A lengthy pause followed her words, during which he couldn’t look away. Neither did he pull his hand from hers.
This is dangerous,he reminded himself. Dangerous for the girls. And dangerous for him. He shouldn’t let her get under his skin like this.
Hallie cleared her throat, slipping her fingers from his. She turned to Isla, her tone regaining its lighter nature. “Are you looking forward to your birthday? What’re you doing to celebrate besides your party?”
Isla’s face lit up as it always did when talking about her birthday. “I wanted to go to my first haunted house, but Daddy said no.”
“I can’t take you to a haunted house, kiddo,” Christian said dryly, though grateful for the topic change.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to have nightmares after.” Not to mention, Carrie Pritchard, and the entire neighborhood gossip chain, would have a hay day if word got out that he took his kindergartner to a place overflowing with “satanic creatures.” Carrie’s words, not his. But he did agree with the wisdom of steering Isla away from things that might terrify her. His daughter talked a big game about loving the scary side of Halloween—should he be concerned or find it endearing?—but her anxiety already caused enough bad dreams. She didn’t need anything else disrupting her sleep.
Isla let out a giggle. “Oh, Daddy, you don’t get nightmares. You’re not afraid of anything.”
“You must be really brave to want to go.” The amused twinkle reentered Hallie’s eyes. “My brother took me to one once and I had to sleep with the light on for weeks.”
“When was that?” Christian asked, holding back his own amusement.
“I was twelve. Tyler thought it would be funny.” She chuckled. “Newsflash, it wasn’t. For either of us.”
“What did you do?” Isla asked, hanging onto every word.
Hallie shrugged. “I clung to his side the entire time. I don’t think he anticipated I’d bethatscared. He definitely regretted it after when our mom made him sleep on my bedroom floor until I felt safe enough to make it through the night by myself.”
Christian was about to respond with a comment about teenage brothers when Penelope tugged on her hand. “Hallie! Hallie! You push me please?”
“Uh … I have a couple minutes.” She looked at Christian uncertainly. “If it’s okay with your dad.”
Her statement gave him the perfect exit opportunity. He wanted to take it; really, he did. His decision-making abilities suffered whenever she was near.
But one glimpse of Penelope’s hopeful face weakened his resolve. The child just wanted to play. Her thoughts didn’t run any deeper than that.
He jutted his chin toward the swings. “Go on. Just for a minute before we go.”
“Yay!” Penelope tugged Hallie to the bucket swing before reaching her arms up for help.
Christian followed with Isla at his side, his stomach twisting. It worried him how readily his sweet daughter trusted Hallie. Yep, he definitely needed to put a stop to this.
Before disaster struck.
Christian struggled to stay focused at work on Monday. Even the simplest tasks led his mind to wander back to Hallie. Reclining in his uncomfortable swivel chair, he closed his eyes. Visions of her danced across his eyelids—at the park, in his kitchen, with Penelope—and he snapped them open again.
His willpower had failed to keep him from falling for her, so the situation now screamed for the initiation of Plan B: stone cold avoidance.
But how could he avoid her when she popped up everywhere? She was like some freaky magnet, attracting him to her energy. Not thatshewas freaky. No, Hallie was gorgeous. Kind. Thoughtful. Radiating sunshine?—
He groaned out a long sigh.
“Christian,” his boss barked from the opening to his cubicle.
Christian jerked upright, a natural reaction whenever the man came near.
Jim didn’t wait for a verbal response before launching into whatever order he’d come to deliver. “I scheduled a meeting with the Lawson Group for four-thirty today. We need to go over expectations for their website expansion. Make sure you’re there.” He left as swiftly as he’d entered.
Four-thirty? Christian groaned again. Pushing back his chair, he followed his boss. “Sir, I’m not available at four-thirty. I have to pick up my kids from school.”
Jim strode into his office. “Haven’t you figured out your nanny situation yet?” His eyes narrowed, and he pressed his mouth into a thin line. “It’s been weeks since the last one quit.”
