Page 79 of Forbidden Flame

Cole sighed. “If she cries—”

My lips twitched. “It’s going to happen. She’s not going to like it when you tell her no, but when it comes to her safety or her health, you have to draw the line somewhere.”

He looked up at me. “You’ll have to tell me where the lines are. I don’t want to step on your toes.”

“We’ll learn as we go.” It felt good to be talking about the future as a possibility.

We finished the s’mores and used the wipes he’d brought to clean our hands and Izzy’s face.

Izzy threw herself on the ground like she was going to make a snow angel and looked up at the sky. “Are we stargazin’ now?”

“I thought we’d do it in the back of the truck. I brought pillows and blankets.”

“Can we do it here? I want to be near the fire.” Izzy looked up at him.

“Are you okay with that?” Cole deferred to me.

I shrugged. “As long as you have blankets we can use.”

“Absolutely.” Cole grabbed blankets and leaned into whisper. “And don’t worry. I washed everything.”

I hadn’t even thought about the fact that we’d made love on these very blankets the last time we were out here. “It’s good you thought to do that.”

Maybe it was for the best that Izzy wanted to be on the ground. If we were in the bed of the truck, it might bring back memories I shouldn’t be having right now. Not with my daughter nearby.

I helped Cole arrange the blankets and pillows on the ground. Then we lay down with Izzy between us. Cole pointed out the stars and constellations he knew. Then he pulled out the app. Despite Izzy’s insistence that the app was cheating, she was enthralled with it.

They sat with their heads close together, finding various planets on the screen. Then they searched the sky with the app until they pointed them out to me.

“That’s where Saturn’s supposed to be,” Izzy said to me, and I followed her finger but couldn’t see anything different.

“The conditions have to be just right to see certain planets. If I know it’s a good night to see one, I’ll let you know, and if it works with your schedule, we can come back out.”

Izzy seemed pleased by the prospect, and I wanted more time with Cole, so I didn’t protest. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it wasn’t a good idea for him to spend more time with Izzy. At first, I was worried about her getting used to him and him walking away. But he’d said we were in this together, and I wanted to see it through.

Izzy wanted to spend time with him, and I was going to let this run its course, and hope that if things worked out, our families would be okay with us seeing each other.

Eventually, Izzy got sick of the app and got up to dance. I found a song she loved and hit Play.

We sat up so we could watch her.

“This is nice. Thanks for inviting us.” For making us part of your life.

He moved closer but didn’t touch me.

“Did Knox give you a hard time?” I asked him, worried about the answer.

Cole hung his head slightly. “He asked if I needed advice on dating a single mom.”

“Really? What did he say?”

“To take care of you and her. To be the man both of you need. He didn’t say that in so many words, but I’ve seen the way he interacts with Sarah and Addy. He treats her as if she’s his. He respects her father’s role in her life, but he’s there too. It’s the best of both worlds.”

“I love that.” With every word and action, I was falling harder. It was too late to protect my heart. I just hoped Izzy wouldn’t get hurt in the process. She’d had enough disappointment in her lifetime.

Cole turned his gaze to me. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t think anyone means to. Sometimes it just happens.”

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