Page 73 of The Single Dad Project

Shaking her head, Flo grinned and her gaze landed on the one personshe’dbeen trying to avoid all day.

Adam Reed.

Tall and just...big, he stood out among this crowd. Or maybe she just had a built-in radar that zeroed in on him no matter his location. God, she hated that might be true.

She also hated that she couldn’t stop staring at him.

In deference to the perfect spring day, he wore a light blue button-down shirt that stretched over his wide shoulders and chest like a shameless hussy. Rolled-up sleeves revealed muscled forearms, and damn, the sight of them shouldn’t have a ball of heat lodging beneath her navel. Nor should his powerful thighs pressed against slim-fitting khaki pants have the breath stuttering in her lungs.

But here she was. Heat lodging, breath stuttering.

She curled her fingers into her palms, nails denting the skin, but that tiny flare of pain did nothing to erase the tactile memory of his thick, coarse hair under her hands. Or eradicate the delicious stretch in her thighs as she straddled his.

With a will she didn’t believe herself possible of possessing, she snatched her gaze away from him...it crashed into Leo’s and Sydney’s.

“Oh girl,” Sydney breathed, shaking her head.

Flo grimaced as Leo said, “You got it bad, don’t you?”

TheI don’t know what you’re talking aboutleaped to her tongue, but as she met her sisters’ way-too-perceptive eyes, she couldn’t push out the lie.

But she also couldn’t affirm what all three of them knew. Yes, she did have it bad. The man was an itch under her skin that, no matter how much she scratched, refused to go away. And she wanted to scratch it...a lot.

Voicing it aloud, though? No. That made it too real. Made it fact.

“His little girl is adorable and so sweet,” Leo said, her tone gentle—careful.

“Don’t, Leo,” Flo warned. “A TV crew might be here, but this isn’t going to be a thirty-minute sitcom where everyone ends up together in their happily-ever-after to a laugh track.” When Leo’s lips parted, Flo held up her hand. “I’m not going to deny there’s...something between me and Adam. But he has a little girl to raise and protect. That and their life together are his first priorities. And his life is back in Chicago, not here in Rose Bend.”

“When Owen came here, he intended his stay to be for a short time, too,” Leo pointed out. “And he changed his mind. We made it work.”

“Yes, but Owen didn’t have a daughter to raise, who depends almost solely on him. Not everyone can have the fairy tale, Leo.”

“But you want it,” Sydney murmured. “The fairy tale.”

Flo didn’t immediately answer, and, against her will, her regard trailed to Adam again. As if he sensed her attention, he looked up from the older couple talking to him and their gazes met. Held.

The distance prevented her from reading what that golden stare contained, and still, shivers danced over her skin. Since that night on his couch, they hadn’t talked about anything that didn’t have to do with Justine. And as much as it terrified her, she missed him. Because if an emptiness sat in her stomach like a boulder now, when he was still near, still in Rose Bend, that barren hollowness just might swallow her whole when he left.

Dragging her gaze from him again, she refocused on Sydney and smiled. And prayed her sadness wasn’t reflected in that gesture.

“Doesn’t everybody?” she replied to her sister-in-law’s question. “But that won’t look the same for everyone.” She shrugged and ordered herself not to glance in Adam’s direction again. “And that’s okay.I’mokay. So both of you can get that ‘oh shit!’ look off your faces,” she teased.

“All right, we’ll let it go. For now,” Leo conceded, then hooked an arm through Flo’s and tugged on her. “Let’s go get some of Marion’s lemonade,” she said, mentioning Cole’s secretary. “I heard she has a special stash with her.” Leo tried to wriggle her eyebrows and, yeah, epic fail. She just looked maniacal.

“Ooh, I’ve had that special lemonade.” Sydney smacked her lips and claimed Flo’s other arm, steering them toward the small beverage booth. “Do you think anyone has dared to call Marion a moonshiner to her face?”

“Not if they wanted to walk away with it.” Leo snickered.

Flo chuckled as she let herself be led away. Spiked lemonade wouldn’t solve any of her problems, but it damn sure wouldn’t hurt.

“THATLITTLEGIRLadores you.”

Flo smiled, both at the words and her mother slipping an arm around her waist and hugging her. She wrapped her own arm around Moe’s shoulders and planted a kiss on Moe’s smooth cheek.

“The feeling is completely mutual,” Flo said, waving at Justine as she slid down the slide on the bouncy castle.

As soon as her little feet hit the ground, she darted off, running for the ball pit where Patience, Everett, Bella and the rest of the kids from their family jumped and played. Justine had met all of them that day she’d gone to Kinsale Inn, as well as the several times Flo had arranged playdates with them. They’d all gotten along and included Justine among their ranks as if she was another cousin.

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