Page 64 of Never Let You Go

“Maple syrup, not sugar. In the coffee.”

She makes a little O with her lips. Fuck, she has to stop doing those things with her mouth.

Needing to turn my back to her, I settle for making coffee. “So, men only bring misery, huh?”

“Sorry—what?”

“That thing your grandmother told you. Men only bring misery. That true?”

She slumps on a chair and folds one leg under her. “Oh god. What else did I say?”

Things we’re not discussing now. “Nothing wrong with that. I was just wondering.”

“My grandmother was a single mom. And so was my mom. So yeah. I was raised to not get my hopes up. And I mean. Not. At. All.”

“That must have been tough.”

She chuckles. “Not getting my hopes up?”

I have to give her that. Hungover, she still has a sense of humor. “Being a single mom.”

She frowns, her honey eyes soft on me. “You’re a single dad. You would know.”

I set two cups of coffee on the table, one black for me, one the way she likes it. Cream and maple syrup. “Was it tough being raised by a single parent?”

A smile brightens her features. “Best years of my life were with my mom. My grandmother, different story. But my mom? She was perfect. She gave me the best childhood I could dream of. We didn’t have money. My grandmother could have helped, but she never offered to, not that mom would have accepted anyway. So I was always crashing at a neighbor’s place depending on what her shifts were at whatever flavor-of-the-month job she had, but it was her and me against the world.” Her gaze is lost somewhere in the past. “Best years of my life.”

She focuses back on me. “You got nothing to worry about with Skye. My mom wasn’t the best role model in terms of career, if you get my drift.” She blinks away the tears rimming her eyes. “You, on the other hand, are the total package single dad.” And on that, she takes a long sip of coffee. “Mmmm,” she moans.

Christ, she has to stop doing that. The compliments. Now the moaning.

She continues. “I get where you’re coming from—not having space for a woman in your life. You don’t need one.”

My initial chuckle dies down quickly. No, I don’t need a woman. But seeing Alexandra here in my house. In my life. In my arms, even if for the wrong reasons.

I can see the appeal.

She blushes. “God what a stupid thing to say. I need to stop putting my foot in my mouth, don’t I?”

“It’s rather entertaining.” I’m full-on smiling right now.

“Anything else I said last night we need to clear the air about?”

My eyes drop to her lips. “Not right now,” I decide.

“M’kay.” She focuses back on her coffee, but not for long. After a short silence, she says, “What’s your family like?”

“What do you mean.”

She shrugs. “Mom, dad, siblings?”

“Mom, stepfather, two half-brothers.”

“Dad?”

“Nope.”

She nods. “You don’t like to talk about it.”

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