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“Definitely better.”
My eyes instinctively drop down to the scar on her lip again, like it’s a magnet I’m unable to avoid.
And that…is a problem for me.
Clearing my throat, I step back, making sure she’s balanced before I let her go.
“Glad to hear it,” I say. “Now, I have some more work to get done, and I’m assuming you do, too.”
Her easy expression shifts to something…less easy, but neither of us say anything more before I turn and walk out of the kitchen, heading down to my office to, let’s be honest, hide.
There was a rigid kind of strangeness to my voice when I spoke to her, and I don’t really like the demanding Get back to work vibes it gave off. But my uneasiness about the way I feel around Emily is starting to become more and more clear to me as time passes.
I’m not just angry at her because she’s the interloper, the one stealing my son away from me.
I’m also angry because I’m attracted to her.
And that is a problem.
Because my attraction is not just to her beauty, which is subtle and sweet and adorable in its own way. It’s also to her spirit. Her fire. The way she sassed me at the bar had me half hard, though I would never admit it to anyone and chalked it up to being desperate and horny at the time.
Now, though, I realize it wasn’t that. I was turned on by her confidence. Her temperament. The undercurrent of what led her to hold me to task.
I’ve always been attracted to confident women, but Emily is in her own league. Her confidence isn’t about making others feel small or unimportant or useless, like Melody’s often had a way of doing. Instead, it’s a confidence that makes you feel like the bar has been raised. Like more is expected of you if you want her approval.
That challenge is sexy as hell.
But it’s also the last thing I need.
***
“Today was fun.”
I turn in my desk chair, finding Emily standing at the doorway, her wind-whipped hair tied up in a messy knot on her head and her nose tipped with redness from our afternoon in the sun.
“It was.”
She crosses her arms. “If you want to make it a regular thing to come with us, you know, if you have the time, you’re more than welcome,” she tells me. “I know getting a nanny when you want to be a stay-at-home dad isn’t the easiest transition, so please always know it’s an open invitation.”
I swallow thickly and nod, appreciating her sensitivity even with the way I snipped at her in the kitchen earlier.
“Thanks.”
She grins at my reply.
“Teddy’s playing in his room. I have an hour or so before I’m done for the day. Do you want me to do anything around the house? Laundry or cleaning or anything?”
I shake my head. “Why don’t you take off early? Enjoy the rest of your day.”
She licks her lips and gives me a pinched expression that is a little surprising, almost like that wasn’t what she wanted to hear from me.
But fairly quickly, it’s wiped away and she smiles again.
“Sounds great. Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll be here early on Monday.”
Emily gives me a quick wave then turns to head down the hallway. I hear her pitter-patter through the house collecting her things before the front door opens then closes softly behind her.
chapter eight
