“Scared?”
Of you, of how you make me feel? Absolutely.“Of course not.” She smiled down at Mia and Ellie, who were watching her with interest. “Connor made me go parasailing in Nantucket,” she explained. “It’s where you’re strapped into a harness with a parachute and get pulled into the air and along the coast by a speedboat. This will be a piece of cake in comparison.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “You did that?”
“I did.” It seemed a lifetime ago. Something that had happened to a different version of herself.
“Can I do that with you, Dad?”
It was still a shock to hear the man she’d suspected was a playboy being called Dad. Even more of a shock to realize he’d spent his twenties not clubbing or screwing around but bringing up a child. It made her wonder if she’d ever actually known him at all.
Connor tousled Ellie’s hair, and Olivia was immediately taken back to Nantucket and how easily he’d won over Mia. No wonder he’d been able to charm an eight-year-old. “Sure, Turnip, when you’re old enough.”
It was their turn to be strapped into the harnesses.
“If you get scared, you can hold my hand,” Connor murmured.
“Sweet offer, but I won’t need to. I’m looking forward to it.”
His chuckle fanned across the hairs of her neck. “Did I tell you how much I’ve missed you?”
Her heart faltered, then sped up. “Don’t,” she warned, keeping her eyes ahead as the two girls scrambled up the rope net. “Wait for us,” she shouted, and hurried after them.
Away from the man who threw her off balance.
Connor kept his distance as they scrambled around the course. Now and again she’d catch him looking at her.
“Having fun?” he asked as she stood staring down at the zip wire, heart in her mouth.
“Of course.” She gave him a sugar-sweet smile. “Can’t believe I’ve not come here before.”
His eyes crinkled with laughter and belatedly she realized she didn’t want to make him laugh. Amused Connor, like aroused Connor, vulnerably honest Connor, and playful Connor, was almost impossible to ignore.
“Do we have to go now?” Mia gave her a beseeching look as they finally stripped off their harness. “Me and Ellie want to go to the playground for a bit.”
“Maybe Ellie and Connor need to go home.”
Connor waved toward the playground. “We’ve got time if you two want to play.” He glanced over at Olivia and winked. “I’ll keep your aunt entertained.”
“Yay!”
The pair of them raced off, leaving her alone with Connor. Again.
“How do you want me to entertain you?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Buy me a coffee and keep quiet while I think through what I’m going to say at my meeting tomorrow,” she retorted, feeling out of sorts.
Connor being Connor, he failed to be put off by her grumpy riposte. “Who’s the meeting with?” he asked as they walked up to the café counter.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to you or you wouldn’t be thinking about your presentation on a Sunday.” He ordered her a black coffee, and she tried to ignore the bump of pleasure that he’d remembered her order.
“Maybe I just don’t want to talk to you.”
He paid for the coffees and carried them over to a picnic table where they could keep an eye on Ellie and Mia. “You didn’t mind talking to me in Nantucket.”
“No.” She slid onto the bench. “But that was before I found out the man I’d been talking to wasn’t who I thought he was.”
