I was very aware of the fact that he was walking over to us, and suddenly, I didn’t know what to do with my hands.
Pretending I couldn’t see him, or ignoring him altogether, felt rude so I put down the red colored pencil I was using to color in Raphael’s mask and took him in, bracing myself.
And sure enough, as I took in the full sight of him walking over to us, my chest constricted in pain and I had to remind myself to breathe, lest I pass out and ruin my first day on the job.
Jace took a seat next to Elliot on the floor and ruffled his hair. “What are you coloring?” he asked.
Elliot smiled up at his dad and showed him the picture he was working on. “It’s for you, Daddy.”
“For me? My gosh, this is wonderful. I’ll have to hang this up in my office when we get back home, huh?”
Elliot nodded seriously. Then he looked at the picture I was coloring. “You have to hang up Evelyn’s picture as well.” He moved closer to Jace and whispered, loud enough that I could hear, though I pretended not to. “We don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
Jace’s lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. His expression was solemn when he nodded. “You’re right, we’ll do that.”
He shot a wink my way, and it reminded me so much of the wink he gave when he was between my legs several days before that I almost swooned.
Ah, hell. I was in trouble.
I looked down at Elliot’s picture instead, and pretended I wasn’t having dirty thoughts about his dad.
It was a picture of Spider-Man climbing the Empire State building. And yes, he did color a bit outside the lines, but it was no less wonderful.
And I loved the way Jace reacted to it—as if it was the best present he had ever received in his life.
Jace’s relationship reminded me a lot of my relationship with my dad, and even a little of my relationship with my mom when she was alive.
I had flourished under their love for me, and I was sure Elliot would be the same, despite how successful Jace seemed to be as a businessman.
That’s what made him so much more attractive to me—that he could be a good man, and was definitely a good dad.
“Listen,” Jace said to Elliot, his voice suddenly gruff. “I have to go to work, okay? You’ll be spending your day with Evelyn. Is that okay?”
Elliot wrung his small hands together and moved his upper body from side to side. “When will you be home?”
“By dinner, I promise,” Jace said.
I looked at them. I didn’t know much about it, but Elliot seemed to be experiencing some separation anxiety from Jace, which was a little strange for kids his age.
Jace caught my look and shook his head a little. I didn’t know what it meant, but I was sure he was telling me he would explain later.
I nodded and turned back to Elliot.
“Hey, Elliot. How would you like to go to the park with me after breakfast? I can show you some of my favorite places to go as a kid.”
He looked at me, and though he still seemed a bit anxious, it calmed him some at the mention of a park. “Really? And can we have ice cream after?”
“Hmm, let me talk to your dad about it and see, okay?”
Elliot turned to his dad with what I was sure was wide eyes and a small pout. I doubted Jace could tell him no.
“Please, Dad? Can we? Pleaseeee?”
I was right when Jace smiled indulgently at Elliot. “Oh, alright. But not too much, okay? Now, why don’t you go back to coloring while I talk to Evelyn a bit.”
“Okay.”
Jace motioned with his head for us to move out of the room a bit, so I followed him and stood directly in front of him.