Marrying that twat who was a banker.
Disgust burning through me at the thought, I forced myself to open the door, and I stood off to the side as everyone gathered at the threshold of my home.
“Go on in and make yourselves at home.” The words were shards.
Couldn’t believe they were actually coming from my mouth. Was I really inviting them inside? Inviting them to stay?
I should call Theo. Ask him to get over here stat and load them up and whisk them to safety.
But I was pinned by those eyes. The blue oasis a soft toil beneath the light next to the door.
Gratitude, fear, and uncertainty shone back.
I ground my molars to stave off whatever insanity sparked inside me at the sight.
This feeling like I was gonna blow. Grab her and hug her to me and tell her how fucking sorry I was.
But sorry would never be good enough.
The kids started to clamber inside, breaking up my thoughts. Addy and Colin fought to get in front of each other, a riot of their footsteps echoing against the wood.
“Wow, I really like your house, Mr. Cash!” Colin shouted. “You got a real fire and everything. Did you know we had a fire at our camp? I even cooked a marshmallow. You think we could cook some of those in here?”
“Or maybe we can do a fire outside and look at the stars. That’s my favorite,” Addy chimed in.
“Iwovemarshmawowsthe very most.” Eva’s tinkling, tiny voice skittered through the air.
While Daisy and I just stood there staring at each other.
Held in the past that was never supposed to catch up to us.
What felt like a thousand years wafted in between.
Her freckles were nearly invisible, though I thought I could remember every single one of them. Locks of cinnamon hair breezed around her stunning face. Her face that had aged a bit during the time that had passed. A wrinkle denting between her brows and a few creases lining the edges of her eyes.
It only made her more beautiful. The woman carved by love and loss. By wisdom and lingering hopeless dreams.
A strand of hair got stuck to her cheek, and I had to stop myself from reaching out and brushing it away. From letting my fingertips trail over her soft skin. From pushing her up against the wall so I could inhale her fresh, floral scent.
Explore that sweet, soft body.
The fact I’d been dreaming about it for years made the compulsion ten thousand times worse.
Energy clashed between us. Awareness and confusion.
She finally cleared her throat. “Thank you, Cash. You don’t know how much?—”
“Just go inside, Daisy.” My response came out gruff and sharp.
It was too much. I couldn’t handle her telling me how much this meant or that she needed me. Hell, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to handle any of it.
But here we fucking were.
Warily, she dipped her head and angled to the side like she was terrified of touching me as she slipped by me to enter my house, though she might as well have run her hands all over my body with her aura that whisked across my flesh.
Something warm and beautiful that I hadn’t felt since I was seventeen.
I blew out a strained sigh and ducked in behind her, but I came up short since she had frozen two steps inside.
