I had made so many assumptions, and now I was right in the middle of a massive fuckup. I nodded along as Sera told me about what kind of pizza she’d had and that Gia had promised they could order it again another time when she wasn’t sick so she could enjoy it more.
“Okay, baby. I’m going to check on Gia, and then I’ll be back.”
“Are you going to send her away? Because you’re home?”
I paused in the doorway, smiling back at her. “I’m pretty sure I can take care of you now.”
“I know.” Sera’s shoulders slumped. “But there were a lot of things on our to-do list we didn’t get to. I was just hoping once she felt better, we could try again. But if she can’t stay…”
“I’m sure there’ll be another time,” I said, hating the way the lie felt on my teeth. No matter what had happened here, there was no way that this woman would ever come back—even if Iasked her now. I had come bulldozing in here, assuming she had done a poor job with my daughter, only to find out that she had done the absolute most. Far more than most parents would be able to manage while still being sick themselves.
And I’d been a dick about it.
Chapter Two
Gia
What a dick.
This guy may be a walking, talking wet dream, but the moment he’d barged in on me like I was the biggest criminal in known history, I was done with him.
And now, I was carefully moving around the spare bedroom that I’d been planning on staying in while I was here with Sera. Not that I’d actually spent any time in here, other than the few minutes I took to throw some clothes into the drawers. I groaned as I opened them, remembering that I was wearing a part of his pants because so many of mine were in the wash and I couldn’t bear to put anything with a real waistband on my still-tender stomach.
I had escaped here when he went to take Sera her Cheerios, but now I was going to have to go back out to get my clothes all over again. My body was still not back to normal, and I knew that if I dared to eat anything right now, it would no doubt come right back up—again. But still, I had to get out of this place. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to spend one more minute making a fool of myself in front of this man.
I adored his daughter, true, but I could give her a quick hug on my way out. Maybe her mom would let her call me in a few days, and I would explain how sorry I was that we couldn’t get to those things on our to-do list.
It wasn’t her fault that we’d gotten this stomach bug. Or that her father was a grade-A asshole.
There was a soft knock at my door.
“Gia?”
I wanted to fall to the ground in a heap. Colton Marlatt clearly couldn’t take a hint. “Just a moment,” I responded loudly, shutting a drawer as I moved slowly to my suitcase. Then, moving as quickly as I could, I walked to the door and opened it a crack. My underwear—what wasn’t already in the washer from earlier—was strewn over the bed, and I wasn’t about to have any conversation with this man over my panties.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long; I just need to find—”
“These, maybe?” Colton’s serious face twitched as he held up a laundry basket. “Sera told me…uh…about how your past few days were. I thought I’d get them for you.”
I swallowed, feeling even more awkward than before. I had been hiding the underwear from him, and here he was, holding a basket in which I could clearly see one of my bras lying right on top. A pink one. With lace.
Fuck my life.
“Oh, um, yes. Those are mine.” I cringed. Of course, they were mine. This man was clearly a bachelor and didn’t’ keep pink bras lying around for himself. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t have time to grab them.”
“Gia,” he said, and for the first time I really paid attention to his voice. It had softened, gentled.
My stomach swooped a little when our eyes met.
His hazel irises were sharp on my face. “Can we start over?”
“What?”
The man rolled his massive shoulders, making my eyes drift to the heavy set of muscles that lined his chest. I swallowed. Had he been this big a few minutes ago?
“I’d like to start over. I was stressed and worried. I took it out on you.”
I stared, letting the door open a bit wider. Colton’s gaze never wavered from my face. “I moved the laundry; you have one moreload before your things are all done. Why don’t you lie down and relax a little? The past few days couldn’t have been easy on you.”
