Page 76 of The Foul Out

He leaned slightly forward, and his expression eased. For the first time since he’d walked in, some of his confidence was back.

Exhaling, bracing myself, I slid the white envelope across the dark wood table. “However, I can’t let you pay for my daughter.”

“Harper—”

I put that hand up again. “Let me finish.”

He nodded.

“If you talked to Kayla already, then you know that, going forward, she will be billing me for Piper’s therapies. Your foundation’s connections are amazing.” I shook my head. “And I’d like to be able to schedule things through her.”

He reared back, his shoulders slamming into the seat back. “One hundred percent. I wouldneversay no to that. To anyone. Not just you and Piper.”

“Good.” I swallowed. “So she will set things up, and then she’ll billmefor them. This”—I tapped the envelope—“is the amount you’ve already paid.”

He frowned at it like it smelled like a decomposing body and pushed it back toward me. “Why would I take your money?”

This was the part that had worried me for days. Because if I was wrong about what Kyle wanted, then I was about to embarrass myself.

But I gathered all my courage, pulled my shoulders back, and laid it out. “I’m getting the impression that you’d like to start something between us.”

He snagged my hand with athletic speed, his warmth encapsulating me and filling me with a flush of comfort. “Hell yes, I do. If I haven’t made that clear, then I’ve fucked up more than I thought I had.”

The intensity of the statement flipped my stomach. But I pulled my hand away and pushed the envelope with the check closer again.

“Then I need you to cash the check.”

His lips parted, and his focus narrowed, like he was ready to argue. But I kept going before he could.

“We can’t see where this goes if I feel indebted to you. I don’t want you to pay for my life. That’s not what this should be.”

His eyes swam with mixed emotions. With frustration and determination, but also with acceptance. He knew I wouldn’t give in.

“You’ve done more than enough,” I continued. “I can’t let you pay for Piper’s therapies too.”

“You are a very annoying woman,” he gritted out as he snatched up the envelope and shoved it into his pocket.

“And you are an exceedingly frustrating man.” But for the first time in days, my shoulders relaxed, and I slumped in my chair.

“How long willthe boys be gone?” Kyle asked.

“Probably not too long.” Although I couldn’t be sure because Zara had gone rogue by taking them to the park. “Jace is supposed to pick up the kids at six, which probably means six thirty. And then they won’t eat until—” I snapped my mouth shut. No one liked to hear a person rant about their ex. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Lips pursed, he took my hand between his. As he rubbed his thumb in a circle on my palm, an electric warmth eased into my stomach. Our eyes met for a beat before his gaze dropped to my lips.

The memory of his kiss swamped me. The way his mouth had pressed into mine desperately. Like he’d been trying to devour me. Like he needed me.

Heart skipping, I shifted closer. With my hand still locked in one of his, he pushed a piece of hair back from my face with the other. The brush of his thumb felt like fire on my cheek. Our eyesmet, and he leaned toward me, cupping my cheek. The warmth of his palm flooded my system.

My breath picked up. My body throbbed. I was desperate to close the inches of space between us. Press my lips to his. Let him pull me onto his lap so I could feel his hard body against mine.

But a noise from Piper across the room had my heart lurching and had us both jerking back. Away from each other. Away from that magnetic connection that lingered just below the surface.

He lowered his hand from my face but didn’t break eye contact. “How about I go out and pick up dinner while you get them off with their dad, and then we can hang out?”

“Oh, I…” Wanted that. I thought. My heart was still racing, and my cheeks were hot. My whole body was flushed, really. My body wanted him. And he’d come clean. He’d taken the money like I asked, and I’d told him I had forgiven him. Now I had to actually do it.

What had put that last nail in the coffin of my marriage was my inability to move on from Jace’s lies. And Kyle didn’t deserve that. So then and there, I resigned myself to doing whatever it took to let it go.

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