Page 669 of Hell Hath No Fury
Oh.
“You should check it out. Meditation has a way of removing large sticks from small assholes.”
Celeste choked on a bark of laughter, her round eyes swinging to Foster’s in apology.
He glowered at her and then at Ember. “Don’t really want my kid around someone with that mouth.”
Though he’d like to taste it.
A lot.
A deep, wet taste.
Fuck.
He glanced over his shoulder to check on G again but also so they couldn’t see the heat in his expression. How could he be attracted to a woman who continually insulted him? There must be something wrong with him.
“Oh, get over yourself, Darwin.” Ember’s voice brought his head back around. “I can look out for Georgie until you find someone permanent. Think about it. You know where to find me. Now, I really do need to go.”
Foster watched her sashay away, annoyed but hungry.
A throat cleared, drawing his attention back to Celeste.
Her head tilted to the side, and she studied him with a knowing glitter in her dark eyes. “Oh. Okay.” She smirked.
What did that mean?
“So … are you going to take Ember up on her offer?”
“I’ll think about it.” He spun around and returned to G, willing his pulse to slow.
CHAPTER THREE
Ember
I loved night swimming. It was a good thing, too, because I also loved food. Swimming and yoga were wonderful exercise, but I’d never be one of those slender, athletic women who looked great no matter what they wore. And I was okay with that. It took me until my thirties to be okay with that, but when I finally let myself be happy with my body and own my curves, it was amazing the kind of peace it brought.
Women spend far too much emotional energy worried about weight. If I could bottle my “could give zero fucks” formula, I wouldn’t charge for it. I’d dole that stuff out for free so every woman in the world would be happy and see the beauty in themselves that the people who loved them could already see.
My feet hit the pool wall and I pushed off, propelling myself back toward the opposite end. I saw movement on the patio, realizing a large figure stood there. I startled in the water and stopped moving, floating in the middle. I watched as the tall man strode into the light.
Foster.
“Sorry if I scared you.” He crouched, those intense, dark eyes focused on me.
Despite my distaste for him, I was curious about his appearance. Swimming toward him, I came to a stop at the pool’s edge. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw you swimming.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward his house.
I looked up and saw the light on in the master bedroom that overlooked the backyard. My whole life we’d lived next door to the Cowies. They were around twenty years older than my parents, and their kids were off to college by the time Mom and Dad started popping us out. Deciding to move to a smaller house in Florida, they’d put the house up for sale, much to our sadness. It was weird not having them next door.
Even weirder Darwin had moved in.
“I wondered if your offer was still good?”
Remembering my impulsive offer to look after Georgie, part of me wanted to say no. But I remembered Georgie sitting on the patio furniture, watching her dad with big, melancholy eyes. Her mom hadabandonedher. In that moment, I’d forgotten about Foster’s repellent personality and just saw a father who needed help with his little girl. Until he’d opened his mouth again. His disdain for me couldn’t be clearer, so it was more than a shock that he’d come over to accept my proposal.
Swimming to the ladder, I pulled myself out of the water. I hadn’t thought anything about my state of undress until I walked toward Foster. He slowly stood from his haunches, his eyes traveling up my body.
