Caleb chuckles uneasily as I accept his daughter’s hand. A daughter who belongs to another woman…somewhere.
My heart clenches, but I force a smile for the very well-behaved girl introducing herself.
“Nice to meet you too, Ellie.”
Her hair is the same midnight black as her father’s. But she definitely didn’t inherit those freckles from him.
I have freckles, but I think I’d know about it if I’d given birth to a daughter.
Which means the freckles were inherited from her mother—another kick in the teeth, another reminder that times have changed.
I gulp and watch as our two children smile at one another with vague familiarity. Caleb watches with me, and just so happens to catch my eyes at the same time.
I sink back into nostalgia and let the pain slowly tear across my chest. It makes the fire yesterday feel unimportant.
What the hell have I walked into?
The fire was one big mistake. Even more now that I have to live with the ex-lover I never stopped loving.
4
CALEB
I’d punchKeller clean across the face if he wasn’t my boss.
This is a bad idea. And the look we just shared is gonna get me in trouble if Piper continues to catch my eyes the same deadly way she used to all of those years ago.
I look down at our two children, each with a different parent, and haunt myself with past memories.
I always saw Piper as a mother one day.
I only chose to remain in a relationship with Ellie’s mother because she was pregnant, and we both wanted children. Our relationship was in the trash, but we worked hard to rekindle it throughout the pregnancy for the sake of the unborn child we were about to share.
Or so I thought.
She ran away as soon as she gave birth, taking my daughter with her and ripping out my heart as she did so.
Finally alone in my room, I take out my phone and look forward to blanking out for the rest of the afternoon until it’s time to prepare dinner.
Me:Sorry, it’s been a busy shift. I haven’t been ignoring you. Promise.
This anonymous sexter is a mystery in all aspects. I don’t have much time to date with Ellie, but with Grace as a next-door neighbor who’s constantly asking when she can babysit Ellie—probably to get closer to me—Idonow have opportunity
Only, this woman keeps refusing to meet.
Anonymous:Haha. No worries. Things have been chaotic for me too.
I don’t even know what she looks like, her age—nothing. But I can’t complain when I voluntarily signed myself up for anonymous online dating.
My cock twitches at her quick response.
God, I can’t remember the last time I went to bed with a woman. There have been several occasions over the past nine years, all in the city, but I find New York women to be much the same—chasing physical pleasure, never emotion.
I prop myself up against the headboard and stare at the message.
I’ve fought hard over the years to try and find something meaningful, searching high and low for a Piper Hart replacement who could fill the void. It took me a while to come to terms with reality. Piper Hart is simply one in a million, and it still pains me to have to let her go.
But my daughter comes first.
