Embarrassed, she turned away and busied herself with adjusting the hanger and shutting the closet door. They’d only been together a few days. What was she doing falling under his spell?
What nonsense is this?She wasn’t the type to get all fluttery over a man.
Besides, once he got back with his team, she doubted he’d think much about her or the girls. “Well, we’ll see.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’re feeling big things right now because we’re with them. They’re two helpless, sweet, adorable little girls. Of course, we’re going to get emotional. But once we go back to our real lives, it’ll fade.” In fact, that explained the intensity between them. It was their situation.
“Jesus, Hailey. I haven’t stopped thinking about you in ten years. You think I’m going to fly back to Boston and forget about you now? That I’m going to blow off Darren’sdaughters? What do you think of me?”
Good question. “I honestly don’t know. If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have said you’re a guy who puts himself first. You do whatever you feel like doing and don’t care about the consequences to other people. But now that I’ve spent time with you and seen you around the girls? I think you’re really insightful, sensitive, and caring. And it scares the ever-living hell out of me.”
“Why?” The urgency in his voice, the appeal in his eyes, told her how much she’d upset him.
Because I’m falling for a man who’s leaving the day after tomorrow. And spending too much time fantasizing about what his touch would feel like. Last night in bed, she’d yearned for his warm body beside hers. She’d wanted to feel his arm wrapped tightly around her.
“Hailey—” he began.
But right then, the girls raced out of the kitchen. Paisley dumped a bunch of crayon drawings and magnets at their feet. “Can I bring these?”
“Yeah, of course.” Cole held one up. “I like this. We’ll put them on my fridge.”
“Okay, we’re going to our room now.”
They watched the girls run off. “They really don’t get it, do they?”
“Well, that’s the thing. We don’t know what they understand. That’s why we just have to be here, ready to answer questions and look for signs that they’re struggling.”
“We should go with them.”
He gave her a nod, and together, they headed down the hallway. Family photos lined the walls, and she stopped when she saw one of the four of them at the lake. “I remember this.”
Cole crowded her, his scent invading her senses, his heat burning her right side. “I didn’t fuck anything up that day.”
What an odd thing to say. “We had so much fun together.” They were on Cole’s boat, Darren fishing, his legs dangling off the side, as both women held up a fish they’d caught. Cole had his hands on the wheel, twisting around, his eyes on…her.
There was no denying the look in his eyes. He wanted her.
And not like a man hoping for a hookup.
He looked at her in awe. If it wasn’t her in the picture, she’d think he was looking at a girl he knew he could never have.
And didn’t that just sum it all up? That was Cole’s experience. What he’d been trying to tell her. It was why he’d been so awkward around her.
I wish I’d seen that back then.
They turned into the bedroom to find two single beds, a tall white dresser, and a little plastic table with two chairs, all set for a tea party. There wasn’t much in the way of décor, and the only toys seemed to be contained in a big red tub, but the walls were covered with the girls’ artwork.
As she took it all in, her gaze snagged on a framed poem.
You’re the sun, the moon, the stars…the entire galaxy. You are my universe. I love you with everything I am.
“What’s this?” she asked Paisley.
“That’s what my mommy says to us every night before bed. My daddy framed it.”
“I love that.” She lifted it off the hook.We’re definitely taking this.