Flirting with Forever: A Hot Romantic Comedy(56)

Running a hand through my hair, I crossed our yards and went to my back door. Careful to be as quiet as I could, I opened it and slipped inside.

And came face to face with Riley.

I jerked back so hard I almost gave myself whiplash.

“Hey,” she said, her voice betraying nothing.

“Damn it, you scared me.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer and I couldn’t read her expression. She just looked at me, like a scientist observing a specimen in a lab.

Finally, she spoke. “You’re not going to break her heart, are you?”

I blinked in surprise. That was pretty much the last thing I’d expected her to say. “What? No. That’s not… I mean, we’re not…”

“Dad,” she said, and her voice reminded me of my mom. “I already know.”

Oh, shit. “You know what?”

“That you and Nora are, you know.” She shrugged.

My eyebrows shot up. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by you know. She was old enough to know about sex—we’d had the talk—but was that what she meant? And how did she know? I’d been so careful.

Damn, this was awkward.

“You don’t have to hide it from me,” she said. “It’s not weird. I could tell you guys liked each other and you’re grown-ups, you’re allowed to have sex.”

So fucking awkward. I raked my hand through my hair. “Ry, we don’t have to get into that.”

“I know. Gross. But I’m just telling you that it’s okay with me. You don’t have to sneak around and stuff. I know she’s your girlfriend now and I think it’s awesome.”

My heart sank as the full import of what she was saying hit me. How could I explain this? Nora wasn’t my girlfriend. We were just having sex. But I didn’t want to say that to my daughter.

I wasn’t happy about any of this.

“That’s not exactly what’s going on. It’s more complicated than that. Or maybe it’s simpler. I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “But I’m not going to break her heart. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I don’t mean I think you’re like one of those bad boyfriends from the movies.”

“I know. I get it; you really like Nora.”

She fidgeted with her hands, the way she did when she was nervous. “I know that you haven’t had a girlfriend because of me. Mom’s had lots of boyfriends but you never date anyone. And I just want you to know, it’s fine. You should be able to have a girlfriend. And if you’re going to, and it could be anyone, I’d really want it to be Nora.”

I wasn’t going to break Nora’s heart, but my kid was going to break mine. I reached for her and pulled her in for a hug. “Oh, honey. It’s not your fault. Please don’t think anything about my life is your fault.”

She relaxed into my hug and nodded against my chest. “I know it’s not. It’s just the way things turned out.”

I gently held her arms and met her eyes. “Riley, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t ever doubt that. Things with your mom haven’t been great and I know that sucks for you. But I’ll never, ever regret it. I’ll never regret having you.”

Her eyes glistened with tears. “Really?”

“I promise. I’d give up everything a thousand times over for you. I don’t regret anything.”

She sniffed. I let go of her arms and she wiped her nose on her sleeve. It was a little gross but so endearing. Reminded me of when she was little.

“Do you have to go back to work tonight?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I glanced at the time. “In about an hour.”

“I was going to make mac and cheese. Do you want some?”

I brushed her hair back and kissed the top of her head. “Mac and cheese sounds awesome. I’ll help.”

Instead of the boxed stuff, she got out ingredients for my mom’s homemade recipe. I grated the cheese while she cooked the pasta.

And despite how hard I’d been working not to, I faced reality.

Nora wasn’t my girlfriend. But did I want her to be? Was I willing to take that risk? Because, honestly, it scared the shit out of me. It was easier to push my discontent to the side and pretend all I wanted from her was sex. I’d been burned before and this time, it wasn’t just my heart that was at risk. It was Riley’s too.

She didn’t just like Nora. She loved her. They’d bonded almost instantly and whether Nora realized it or not, she’d been fulfilling something Riley desperately needed.

Except maybe it wasn’t just Riley who needed her.

I stood at the stove, stirring in the cheese, feeling like I was at a crossroads. I had a choice to make, and it wasn’t just because of my daughter. This had gone too far for me to keep pretending I could do casual. That things could stay the way they were. There was too much at stake. I needed to be in or out, and when I thought about it like that, I realized it wasn’t a hard choice at all.

I wanted in.

Whether Nora would agree was another story.





24





NORA





The office was quiet. I’d hit a block yesterday, trying to write an article about foreplay, so I’d decided to come in to the office this morning for a change of scenery. Whether or not it was helping was debatable. I’d written about foreplay before, more than once, and I was struggling to come up with an angle that was fresh.