Page 72 of My Heart Before You

His hand traced the outline of her face as he answered her, “Never.” He considered his mistake of the last four days. “Never again.”

?Chapter 27?

Emilie sat on an incredibly comfortable easy chair with a very happy, very chunky, newly one-year-old pulling at the hem of her charcoal sweater dress. He babbled incoherently while nodding his large head. It was covered in sparse, short red hair, with the exception of the center which presented a filled patch of longer hair that roughly resembled a bad baby toupee.

Kate caught her eyes lingering. “I know we should trim the top of his head until the rest of it grows out, but Max here . . .” She poked at her husband sitting next to her on the couch. “. . . won’t let me.”

“Don’t they say not to cut baby hair?” His hand moved over the side of his buzzed and balding head.

“Of course you can cut a baby’s hair.” A teasing smile laced Kate’s lips. “He’s going to have many, many haircuts until his falls out just like Daddy’s.”

Max went to tickle her, and she caught his hand and kissed it instead.

“We have family pictures next week. We can’t have him looking like that.”

Noticing his mother’s attention, Owen furniture walked from the chair, to the coffee table, to the couch, repeating “mamama” on his way over. Kate picked him up and settled him on her lap.

“Traitor.” Max waggled a finger at his son before sitting back and looking at his wife. “All right, a slight trim . . . butI’mgoing to do it.”

Kate opened her eyes wide, giving Emilie aCan you believe we have to deal with these men?sort of look that had her laughing and glancing at Colin in the chair next to her. His gaze was already focused on her and the affection in it was so palpable, her breath almost caught. She glimpsed back to see Kate and Max pass a knowing look between each other.

“I’m going to get Owen ready for bed before we have coffee.” Kate rose with her son on her hip. “Babe, why don’t you help me?”

“Anything for you, my love.” Max winked in Colin’s direction before they both left the room.

Emilie could feel Colin’s eyes on her face before she turned. “They’re wonderful.”

He grinned before his gaze swept to the stairs. “They are.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

It was Dr. Campbell—Max—that technically asked her to dinner. He’d stopped her in the cafeteria a week ago while she was getting coffee.

“I’m glad that you wanted to come.” His eyes fully relaxed as his smile grew.

Reading between the lines, she understood that Max and Kate were essentially family to him.

Baritone singing could be heard through the ceiling, and Colin’s face tilted up at the sound. He looked so incredibly sexy in his dress shirt and slacks, the top two buttons of his shirt undone in a casual, but enticing way. She’d failed to consider how seeing Colin’s strong jaw and boyish hair over date attire would stir the blood in her veins.

Though they’d had a few day dates recently, Colin seemed to be trying to take everything as slow as he could, leaving her only with a gentlemanly kiss at each goodbye and keeping his strong hands to himself.

Her fingers absentmindedly ran from behind her ear to her collarbone. Blue-grey eyes caught the movement and lingered on her neck. The heat he’d been containing so diligently over the last three weeks quickly filtered into his eyes as his chest rose. When his gaze swept over her snug dress, stocking covered legs, and heels, Emilie wondered if this time it would break free.

Her lips parted, waiting.

“Emilie, how do you take your coffee?” Kate stood at the edge of the room.

“Um.” She blinked, collecting herself. “Black, please.”

After coffee, they said their goodbyes. The thirty-minute drive to the city passed with easy, casual conversation until she saw that they were close to her condo.

“I’m not used to coffee after dinner, and I feel a bit wired,” she lied. “Do you think it would be too much to stop by your place? Maybe we can have a glass of wine or something?”

The car drifted slightly into the other lane before he pulled it back quickly. “My place?”

“Yes.” She let her voice darken and watched his handsome Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

Anticipation lingered like smoke, making the short five-minute drive between their places much too long. When he opened the door to his condo and held it aside, she could almost feel the tension reverberating through his muscles. It’d been two months since she’d been inside, and the difference was stark.

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