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  After tea, she walked out with Elizabeth and all six dogs. She held the leads for all of them while Elizabeth strolled with her.

  “If you don’t mind, I would like to come with you. It will help to keep my ticker strong.”

  “If that’s what you would like.”

  “It is. I like a good brisk walk. In all truth, I don’t need a dog walker, I just need some company. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at all,” she said. She would be glad of the company, and she happened to really like Elizabeth. She wasn’t good at making friends at the best of times, apart from Katie.

  They went into the park, where she was able to take all six dogs off the lead and watch them sprint across the grass, lapping up the summer sun. They all looked happy, content, and free.

  “This is the life. William and I, we loved to take long strolls.”

  “Did you and William live in the two houses?”

  “No, we didn’t, but our parents did many years ago. We actually found ourselves hating each other in school. He would pull my hair and I’d kick him between the legs. Then of course, one day, it all changed. We started to enjoy each other’s company.”

  “Did your parents get together?”

  “No. So I guess the houses did bring us together, it just wasn’t looking to split up two happy marriages to do it. We married at eighteen and left home. Our parents moved out the next year.” Elizabeth laughed. “We never realized the houses worked on us too.”

  ****

  “We can invite Ann,” Katie said.

  Eli paused and looked down at his little girl. Louisa’s mom had invited them out to lunch, or Katie out, and he was joining her. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Louisa’s mom. He couldn’t even remember her name.

  “She’s not here, remember?” He’d already gone to her house, asking for her to save him, but no answer. He’d called her as well, only for the call to go straight to voicemail.

  He was pissed, but she had her own life to live, and it didn’t include him.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

  “Why did you have to agree to go to lunch?” Katie pouted. “I don’t like Louisa. She says I’m weird because I don’t have a mommy.”

  “Fuck, shit. I wasn’t supposed to say either of those words. I’m a bad dad.” He pulled his daughter in close. “Do you want me to cancel?”

  Katie nodded and then groaned. “Her car is outside.”

  “Okay, do you want me to be rude?”

  “But Louisa might tell all of my friends how mean you are and no one will invite me to a party.” Katie’s eyes filled with tears.

  Crying females were not his strong suit. They were a mystery to him, and whenever the waterworks came on, he left or found any number of reasons to get the hell out of there. But right now, this crying girl was his daughter.

  Cupping her face, he groaned. “Please, don’t cry. You know I don’t do well when you cry. How about we make a deal? We’re good with deals, right?”

  “I’m listening,” Katie said, sniffling.

  “We go to dinner, and we don’t leave each other alone. Louisa’s mother scares me. Like on a big scale. She’s terrifying.”

  “So I’ll be doing you a favor?”

  “A big one. I huge one.”

  “And you won’t organize a playdate like this one again?”

  “I promise. I swear, I will never leave you stranded like this again,” he said.

  Katie pursed her lips, seeming to think it over. “Deal.”

  “Good.”

  She took his hand and they left the house. He locked the door, wishing he could have had some emergency that meant he didn’t have to go on any playdate. Next time, he was going to run all playdates through Ann. She would know what to do.

  “I know we said we’d meet at the diner, but I figured it was on my way, so why not pick you up?”

  “Certainly,” he said.

  After opening the passenger door for Katie, he helped her inside, buckling her into place and kissing her on the head.

  Louisa was on her phone typing away frantically.

  “Leave them on their cell phones. They’ll be fine,” Louisa’s mom said.

  “I don’t let Katie have a cell phone.” Right this second, he was really pleased. “Do I, kiddo?”

  “Nope.” Katie smiled at him. “He doesn’t think they’re necessary.”

  “You’re lame,” Louisa said.

  “Or, she will have a great deal of talking skills.”

  “I was hoping we could talk,” Louisa’s mom said.

  He knew what she wanted.

  “Katie, sweetie, spell unfortunately.” He smiled at the woman beside him and mouthed, “Sorry.”

  Katie, his loving daughter, played along, and before long, Louisa, joined in, and they both were spelling out words.

  This was something his parents did with him, and well, his mother was the one who had removed the phone he’d gotten for Katie. His mother who said they were the devil and all kids needed to learn basic skills before being drawn to a device.

  He never argued with his mother, and that cell phone was probably still in the confiscation box she liked to keep in the kitchen cupboard.

  How times have changed.

  They drove into town, and Louisa’s mom was clearly not happy.

  When she parked—and she was an awful driver—he climbed out and helped Katie down, who was chuckling.

  They entered the diner, and of course it was busy. It was the dinnertime rush. There was a booth available, as Louisa’s mom had booked a table in advance. A nice little trick as he didn’t know one could do that. He made a note to do the same for him, Katie, and Ann.

  He waited as Katie and Louisa shuffled into the booth, then of course the mother, who refused to go in before his daughter, and he joined the table.

  Louisa and Katie immediately grabbed the menus. His little spelling game seemed to have broken the ice between the two girls. Grabbing a menu, he slid it open.

  Louisa’s mom put her painted nails on his arm. “You know, all Louisa talks about is Katie. I knew I had to bring them together.”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  He wasn’t going to point out how much she was lying. There was simply no reason to.

  “Actually, I think she likes you as well. I know it’s a little forward,” she said. “She has been looking for a father figure ever since her dad left us last year. His secretary. He was that kind of man. The kind to keep his wife at home slaving over him, and fiddle with his younger bit on the side.”

  This wasn’t the topic he wanted to get at. “That must suck.”

  “Oh, it does, believe me. I am a woman scorned. I don’t get men. How they can just use us until we’re all worn out, and then move onto the newer model?” She sighed.

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re fine. The man was a fool.”

  He was playing his part well and Katie kept glancing up at him. He was a big man and knew how to keep his shit together.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried to remain calm, which wasn’t working, because he didn’t want Louisa’s mom touching him.

  The waitress came to their table, and he was happy for the distraction.

  In the city, he would have taken this woman up on her offer, used her, and discarded her. But he wasn’t playing by those rules anymore. Nope, they were all different now. His little girl was near him, and this woman was the mother of her friend. This move was all about Katie, and he wasn’t going to spoil it.

  With their food ordered, he sat back and watched as Katie began to color with the crayons the waitress had left along with a card. Seeing her like this, he felt at peace, like everything he was doing had a purpose. His little girl was everything to him.

  So sweet.

  So beautiful.

  “So, I was thinking that you could come by my house next Saturday,” Louisa’s mom said. Her hand went to his thigh. The kids wouldn’t be able to see. It was high up on his thigh
, very close to his dick, which for him, only had one owner.

  What the fuck?

  He thought about Ann.

  His dick belonged to Ann.

  When the fuck had this happened?

  Why did he even care so much?

  “I’m busy next weekend.” Katie was going to his parents’ house and he was going to be balls deep inside of Ann, his very sexy, next-door neighbor.

  He put his hand on top of Louisa’s mom’s with the intention of moving it, only he felt a pull across the room.

  He turned to see Ann was there. Her gaze was on him and in a split second before she looked away, he saw the pain and hurt in her eyes.

  Fuck.

  She was alone, at a table near the counter.

  He heard her name called. She grabbed her dinner, and without another look at him, she was gone.

  There was no time to chase her either. Their dinner arrived and Katie was oblivious to his panic. Ann had seen him with this woman and her overly grabby hand. He was pissed off. He tried to focus on dinner, listening to Katie and Louisa chatter. He moved to the edge of the booth, and when Katie asked if she could sleep over at Louisa’s, he didn’t argue. He promised to get her the next day.

  Louisa’s mom wanted him to come back for a drink but he declined, instead, walking back to his home with the task of trying to figure out how to tell the woman in his life that what she saw wasn’t the real truth.

  Never had he justified his actions, but now, he did feel he was going to need a miracle.

  Chapter Eight

  It was foolish to hope for anything. She knew that now as clear as anything.

  Ann couldn’t believe what a fool she had been and he was even on a date with another woman. Sure, Katie and another girl had been there, but he’d looked way too cozy with that other woman, and well, it was up to him what he did.

  After running fingers through her hair, she put her food down on the counter and instead, took a nice long shower.

  She tilted her head up to the spray of the water, closing her eyes as she washed the day’s dirt from her body. She was due to walk Elizabeth’s dogs tomorrow morning.

  Whatever tales these houses had to tell, they clearly didn’t work on her, not that she minded. She didn’t need a man.

  With her hair thoroughly washed and her body clean, she turned the shower off and wrapped her hair up in a towel before pulling on a bathrobe to cover her body.

  She wondered if that other woman had to cover anything up that was perfect on her. Ugh, she hated this. Being jealous of other women was not productive. It sucked and she wasn’t the kind of woman to be pissed at something like this, and yet, it seemed, she was hurt by what she saw.

  It means nothing.

  Once she’d padded downstairs, she grabbed her dinner off the counter, which was now cold, but she didn’t mind eating cold burgers. There was no reason for her to cook today.

  Sitting on the sofa, she shoved her burger into her mouth and took a large bite, feeling her stomach twist at the thought of Eli preferring the sophisticated woman to her. She wondered if that woman needed help to pay her mortgage, or if her bills and finances were all in order. She probably didn’t need two jobs either.

  Taking another bite, she refused to allow herself to fall for him, or think about him with another woman.

  He had his own life, he could live it his own way.

  She’d be able to work through all of her troubles. It would probably be good for Katie to have a mother as well.

  Another bite and a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

  With burger in hand, she walked across to her door, only to glare. Eli was on the other side. She stood there.

  “Ann, I know you’re in there.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “I can feel you. Come on. I know you’re pissed at me, but you can’t be pissed at something you don’t know. You don’t know the full story.”

  Unlocking her door, she opened it. “I really need to know the full story about why that woman was pretty much touching your dick in the diner?”

  “She didn’t get anywhere near my dick.”

  “Yeah, right. Did you just throw her off you, is that it? Is that what you want me to believe?” she asked.

  He stepped into her house, closing the door, and she stormed away, going back to her seat on the sofa. He wasn’t getting sex tonight.

  Taking another bite of her burger, she hated that it was the last one, but she had cold fries. Shoving one of them in her mouth, she realized they didn’t taste as good cold. Still, she was going to eat and ignore this man.

  Don’t you think you’re acting a wee bit childish?

  No, she didn’t. She felt she was acting how she felt, hurt. Sophisticated woman, childish outburst.

  Eli took the bag from her hand and threw it in the trash.

  “Hey, I was eating those.”

  “They’re cold and you look like you’re going to throw up. Don’t lie to me and pretend otherwise. Now, are we going to have a civilized conversation here, or do you want to keep arguing with me?”

  She frowned. “Where’s Katie?”

  “She’s at a sleepover.”

  “Oh, at little miss perfect’s. I’m surprised you’re not there.”

  “I did get an invite but I knew I needed to come and deal with you.”

  “You don’t have to deal with me. I’ve got a lot of things I could be doing. You know, dating, and going out with lots of strange men.” Oh, shut up, please. She didn’t know why she kept talking.

  Part of her had hoped her talk with Elizabeth had been right.

  No. She couldn’t fall for Eli. They weren’t a couple. They weren’t even together. Not really. They enjoyed each other. He was her first, but when this ran its course, it would be over. Completely over.

  Elie grabbed her face and suddenly, she was pressed back against the sofa, his large body over hers and she had no choice but to spread her legs as he thrust against her. His lips took possession of hers.

  All thought left her.

  All that remained was his body next to hers.

  The towel on her head had started to dry her hair but now it fell. He sank his fingers into her hair and kissed her again.

  “Now that I have you quiet, I’m going to tell you there was nothing going on between that woman and me. There will never be anything going on because I don’t belong to anyone, Ann. You’re the only woman I want. Katie didn’t even want to go out on a playdate. I organized it because I thought she did, and I wanted her to fit in. Have a life here. One where she is loved and people know her. You know?” he asked.

  She nodded. Right now, words seemed to be failing her at every single turn and it would be much easier for her to listen. Less humiliating as well. She had really thrown their relationship up in his face, and even brought dating other men into it. She was an idiot. No doubt about it.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “You have every single right to be hurt, Ann. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

  “No, you’re right. I acted like an idiot and I won’t let it happen again.”

  He pressed his head against hers. “I mean, what I’m saying is I don’t want any other woman. I’m not even looking.”

  “I saw the way the woman looked at you. She wants you.”

  “She can want all she likes, she’s not getting me. I belong to you.”

  Her heart lifted. His words filled her with hope. Did he even realize the words he’d spoken? The kind that gave way to commitment. She knew they were only spoken in the heat of the moment, but still, they were there.

  Did he really belong to her?

  She needed to keep her hopes down. There was no way she was going to let this moment go. Not now.

  He kissed her again. “I did try to call you,” he said.

  “You did?” She frowned. “When?”

  “Today. When I realized Katie didn’t want to go and that this could have been a ruse to
get me to go along. I know what that woman wants, Ann. I’m not a fool.”

  “I didn’t think you were a fool,” she said.

  “You didn’t answer.”

  “I was out, sorry.”

  “What were you doing?”

  “I was walking a friend’s dogs.”

  He raised a brow. “Really? Do you need more money?”

  “No. I don’t need any money.” She put a hand on his chest. She didn’t want him to pay for anything more.

  After seeing the woman with him today, she had to stay on her own two feet. There was no way she was going to rely on him for money, and she didn’t want him to think she only saw him as a bank book.

  “I want to walk the dogs. Honestly, I do. I like to walk.”

  “You’re going to be walking dogs.”

  “Yep, six of them. In the morning and at night.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “You can hate it all you want, but I’m doing it.”

  “You’re going to be alone at night and in the morning?” he asked.

  “Yes. It’s fine and I will be perfectly safe.” She tilted her head back and felt his growing erection as it pressed between her thighs. “Do you want to continue to lecture me about going out alone after dark? Or do you want something else?”

  “Oh, you see, you won’t be alone because whenever Katie is busy, you’re going to have me. I’ll walk with you with the dogs.”

  “What about when Katie is with you?” she asked.

  “You’re going to be on the phone with me.”

  “Eli, that is a little extreme.”

  “It’s not. I need to know you’re safe. Now, I think I need to take care of another problem.”

  “You do?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I need to hear you scream my name as I lick this pretty little pussy.” He moved down between her thighs and she gasped as he licked from her entrance up to her clit, then back down again.

  She wasn’t going to argue with him.

  ****

  “You know you don’t have to come with me,” Ann said the next morning.