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He smiled sheepishly. “I don’t get a chance to take it out often.”
“This is so cool!” Evie said as she slid inside.
“Do you have a car seat?” I asked. “We can always take my car.”
Leo shifted on his feet. “I bought the same one my parents have. Is that okay?”
I peeked inside to see Evie competently snapping the belt closed. “That’s perfect.”
When I straightened, he shut the door. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
He stepped closer, palming my cheek. “But I did.”
Before I could respond, he opened the front passenger door, and I slid inside, needing a second to calm my traitorous heart. It had been wildly thumping in my chest ever since he appeared in the bathroom. There would be no slowing it down if he kept saying things like that.
My body was heated, and my skin was flushed by the time Leo rounded the hood and slid behind the wheel.
“Where are we going?” Evie asked from the backseat, barely containing her excitement.
At least her presence should keep my out-of-control attraction to Leo in check. I couldn’t touch him or say the things I wanted to with her watching us.
“A restaurant on the water that specializes in seafood.”
“Sounds amazing,” I murmured, and he smiled over at me.
“I’m a lucky man. I get to take out two beautiful girls.”
“Did you hear that, Mommy? He said I was beautiful, and you are too.”
“That’s very sweet of him,” I said to Evie. I wasn’t sure what his intentions were. If it was to make me feel less lonely, it was nice, but I wanted more. I couldn’t continue like this. Not when my body seemed to think this was leading to something else entirely.
“That’s because you are,” Leo said to Evie in the rearview mirror, and I got what people said when they mentioned how important a father figure was to a little girl. I’d researched it online and wondered if I was doing the right thing by raising Evie on my own.
Leo could be just what my little girl needed and what I wanted.
Ten
LEO
When I saw Harper getting ready in the bathroom, it was like my heart stuttered to a stop, and I couldn’t form words. Gorgeous didn’t begin to describe how she looked. The black, shimmery dress showcased the gold highlights in the waves of her hair. But it was the amount of exposed skin and the way her dress clung to the curves of her body that had me off-kilter.
Holding Evie’s hand while she put on her tiny shoes sent a streak of tenderness through my body. I’d do anything for the two of them. My heart ached for something more than the role I’d been given in her life. I wanted to kiss the exposed skin on Harper’s shoulder and ease the straps of her dress off her shoulders, letting the material pool at her feet. Would that leave her in just a lace bra and panty set, or was she bare underneath?
I had no business thinking these thoughts when Evie was with us. Just the memory of that particular fantasy had me shifting in my seat. Being around Harper and not being able to touch her was torture. Why had I thought I could get close to her and control my baser instincts?
The only thing that kept me in check was Evie, chattering excitedly about all the things she was going to eat when she got to the restaurant.
It was the perfect evening, especially when I usually spent it working or alone at home. I hadn’t been on a date in a long time. Since I broke things off with Bianca, I’d refused any more arranged dates from my family, which had left me with no prospects.
When I parked in front of the restaurant and handed the keys to the valet, I rounded the car to find Evie holding Harper’s hand.
I held my elbow out to Harper, and when her fingers curled around my arm, we headed into the restaurant and gave my name to the hostess before following her to our reserved table overlooking the water.
“This is magnificent,” Harper said as she looked at the boats bobbing on the water. I was fascinated by the enthralled look on her face.
“I wanted to treat you.”
Harper looked at me then, her face soft and full of questions. She was probably wondering what I was doing, and it was past time to tell her. Just not with Evie around.
