AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lamise jerked her head to the side and said, “I’ll show you.”
At that, she turned and started to walk away. My eyes immediately dropped to her ass.
Fuck.
Earlier in the week, she had been so excited about showing me how great Rhys was doing with his crawling, and she hadn’t realized she was backing up toward me while she encouraged him. I’d had no choice but to place my hands on her hips, or her ass would have been in my face.
That was another area I was struggling with.
It had been months since I’d been intimate with a woman. Not since Violet. For a long time, it didn’t even cross my mind. I was so consumed with grief and devastation; sex was the furthest thing from my mind. Even once I started trying to get back to normal with work and life, I still had no desire. I mean, my wife wasn’t here.
But now, I was feeling it.
Something had started stirring inside me since Lamise came into my life. While there was a part of me that believed it was about physical attraction and needs, there was another part that knew better. Something else was happening with her, and I’d been doing my best to try to ignore it.
But it was getting harder and harder to remain unaffected.
I’d had my hands on her hips; and though it had been innocent enough, I couldn’t deny just how good it had felt to touch her like that.
And the way she looked at me, like I was someone who could fix everything wrong in her life, was something I couldn’t seem to shake. That look made me want to be that man for her.
Yet I was torn.
How could I do it? How could I be attracted to her? How could I enjoy having my hands on her? Why did I want to be someone she could turn to?
Wasn’t it wrong?
Lamise wasn’t my wife, and I was here, feeling all that I was, watching her ass as she walked away from me.
Before Lamise turned around and realized what I was doing, I snapped myself out of it and followed behind her, redirecting my gaze anywhere but on her body.
The space in my house was an open concept, so thefamily room was open to the dining area and kitchen. Lamise had walked to the table in the dining area, opened one of the bags she’d brought with her today, and pulled something out of it.
“This is for you from your son,” she said.
More curiosity moved through me as I took what she was holding out to me from her hands. It was two pieces of pink construction paper that had been stapled on the sides and bottom, creating an envelope of sorts. On one side, it had a single word written on it in what I assumed was Lamise’s handwriting.
Daddy.
My throat was already tight at the thought of what I might find inside.
“What is this?” I asked, noting the rasp in my voice.
Lamise smiled brightly at me. “Open it.”
I opened the top edge that wasn’t stapled, saw a piece of white construction paper, and pulled it out. That’s when my heart stopped beating in my chest.
My eyes immediately landed on the large red construction paper heart in the center of the page, and on top of that heart were two white footprints. Rhys’s feet.
Along the top of the page was more of Lamise’s handwriting:Happy Valentine’s Day, Daddy!
And beneath the heart was just a bit more text:Rhys Tyler, seven months
I couldn’t contain my emotions. My eyes got wet, and I needed to take a few settling breaths.
Lifting my gaze to Lamise, I said, “This means the world to me. Thank you for this.”
She smiled brightly at me. “You’re welcome, Banks.”
