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Gio flew down the stairs and into the living room. “I triple checked!”
“Did you wash your hands?” I asked.
With a loud sigh, he turned on his heel and zoomed back up the stairs. A slight laugh came from Quinn. A sound I liked more and more.
“Again, I’m sorry about Sally getting out,” Quinn said.
I turned around, unaware she had moved so close. Our eyes locked. Every word I was about to say vanished with the space around us. What the hell was going on?
Maybe Brady was right. Maybe I needed to go out to the bar and have a one-night stand. He’d been telling me that since Rebecca had left. I always waved him off. I thought maybe my dick was broken. Rebecca had destroyed it and any chance I had at ever wanting to be in a relationship again. But clearly my dick nor I was broken. We were both very much alive.
Quinn inhaled, her chest rising with the intake. I tried not to look, but for a small thing, her curves were seriously impressive. I snapped my gaze to those brown orbs that seemed to hold me hostage every time I caught them.
“Don’t be sorry.” I finally found some words. “I already told you it wasn’t your fault.”
“I was so worried you would fire me.”
Sadness crept across her features, and it took all the restraint I had not to brush my thumb across her cheek and try to brush the sadness away. “Are you kidding me? I was terrified I’d come home to you running out the door telling me my child was the devil, and I’d never see you again.”
I don’t know why I added the last part. The words followed before I could stop them. They hung between us for a moment, and I swallowed at the multiple meanings they could imply.
“Is that why you came home early?”
I nodded. “Guilty.”
She pressed a hand to her chest. “No, I’m relieved. I thought maybe you thought I wasn’t capable, and then you walk in to me crawling around on your floor.”
I ignored the visual reminder that popped into my head. “That was definitely unexpected.” Unexpected and rather a nice sight. Jesus Christ. I was seriously losing my mind. I needed to get away from her.
There was the age difference. The fact that I needed her more than just to fulfill my fantasies. I needed her because Gio needed her. They seemed to get along, and my fact-spewing kid had someone who could spew facts right back at him.
Quinn St. Clair was perfect, and that was exactly why I needed to ignore this sudden strange desire that swelled inside me every time I was near her.
It wasn’t about me or my desires. It never was. The only thing that mattered was Gio.
“Dad, did you know that bees have two stomachs?” Gio said to Franc as we pulled up to the park.
“I did not.”
“And did you know that bees don’t sleep?”
“Sounds like you learned a lot at the nature preserve with Quinn.”
“Did you know that a deer’s antlers are like our fingerprints?”
“Because no two are alike,” I added, and Franc glanced over at me.
“I never saw that on a Snapple Fact,” he said with a smile that revealed a perfect dimple that contrasted with the strong lines of his jaw.
“I read a lot of National Geographic as a kid. Some things have stuck with me.”
Franc put his SUV is park, and I slipped out the door. The scent from the truck wafted toward me, and my stomach growled. I was going to have to add some exercise into my schedule if I was going to keep winding up at this truck.
Franc waited for Gio, who hopped out and slammed the door. The sound reverberated through the serene silence of the park. Franc’s shoulders visibly cringed. “What have I told you about slamming the door?”
“Sorry.” Gio’s lip pouted. It was abundantly clear he used that tactic often.
“It’s all right, bud, but try to remember, okay?”
