AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As he cycled, it occurred to him that he wouldn’t see Bex at school today. It was her day off. Disappointment settled in his gut. In an attempt to distract himself, he went back over the conversations he’d had in the past twenty-four hours. Usually, he wasn’t one to talk about his feelings, preferring to show how he felt through actions. He was steady and reliable—but he hadn’t been those things for Bex lately. He’d held her at a distance. And for what? Because he was afraid to be hurt?
How stupid, when pushing her away had hurt him anyway, because his heart ached with missing her. The fact was, he loved her, and up until the past few days, he’d been sure she cared for him, too. He was the one who’d screwed up. It hadn’t taken Wesley to get in the way of their relationship. He’d sabotaged it himself, and then he’d gone and dropped a bombshell on her. Hopefully he hadn’t destroyed his chances with her permanently.
Bex’s asshurt from doing squats. Her last client of the day had been registering a zero on the motivation scale, so she’d joined in to pump the woman up. As a result, her glutes hated her. She glanced over to make sure Izzy was still busy coloring in the corner. She’d been afraid to let her daughter out of her sight. She’d kept her home from school and they’d made pumpkin pie earlier in the day. She was behind on a commissioned painting because of that, but frankly, it didn’t bother her. Izzy was her priority.
Once she’d finished stretching her fatigued muscles, she took her phone from the desk and—keeping far enough from Izzy that she wouldn’t be able to hear—dialed Michael’s number. Her brain had been hard at work all day, and while she’d decided she had some cause to be mad at him, she’d overreacted and they needed to talk.
The phone had barely completed one ring before he answered, breathless. “Bex?”
“Yeah.” A smile curved her lips, for no other reason than that she liked the sound of his voice. “Can we meet?”
“Absolutely.”
She could hear his relief. Her gaze wandered to Izzy again, and she noticed her daughter had discarded the pencils and was looking at something through the window.
“Just you and me—not your family.”
“Done,” he agreed. “How about I come to your place? I can be there in five minutes.”
Bex’s throat was suddenly dry, and she swallowed. So fast? But then, what was the point in waiting? “Sure thing. Izzy and I are just finishing up at the gym. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up and called Izzy over. “Darling, collect your things. It’s time to go home.”
Izzy’s lower lip stuck out. “But there are people dancing with fire on the beach and I want to watch.”
“You can look out your bedroom window while I talk to Michael.”
Izzy brightened, her spine snapping straight. “Michael is coming?”
“Yes, but he and I need to have an adult talk, okay?”
The pout returned in full force. “I wanna see him.”
“You can. Later.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Pinky promise?”
Bex interlocked her pinky with Izzy’s. “We can share the pie with him, how’s that?”
“Yay!” She leapt into the air, then turned and raced over to gather her scattered things. Meanwhile, Bex told the older couple on the treadmills that they’d need to lock up behind them.
As they exited the gym into the stairwell, the door below them flew open and Michael charged in, stopping abruptly when he spotted them.
He stared. Bex stared back.
“That wasn’t five minutes,” she said. More like two.
He shrugged, trying to come off as casual although she could see the strain around his mouth and eyes. “I didn’t want to waste any time.”
Izzy scrambled down the stairs, dropped her pile of stuff, and launched herself into his arms. He caught her and hugged her tight to his chest. Bex feared her ovaries might explode at the sight. The man she’d fallen for, holding the daughter she loved more than anything else.
She was a goner.
Michael shifted Izzy onto his hip. “You’d better tidy up after yourself, princess.”
Be still my heart.
He placed her on the ground and she hurried to do his bidding, then bounced along in front of Bex as she strode to their apartment door on the side of the foyer and unlocked it. Inside, she reminded Izzy to go to her room, then turned slowly to meet Michael’s unfathomable blue gaze. He didn’t say anything, and she realized it was up to her to open the floor.
She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She’d just opened her mouth to speak when she heard a noise behind her and leapt in surprise.
