Page 14 of Be My Traitor

Whatever. It wasn’t my job to entertain him. Didn’t he have wine in his own place? Did hehaveto stay here?

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the weekend?” he said at last.

“Nothing special,” I replied. “We usually spend Sunday with my parents. They love Amber and she absolutely adores them and all her aunts and uncles. She’s particularly close to Archer. She never could say his name properly, so she always called him Unky Woof when she was little. The nickname’s stuck and everyone calls him Woof now.” I caught the amused expression on Lucas’s face. “I wouldn’t call him that if I were you,” I warned. “Archer will take it from cute four-year olds. Not so much from guys who abandon their family.”

“That’s low,” Lucas said. “I didn’t know you were pregnant. I’ve already told you I wouldn’t stayed away so long if you’d said something.”

“Whatever.” I sighed heavily. “What’s done is done. We need to figure out where we go from here.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you, I’d rather not involve the lawyers,” he said. “If we can agree an arrangement between the two of us, I’d rather keep things informal. How about if I take Amber every weekend?”

“What – and leave me to have to deal with all the school runs and meltdowns when we get home without the fun of downtime at the end of the week?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“All right. What about if we have her alternate weeks? That way, we both have to deal with school and we both get to have fun with her at the weekend.”

“That would be way too disruptive for Amber.” I shook my head even more vehemently. “It’s not going to work.”

“All right. You make a suggestion then.” Lucas was working to keep his tone light, but I could tell he was getting frustrated.

“You can have her every other Saturday,” I said. “That way my parents can still keep our Sunday tradition.”

“That’s nowhere near enough time,” Lucas protested. “I have to have her for at least the whole weekend.”

“She still doesn’t know you,” I pointed out. “Give it some time. Sure, you had a good afternoon with her today, but you’re a novelty and you came with a big present. When you become just another person in her life, she won’t seem nearly as cute and she can push boundaries like nobody’s business. I think you’ll find one day a fortnight is more than enough for now. We can always change it later once she’s had a chance to get to know you.”

“What you say makes sense.” Lucas nodded slowly. “But it’s still not enough. What about if I have her on every Saturday?”

I had to work hard to keep the smug grin off my face. I’d been expecting Lucas to fight harder for more time. One day a week was okay for now. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with the family lawyer yet, but I knew enough to know that if I made some concessions now, it would look good for me if we ever ended up in court.

“I think I can agree to that.” I held up my glass in salute and Lucas leaned over to clink his against it.

“Good. There’s a circus coming to town next week. I’d love to take Amber to it.”

“Just be careful you don’t set the bar too high,” I warned. “You’re her father, not her best friend, okay?”

“You don’t want to be the bad parent, that’s all.” Lucas laughed. “If I want to be a fun dad, that’s on me.”

“Uh-huh. Well, when Amber starts acting up and you don’t know how to deal with her, don’t come crying to me.”

“I’m the headmaster of the Academy, remember?” Lucas pointed out. “I handle hundreds of kids every day. I think I can tackle one iddy biddy four-year-old.”

“We’ll see.” I lifted my wine glass to hide the smile on my face. Lucas might think he knew it all, but I knew from experience that teaching children and parenting them were two very different things.

Lucas finished up his wine. He looked in the empty glass, considering his next words.

“I suppose I ought to get going,” he said at last. I’d been expecting him to say something else, but he must have changed his mind. “I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“Okay.” I stood up to walk him to the door. I opened it for him and stood there, waiting for him to leave, but he hesitated, again, looking like he wanted to say more.

“Yes?” I folded my arms, giving him my best teacher glare.

“Nothing. I’ll see you at the Academy on Monday.”

He went off to his car and I closed the door so I wouldn’t have to watch him leave. I didn’t want him to think I cared. Part of me wanted him to stick around, maybe even flirt a little. He looked even better than I remembered him and it had been alongtime since I’d enjoyed any male company. But it wasn’t worth the risk. Right now, Lucas was the enemy, someone who might try to take my daughter away from me.

If I forgot that, I’d only end up regretting it.

Chapter 8

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