Page 51 of Make Your Move

“You look great, Nova. How are you doing? It’s been a long time.”

I stare at him for a moment. “I’m—” Words fail me at the audacity of this man. “It has been a long time. What brings you back to Aston?”

His eyebrows pull together, and he looks irritated as he stares down at me. “Cynthia has family here, so we came to visit them for the week.”

“Well, that’s sweet,” I say, feeling my emotions kicking into overdrive. “How old is he?”

“What?”

The muscle in my jaw tightens. “Your son. How old is he?”

“Stepson,” he corrects me. “He’s five.” Dane shifts his weight uncomfortably as his words knock the fucking air from my lungs. “Cyn and I met last year, and we got married a few months ago.”

I never wanted to stay with Dane. I didn’t want to be in a relationship with this man, and we both knew that years ago. That didn’t mean I wanted to raise his child by myself while he was out raising another man’s child.

“That’s very noble of you,” I tell him, nodding as the venom drips from my teeth. “He’s lucky to have you. Such a strong father figure.”

“Nova…”

I hold my hand up to silence him. “No, really, Dane. You stepped up to take care of another man’s child while your own has never even met you.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” he says, his voice low and quiet. “You know it was better for me to not be involved.”

“Better for the two of us, yes,” I agree, trying not to look in Lincoln and Posey’s direction. “Your daughter is one day going to wonder why you signed your rights over. Do you know how hard it has been to make up bullshit excuses when she asks about her dad?”

“Is everything okay here?”

Fuck.

Lincoln’s voice is like silk against my eardrums, but I cannot have him here right now. I glance at him over my shoulder, seeing Posey at the table from the corner of my eye. She’s watching something on Lincoln’s phone so she doesn’t even notice the three of us. “Everything is fine.”

Lincoln doesn’t look convinced. He looks right past me, his angry eyes meeting Dane’s. “Who the fuck are you?”

Dane, being the idiot he is, holds his hand out to shake Lincoln’s. “Dane Tucker.” Lincoln doesn’t take his hand. He looks at it before looking back at his face, his jaw set as he steps up beside me. Dane lets out a breath.

“Meet me out in the car, Nova.”

“Lincoln,” I say softly, my hands wrapping around his bicep as he steps into Dane’s space. “Come out with us.”

He turns his head to look at me. “I will meet you outside.” He brings his face down to mine, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. Dane and I just need to have a few words.”

Dread rolls in the pit of my stomach, but I trust Lincoln. I trust the words he says, and as angry as he may be, I know he won’t do anything to put himself in jeopardy, especially in public. He gives me a reassuring look, and I look at Dane once more.

“There is a special place in hell for people like you.”

Dane stares back at me, but he doesn’t say anything. Regret washes over his eyes, and I know he can feel it. That doesn’t change the fact that he has no intention of changing things in the future. He closed the chapter that included Posey. He has no want for the situation to be any different.

I walk over to my daughter, scoop her into my arms and head directly to the exit without looking back in his direction. I may regret letting him off so easily and not trying to convince him to keep his rights, but you shouldn’t have to convince someone to be involved in their kid’s life.

That’s how I know she’s better off without him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

LINCOLN

Iwait until Nova is out of sight before I start speaking to Dane. He stares at me, his eyes narrow, but he breaks our stares as his wife and her son walk up. She gives me a nervous glance, unsure of who I am, but she doesn’t question him when he tells her to go find a table, and he’ll be with them soon.

I also realize we are in the middle of an ice cream shop in broad daylight. This is not the time nor is it the place to have this conversation, but I have no choice. He upset Nova, and I have to say something. I can’t do what I’d love to do to him, so my words will have to suffice.

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