The Single Dad (The Dalton Family #3)(54)

“Come with us.”

My back straightened as the words left Everly’s mouth, and I immediately looked down, pulling my knife out and spreading the butter over the pancake. It seemed far too sweet for me this morning, so I focused on the potatoes. I tried lifting them off the plate, but my stomach wasn’t ready.

I couldn’t eat.

I wasn’t even hungry anymore—at least, not for food.

“Come with you,” he said, as though he was debating.

I sucked in my breath, moving the bacon to the other side, trying to act busy.

“But, baby, I have to work today.”

“Tell Papa you have a bellyache.”

He laughed. “Papa’s not my boss.”

I tried to imagine what a morning of hiking with Ford would feel like. The two of us on the trail, Everly several paces ahead. Sweat running down our faces. Sun hitting our eyes.

How we’d have to move close together when we passed other hikers on the narrow path.

His scent.

His hand on my lower back.

“Runyon Canyon?” he asked.

Since I didn’t hear Everly respond, I nodded.

Was he really considering?

Was a morning with Ford now a real possibility?

Could I call in sick?

Fuck.

When I’d taken this job, I’d thought it was going to be so straightforward. I would take care of Everly and go to school.

There was nothing simpler than that.

My feelings for Ford would stay separate. They would dull over time until there was absolutely nothing left to our spark.

Except just the opposite was happening.

Now, all I thought about was him.

And each day, those thoughts became more consuming.

I would arrive at his house, hoping, somehow, his arms would find their way around me.

His lips would press against mine.

His voice would whisper, I want to be with you.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

He’d made that clear.

Even when he was drunk, his filter and inhibitions gone, he didn’t want me.

That was my fault.

He’d given me a choice, and I’d picked Everly.

For the first time, a part of me was regretting that decision.

But it was too late. I couldn’t go back; I couldn’t pick differently.

I had to live with this.

I had to accept that Ford Dalton would never be mine.

“Sorry, Eve. I have too many calls today. I can’t go.” He gazed at his daughter. “But you two are going to have so much fun.”

“Daaaddy.” She pouted.

“I’ll take you this weekend, baby, when I have all morning and afternoon to dedicate to just you.”





Thirteen





Ford





As I sat in my home office, catching up on some final last-minute work, I heard Sydney’s bare feet coming down the hallway. There was a difference in sound between her and my daughter—the speed being the main one. Since the hallway was long, that gave me several seconds to prepare for her presence.

I needed each one.

And I needed to try to fucking breathe.

That girl had power over me, and she didn’t even realize it.

As she came closer, nearing the doorway, I shifted my gaze away from my computer screen, anticipating that face I couldn’t get enough of.

Waiting.

She paused the second she stilled, smiling. “Do you need anything? Or can I help with anything?”

Goddamn it.

Several weeks into her employment, and she looked more beautiful every day.

She’d braided her hair, the long tail falling across her left shoulder, which was bare due to the angle of her shirt. She wore almost no makeup, aside from glossy lips that were making my dick hard and darkened eyelashes that were long and blinking as she stared at me.

From her looks alone, there would be another cold shower in my very near future. Since the start of Sydney’s employment, my dick had seen much more of my palm than usual.

I pulled my hands off the keyboard, my palms falling onto a pile of folders of the accounts I would be visiting during this weeklong trip.

The one I was leaving for tomorrow morning.

A trip I was almost grateful to be going on because it would give me a break from being around her. Not that I wanted the distance, but resisting Sydney Summers was becoming a job of its own.

“Thank you for offering,” I said. “That’s sweet of you.”

“But …” She laughed.

“I think I have everything mostly wrapped up for the night.” I placed the folders I’d been resting on inside my briefcase and closed the top.

“Good. Now, you can relax.” As she adjusted her position, leaning her back against the frame, she crossed her arms at her stomach, showing the narrowness of her waist. “And don’t worry; she’s dead asleep. I just checked on her.”

I’d taken a brief break to tuck in my little girl and kiss her good night. That had given Sydney the heavy lifting of giving her a bath and braiding her hair and reading her a story, so I could finish up my work and be able to get to bed at a decent hour.

“What time is it?” I checked the clock on my computer. “It’s ten already. Shit.”