Page 47 of The Art of Loving You

Ella turned to me, her eyes softening as they met mine. “No. I just told her you had a family emergency and had to handle some business. She didn’t ask for details.”

Relief unfurled inside me, slow but steady. She didn’t know. I let out a breath, slipping my hands into my pockets, and let a teasing grin curve my lips. “Great. Then we’re still on for our aquarium adventure tomorrow, right?”

Ella blinked, then laughed merrily. “Lucas?—”

My mother, who had maintained her composure through most of this, shook her head knowingly and let out a soft chuckle.

Ella groaned playfully. “I haven’t exactly had the opportunity to tell her the trip was canceled.”

I grinned, locking eyes with her. “Then she doesn’t need to know it almost was. I say we stick to the plan.”

Ella let out a huff, but her eyes flickered with something warm, something lighter than all the weight we had been carrying. Relief. Hope. Maybe even something more.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet, still her favorite person,” I murmured, my voice low, teasing.

She rolled her eyes, but the slight curve of her lips gave her away.

The tension in my chest eased a fraction as we stood there in the cool evening air. For the first time in days, I felt like myself again. Not Lucas Devereux, the man dragged through courtrooms and headlines. Just Lucas, the guy who wanted to take a little girl to see jellyfish, stingrays, and sharks and perhaps convince the woman in front of him that I was worth the risk.

Before I had a chance to think better of it, I reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from Ella’s face. She froze, her breath catching as her lashes lowered slightly.

She should have pulled away. Maybe I should have too.

But neither of us did.

Her lips parted, and her gaze locked onto mine as if she were trying to interpret the unspoken words lingering between us.

“You’re really not going to let this aquarium trip go, are you?” she asked, her voice laced with amusement, though something deeper stirred beneath it.

Something dangerous. Something I wanted.

“Not a chance,” I murmured, my fingers grazing the curve of her jaw before I let my hand fall away. “Bess deserves it. And so do you.”

Her eyes flickered with something unspoken, something weighty—too much to unpack right now. My pulse picked up, steady and insistent, like a quiet promise waiting to be fulfilled.

From the side, my mother cleared her throat, shattering the tension. I barely caught the knowing glint in her eyes before she turned away.

Ella shook her head, fighting a smile. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

Home.

The word settled deep in my chest, warm and unfamiliar.

For the first time in a long time, I realized?—

Home might not be a place at all.

It might just be Ella and Bess.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ella

The Miami Aquarium pulsed with life, a mix of children’s laughter, the rhythmic splash of water, and the faint buzz of an overhead announcement echoing through the expansive glass-domed ceiling. Sunlight streamed through, making the tanks sparkle like living works of art.

Bess darted ahead, her sneakers squeaking against the floor as she skidded to a stop in front of a massive cylindrical tank filled with jellyfish. Pressing her hands against the glass, she tilted her head in awe, watching the luminous creatures drift in slow, hypnotic swirls.

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