She shakes her head fervently side to side. “No. My parents have an amazing marriage, and it’s because they married for the right reasons. Not because of a sense of obligation.”
“Still, I’ve gone crazy the last few days because I can’tpinpoint so many aspects of how to go down this road. Honorable and responsible keep coming to mind.”
Immediately, she scoffs and steps forward. “This isn’t about the honorablething. You don’t need to get close or suggest all of these documents if it’s out of obligation.”
She moves to leave my orbit, but I’m quick to touch her wrist and prevent her from going. “Obligation and wanting to provide are almost the same. Iwantto get to know Lola, and Iwantto provide.”
She eases, but my hand is still on her arm, and my fingers feel glued to her. Touching her could become a vice. I just can’t let the magnetic force between us go. She doesn’t step back, either.
“Uhm.” Her voice is delicate, and her fingers feather over the back of my hand glued to her wrist. “You mentioned your dad passing. You spoke about him a lot on the island. What do you think his reaction would’ve been?”
It stings that he isn’t around. It’s the memory of him that has helped remind me to soften around Elodie and Lola. I slip my gaze away from her as I reflect. “Nobody expects to see someone at breakfast, then never again when everything seems to be going well. I’m grateful that I was in town when it happened. We had lunch the day before, he and I, after he met with his broker.” I smile somberly to myself. “We were talking stocks. You and he might have gotten along. Numbers and all.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He was. I’ve been wondering what he would think of all of this. He was a little traditional in some ways and not in others. I guess it's unpredictable where his opinions would lie. I think he would’ve laughed and passed me a cigar.”
She smiles sympathetically. “I could envision youaccepting it, even though I guess you don’t really smoke cigars, do you?”
“No. Occasionally at a wedding.”
Silence grows between us.
“When do you want to see her again?” she asks softly.
“Later in the week? I’m slammed for the next three days with the COO announcement. Doesn’t mean I don’t expect updates or photos.”
Her face begins to bloom with a changed mood, and I think it’s because of my request. “I can do that,” she promises.
I run my hand up and squeeze her arm, and the fingers of my other hand wrap around her opposite arm, caressing to soothe her and to drive my senses wild. “As for the office…” I know it’s on her mind. “This week, we don’t say anything, except HR should probably know before they hear it on the grapevine. It will help give us a breather to figure it out.”
She fights a laugh that seems desperate to escape. “A breather? You? I’m not sure that’s possible, I’ve quickly learned.”
Glancing away, I drag my gaze back and smirk to myself. “I guess you know me well, but we barely know one another at all.”
Quiet surrounds us, and her eyes narrow. “Is it crazy that I’m well aware that I’m not familiar enough with you, yet I’m not sure it feels that way?”
Ahh, our connection. She feels it too.
“Well, I guess we haven’t been able to stop and actually talk as two people who thought they would never see one another after an amazing night, and then here we are. We’ve been occupied with other topics.”
“With the product of that amazing night,” she quips.
I haven’t let her go or broken our gaze; we are trapped in a moment that we don’t want to end. “We probably need to address something else in this whole equation, which is?—”
“Co-parenting.” She cuts me right off, and my chest tightens because apparently, I hate that word.
“Never want to talk about…” I drawl, hoping she would finish the sentence.
Her hands wrap around my wrists to remove my touch from her, but she glances down and doesn’t let me loose.“My head is spinning already.”
“So, exploring…” Why am I dragging us down this hole? I’m smarter than this. But I need to poke around the option for both her and me. We have to figure out what we remember of one another from our night together, if the traces of carefree us are still there. We were good together.
I’m captivated. By Elodie. Our spark is still strong, and it will circle in my head until I have an answer.It’s dangerous considering we have a child in the mix, but I’m not a man who backs down.
“Hayes,” she purrs, giving me a warning, and the corner of her mouth tugs. She can read my mind, and she’s the responsible one right now. Hence, why she isn’t letting me utter the words.
“Okay.” For now.
