“Mommy, look, Desi is here. Can I go play with her?”
I nod my head and Asher helps her down from the swing. She scampers over to the seesaws to greet her friend.
I give Desi’s mother a wave and she waves back, letting me know she’s got a close eye on them.
Asher takes a seat next to me and I hand him a water bottle from my bag.
“Thanks.” He smiles and it lights up his whole face.
My belly tightens in response.
“You weren’t lying, she’s a handful,” he states, twisting the cap off and taking a long pull. I try not to watch as his throat bobs and a small bead of sweat trickles down into the neck of his shirt.
I gulp and advert my attention straight ahead.
“I told you.”
He chuckles and the sound vibrates across my skin, tickling every last one of my senses. Then he leans back to rest his arm down the length of the bench, his fingers barely grazing my back but I feel them burning through my shirt.
I feel them everywhere.
“I’ll never doubt you again, Doc,” he says, stretching his legs out farther.
“Did you doubt me before?” I ask, bringing my eyes to his once more.
Those dark blue, haunted eyes hold mine for several heartbeats before he finally answers. “Not for a second.”
I have to press my thighs together to keep from squirming.
“She adores you,” I tell him.
He nudges my shoulder with his own. “I can be pretty adorable.”
This man is anything but adorable. Sex personified is what he is and he knows it. I’m not sure how any woman can resist his charms. Even four-year-olds aren’t resistant to them.
“So where’s her dad?” he asks, changing the subject.
“He’s around.”
“You two get along?”
“For the most part. Our divorce was nasty. He fought me for custody of Lyla even though he lied through his teeth our entire marriage.”
Asher’s jaw ticks but he remains silent, waiting for me to tell him more. I debate on how much to share with him but I ultimately decide I want to.
The same way he’s done with me.
“Lyla was about a year old when Steven and I got a divorce. I found out he’d been lying to me about his job. He claimed to be a fertilizer salesman.” She scoffs. “That was until I showed up to surprise him on one of his many business trips and he wasn’t there. I found out later that he never worked for the company, even though he made bank deposits as if he did. I felt so stupid and betrayed.” She shakes her head. “I immediately filed for divorce and sought sole custody of Lyla, but he fought me on it. We went back and forth for months before the judge finally ordered joint custody. It killed me because I know Lyla loves her father, but I don’t trust him at all. And now he’s threatening to take me back to court.”
“What the hell for?”
“More time with her, he claims, but I’m not giving him any more than he already gets. Not until we establish more trust or the court forces me to. Part of me wishes he would just sign over his rights because I know, eventually, he’ll end up hurting her, too. He’s so manipulative and deceiving, and I don’t want her tainted by his lies.” I shake my head. “That makes me sound like an awful person, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. He hurt you and you want to prevent that from happening to Lyla. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a good mother.”
“I’m trying to give him a chance. I know people can change, but I don’t think he’s capable of that.”
“Where’d he get his money?”
