Page 678 of Hell Hath No Fury
Say no.
Her silence spoke for itself, and his stomach dropped.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”
“No, it’s okay. I just … I don’t want you to think badly of my sister if I tell you.”
Foster raised an eyebrow. “Okay?”
Ember turned to him. “There was someone. We dated for a few years, and I honestly thought he’d pop the question at my thirtieth birthday. He didn’t. Instead, Luna, my youngest sister, got drunk and stripped. Apparently, this got him so hot, he couldn’t help himself.”
“You’re kidding me.”
She shook her head, lips pinched. Then, “They started seeing each other behind my back that night. I found out weeks later when I walked in on them having sex in his apartment.”
Jesus Christ. The betrayal … Anger churned in his gut. Ember had given up her education to become Luna’s guardian, and she’d thanked her by sleeping with her boyfriend?
“We broke up, but he and Luna … Luna fell pregnant. They got married, but then he proved he really was the ultimate asshole by taking off. So she moved back in with us, and we helped her out for a while with Casey, her daughter, until she met this older guy, Garret, and married him. Now they live in the city, and they have two of their own kids, Anna and Lucas. Luna’s a stay-at-home mom.”
“I saw you with her at the engagement party. You two seemed fine.”
“We weren’t for a while, but we got through it.”
“You forgave her?”
She shocked him by replying, “Of course. Luna has always been impulsive, and she was very young when she cheated with Kyle. Not just literally but emotionally and mentally. Besides, she doesn’t have the best taste in men. I can say that because once duped, I’ve never been duped again. But Luna’s husband …” Foster could tell she scowled behind her glasses. “He cheats on her all the time. And she puts up with it. I don’t know if she thinks she deserves it, or she just doesn’t want to give up the cushy lifestyle he provides. I have no idea. I’ve tried talking to her about it, and we always end up arguing. My youngest sister is the one I understand the least.”
“I’m amazed by your capacity to forgive,” he admitted. “I don’t think I can forgive Carolyn for taking off on G. I can’t help how bitter I feel about it.”
Ember reached over and covered his hand with hers. “That’s totally different. You’re bitter on Georgie’s behalf. No mother should choose a job over their five-year-old. It’s okay not to forgive her for that. You’re hiding the anger from Georgie, which is all that matters.”
The urge to close the gap between them, to wrap his hand around her nape and drag her against him so he could kiss the life out of her was so great, he had to lean back.
She removed her hand from his, misinterpreting his withdrawal. Foster wanted to haul her into his arms, uncaring of who could see them. But he stopped himself.
Instead, he confessed, “I worry I’m not doing this right. That I’ll fail G.”
Ember gave him a tender smile. “Foster, the fact that you worry about it means you’re doing it right. And if no one has said it already, I’m sorry, and this is me rectifying that—you are an amazing dad. You’re only twenty-five years old, and you’ve got your shit together. You know what’s important. You know it’s her.”
“Thank you.” He could barely get the words out for the emotion choking him. “It means a lot that you think that.”
Silence fell between them, allowing the sounds of the water, the seagulls, the chatter of the busy beach to fill the void.
Then Ember murmured, “Don’t look now, but you’ve caught the avid attention of two fangirls.”
He looked at her. “I don’t care.”
She twisted her luscious mouth before replying, “You sure? They’re hot, and unlike the teenage girls who were ogling your six-pack earlier, these two are age appropriate.”
It should have alarmed him how uninterested he was in hot women his age checking him out. In fact, it did alarm him a little.
But that didn’t stop him from caressing every inch of Ember’s body with his hidden gaze instead of looking in their direction.
Ember tensed as if she could feel him staring at her. Then she shoved her sunglasses up into her hair, and he saw the bemusement in her eyes.
“Like I said,” he uttered, his voice hoarse with want, “not interested inthem.”
Before she could reply, G threw herself at him, and he caught her just before she face-planted on his chest. “Daddy, come see our castle!”
