.
“How is Hailey? I miss our conversations,” she says, and it takes everything in me not to smile brightly at the mention of her.
“She’s fine, I guess. It’s a Saturday, so I don’t know how she’s doing. Well, until on Monday.” What? Am I rambling over a simple question? It had caught me off guard, but why am I saying such things, especially as I’ll be spending the rest of the weekend with Hailey?
