The urge to close the gap between them, to wrap his hand around her nape and drag her against him so he could kiss the life out of her was so great he had to physically lean back.
She removed her hand from his, taking his withdrawal the wrong way. Foster wanted to haul her into his arms, uncaring of who could see them. But he stopped himself.
Instead he confessed, “I worry I’m not doing this right. That I’ll fail G.”
Ember gave him a tender smile. “Foster, the fact that you worry about it means you’re doing it right. And if no one has said it already, I’m sorry, and this is me rectifying that: you are an amazing dad. You’re only twenty-five years old and you’ve got your shit together. You know what’s important. You know it’s her.”
“Thank you,” he could barely get the words out for the emotion choking him. “It means a lot that you think that.”
Silence fell between them, allowing the sounds of the water, the seagulls, the chatter of the busy beach to fill the void.
Then Ember murmured, “Don’t look now but you’ve caught the avid attention of two fangirls.”
He looked at her. “I don’t care.”
She twisted her luscious mouth before replying, “You sure? They’re hot and unlike the teenager girls that were ogling your six pack earlier, these two are age appropriate.”
It should have alarmed him how uninterested he was in hot women his age checking him out. In fact, it did alarm him a little.
But that didn’t stop him from caressing every inch of Ember’s body with his hidden gaze instead of looking in their direction.
Ember tensed as if she could feel him staring at her behind his glasses. Then she shoved her sunglasses up into her hair and he saw the bemusement in her eyes.
“Like I said,” he said, voice hoarse with wanting her. “Not interested in them.”
Before she could reply, G suddenly threw herself at him and he caught her just before she faceplanted on his chest. “Daddy, come see our castle!”
Nice timing, angel, nice timing.
Because he’d just been about to make a huge mistake.
5
Ember
“You miss them, don’t you?”
I looked up from my breakfast to find Jade and Celeste staring at me with big, concerned gazes from across the kitchen table. It was the end of my first week without Georgie (and Foster). The new nanny started a week ago and, other than catching glimpses of them in their yard, I hadn’t seen much of the Darwins.
“You should go visit. I’m sure Georgie misses you,” Jade insisted.
I shook my head. “I haven’t been invited.”
And stupidly, I’d expected Foster to text me at some point and ask me to come over or grab a milkshake with them … or something.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“It’s a Sunday. They’ll be home, you’re home,” Celeste said, “Why don’t you make your lemonade and take it over?”
I grimaced. “Like a desperate spinster from the nineteen fifties?”
“That’s severe and unfair.” Celeste made a face.
“You know what I mean. I have to be careful with how my behavior appears.”
Jade cocked her head to the side. “When have you ever cared what people think?”
“Not people. Georgie. And Foster. I don’t want to be that middle-aged woman who can’t take a hint.” Melancholy was a sharp ache near my heart. “No, I won’t go over uninvited.”
My sisters exchanged a look as if I were a problem to be solved.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Tell that to your mopey face.”
I scrunched my nose up at Celeste. “Stop being childish.”
“Pot Meet Kettle.”
Jade pushed away from the table. “Well, I’m meeting Colt in half an hour. We’re making final decisions at the venue today.”
“Good luck. Have fun.”
My sister paused and turned toward us. “I promised I wouldn’t say anything but I feel like if I don’t, you and Foster might miss an opportunity here.”
Frowning, I turned in my seat to meet her gaze. “What’s going on?”
Jade’s eyes lit up. “Foster likes you.”
My pulse skittered. “What?”
She nodded, barely containing her excitement. “He told Colt he’s extremely attracted to you.”
Extremely attracted to me.
Well, I knew that.
The man did not hide that fact.
But there was a difference between like and attraction. “Attracted to me or likes me?”
“Well… both.”
“So why hasn’t he done anything about it?” Celeste asked. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who doesn’t go after what he wants.”
I gestured to my younger sister as if to say, “Yes, thank you, I agree.”
Jade narrowed her eyes on Celeste before turning back to me. “I don’t know why he’s holding back. I think Colt knows but he won’t tell me. But maybe he thinks you think he’s not mature enough. I mean, you did call him a man child. Several times.”
Hope was a wretched blossom blooming deep within me. I tried to shove it down. “It’s more than likely I’m the opposite of the kind of woman he usually dates.”