Page 25 of Just My Luck

Thankfully she did a quick walk down the hallway and returned to the dining space, which led outside.

She lifted a hand and pointed through the french-style doors. “What’s out there?”

I opened one of the doors and gestured. “Just a back porch and my garden beds. I have a few raised beds here, and farther back are some in-ground gardens.” Feeling silly, I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “I like to experiment with the beer recipes. It makes more financial sense to grow the ingredients if I’m just going to fuck it up.”

Her eyes shone with delight. “How very domestic of you, Mr. King.”

I gritted my teeth. “Abel.”

“Yes, boss.” She brushed past me to take a closer look at the gardens that actively grew lavender, hops, herbs, and a whole host of other ingredients I’d been wanting to play around with.

My blood hummed and my body itched to follow her. Instead, I stayed rooted to the spot. If I couldn’t control the incessant thoughts about her, I’d control my body by sheer force of will.

Her hand brushed across the green and purple tips of a lavender plant. She paused as she looked toward the back of the house and pointed. “What the heck is that?”

I angled myself to see what she was looking at. At the back of my home, the primary bathroom opened to the outside through another set of french-style doors. Through the glass, a pristine claw-foot tub could be seen.

“That’s, uh...” I couldn’t place why I suddenly felt nervous. “My bathroom.”

Sloane stepped to the house and cupped her eyes to peer through the glass. “That’s not a bathroom, that’s a dream come true. Abel, it’s so pretty!”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, deepening the dimples in her cheeks.

She turned to me with narrowed eyes. “Do you even fit in that?”

I squared my stance. “I manage.”

She pursed her lips. Her eyes roamed over my frame, and a soft littlehuhescaped her. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I held her stare. The woman in front of me was bubbly and curious and a real fucking problem.

Not an hour ago she had gotten down on one knee and proposed marriage. And I’d almost said yes.

My eyes drifted from her face down the column of her neck. My heart hammered as the soft skin peeking from the neckline of her dress tempted me.

Jesus, it’s been a long time if someone’s neck is that tempting.

I needed to focus on anything other than the way this petite woman was knocking my world sideways. “So what happened today?”

Sloane’s face fell.

Real smooth, asshole.

She gently cleared her throat and wound her way around the raised garden beds before plopping down on the top step of the back porch stairs.

She patted the area next to her, and I sat down, but gave plenty of space between us.

“So Ben and Tillie’s dad—my ex—we don’t have what you’d consider a functional co-parenting relationship. In fact, we don’t have a relationship at all.” She sighed, and my silence made space for her to continue. “I was only twenty-two when I had the twins. We didn’t know what to do after we found out I was pregnant, so we decided to get married. From the beginning it was a nightmare. Jared wasn’t interested in growing up. Heran with really shady people, liked to party and do some minor drugs. My dad and stepmom begged me not to marry him, but I was proud and thought I was in love. I had hoped having the babies would change things. Well,” she scoffed, “itdid, but not the things I expected. He was jealous of his own children. Things got manipulative and scary, but I still put up with it. Once, after too much partying, he came home and picked a fight.Again.Only this time he pushed me while I was holding Ben, and I nearly dropped him. Things escalated—lots of shouting back and forth. The neighbor called the police when they heard us, and the next day I got a judge to agree to an order of protection and filed for divorce.”

Anger bubbled inside me. I’d learned to contain my rage, but the mere thought of someone putting their hands on Sloane had me brimming with hatred. I counted backward, tried deep breathing, anything to allow her to continue despite the war raging in my head.

“The divorce went uncontested—he didn’t even bother showing up—and I was granted custody. I didn’t even seek child support. I just wanted to disappear. Still, I worried that he might try something, so I reached out to my granddad and asked him for a place to stay. But last year Granddad’s house burned down.”

Storm clouds rumbled inside my head. “You think it was him.”

Her warm hazel eyes held me in place. “It was ruled arson.”

I scrubbed a hand on the back of my neck. “Jesus. And you saw him today? You should call the police, Sloane.”

“I know.” She picked at a nail. “I did make a report after Ben thought he saw him. I’ll call again.”

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