Page 68 of Wanting a Family Man

It’s not like that, he wanted to say, even though he wasn’t sure what she suspected.

“All the guests love her,” Trystan felt compelled to say. “Cloe chats with the ones who like to chat and if they want to be left alone, she tells them to come upstairs to sit with me.”

“Still loving your hosting duties, then?” Glenda gave his arm a wry pat. “The last time we talked, you were looking forward to getting back to your other work. Is that still the plan? Logan told me the sale is underway to the Heiltsuk Nation. That’s one thing settled, at least.”

“It might take another hundred years to settle, let’s be real. But yeah, it’s a good step in the right direction. I do want to get back to my own thing, though.” That wasn’t a lie. He did want that. His brain was only shorting out because it was still such a disjointed plan.

Glenda’s expression remained mild, but as their gazes met, his gut filled with gravel.

She definitely knows.She knew he was sleeping with Cloe, and she knew that he knew she knew.

We’re consenting adults. We can do what we want.

The defensive blurt was muted by an icy thought.Chip off the ol’ block.

Glenda didn’t do censure. Even when she had pressed them to look after their little sister, she hadn’t used forces like anger or shame. No, she simply spelled out the reality of a situation and expected you not to disappoint her.

Disappointing Glenda wasn’t the end of the world. It just made you exactly like Dad.

“I should head to Sophie’s. I promised Biyen we’d play cards this afternoon.” Glenda rose. “Logan said you’ll have Storm all day tomorrow?”

“He’s covering for Reid at the office, isn’t he? We were planning to take her for a hike, but we can do something low-key if you want to join us.”

“I’m spending the day with Biyen, but we’ll be around and can take Storm if you have things you need to do.”

Like have sex?

Now his conscience was just being belligerent. He was prickling with irritation because he knew what the right thing to do was. He couldn’t stand the idea of ending things with Cloe, though. He liked what they had. It wasn’t pure selfishness. It was a reciprocal arrangement that…

Fuck.He was rationalizing again.

He didn’t want to hurt Cloe, though. Which he was starting to realize was inevitable, no matter what happened.

“You should feel special.” Cloe was oblivious to the undercurrents. “Every time I’ve heard about day camp, Biyen is talking about how much he loves it. He wouldn’t give it up for just anyone.”

“That’s why I brought instructions for making a papier-mâché dinosaur. This is not my first rodeo.” Glenda winked. “I left you a casserole for tonight and picked up some sour cream to have with it. Instructions are on it. I’ll cook at Sophie’s tomorrow so plan to come for dinner.”

“Thanks, Glenda.” But what the hell was he supposed to do? Break things off with Cloe then bring her to a family dinner? Keep having sex with her while Glenda questioned his intentions?

She wouldn’t say anything to anyone. He knew that, but it didn’t change the fact that he and Cloe needed to talk.

Chapter Sixteen

Storm woke earlyfrom her nap, while Cloe was showering. She was grumpy all evening, not eating well and uninterested in toys. She sat quietly with Cloe while Trystan showered, chewing a chilled teething toy and studying the picture book Cloe shared with her, but mostly she was unhappy.

Thankfully, there was no fever or other signs that she was ill. The teething gel calmed her, but she was overtired and missing Emma—which was more than apparent when Emma and Reid FaceTimed. Storm cried pitifully.

They ended the call when Emma started to cry. Cloe was on the verge of it herself. Storm was breaking her heart!

It was an unsettled night. Cloe had thought there might be a chance for some quality time with Trystan, but by the time he got Storm down for the night, they had to seize their chance to get some shut-eye themselves. He slept in the room that connected to Storm’s through a jack-and-jill bathroom and told Cloe to sleep in the rumpus room so she wouldn’t be disturbed.

The room beside Storm’s held a double bed. She could have slept with him in it, and told him she didn’t care if Storm woke her, but he insisted she use the pullout.

Even two floors down, she heard him get up several times in the night.

She scrambled eggs for all of them the next morning. Storm seemed to enjoy that, judging by the fact more went into her mouth than between her fingers or down her front. When the blueberries came out, she cheered right up.

“How do you feel about a longish hike today?” Trystan asked. “She usually falls asleep in the backpack. That would help her catch up on her rest.”

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