Page 54 of Offside Devil

“The only thing I’m worried about is whether or not you can follow directions.”

Weird—I’m only worried about whether I can hit you hard enough to knock you out or if I’m going to have to keep listening to you… is what I want to say. But considering Aiden is looking at me with his wide, innocent baby-deer eyes and I don’t want to traumatize him by assaulting his father on the sidewalk, I bite my tongue.

Suddenly, Aiden twists around and leans over Zane’s shoulder, reaching towards the display window of a children’s boutique. They have a full superhero display featuring graphic tees, superhero-themed sneakers, and capes. Aiden’s eyes are pinned to the Spiderman pajamas.

Zane follows his son’s attention. “Do you want to go in there?”

“Yes,” Aiden says. Even adding in a last minute “please” for good measure.

“You got it, buddy. Let’s go.”

And then we do it all over again.

Zane fills a cart with enough clothes to last Aiden the next fourteen years of his life, at least, and the owner watches us walk through the small shop with flashing dollar bill signs in her eyes.

If I was the kind of woman Zane’s sponsor seemed to think I am, this would really be doing it for me. Watching Zane buy whatever he wants without even checking price tags would be revving all of my engines.

But I don’t care about that. I never have.

What I can’t look away from is the way Zane holds everything he grabs in front of Aiden to see if he likes it before tossing it in the cart.

My knees go wobbly when Zane quizzes Aiden on his favorite superhero and doesn’t get frustrated when Aiden can’t find the words to explain why he would rather have the power of invisibility than super strength.

And when Zane loops Aiden onto his shoulders and ducks through the front door of the boutique, bags dangling from both arms, I have to give my lady bits a firm and forceful command to stand the fuck down.

This is a rare glimpse of him in his element—but it just reinforces that I don’t belong here. Soon enough, I won’t be anymore.

This is temporary and Zane’s asshole Scottish sponsor was right about one thing: I should stay far, far away from Zane Whitaker.

And his tadger.

23

ZANE

Swapping keys with the hired driver and asking him to get my Ferrari home safe seemed like a good idea…

Until this exact moment.

Aiden is asleep in the car seat and Mira is sitting next to me. Her sundress of the day is another absolute mindfuck. I mean, she’s covered, for fuck’s sake. The woman is wearing multiple layers of clothing.

So why am I more focused on the way her soft thigh would feel against my palm than I am on the fucking road?

I look up just as the light at the intersection shifts to red. Without thinking, I throw an arm out to hold Mira back and slam on the brakes.

She lets out a yelp and her breasts press against my forearm.

“My bad,” I breathe as we careen to a stop, pulling my arm back. “Touchy brakes.”

She flattens herself against the seat. “You usually drive a Ferrari. Are you trying to tell me this car’s brakes are better?”

I glance at her sidelong. “What do you know about cars?”

“I know Ferraris don’t have room for a car seat.”

Aaand there it is. The reason I showed up at the store today: Mira thinks I’m a shit father.

I don’t need to be looking at my phone to remember the text she sent me—to hear in my head the exact way she would have spit every word at me if we’d been in the same room at any point in the last three days.

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