Page 79 of The Single Dad Project

“Okay!” She skipped the couple of steps to stand between Flo and Adam and grabbed both of their hands, swinging them. “Let’s go!”

Not being given much of a choice, they walked off the dance floor while Justine continued to skip and chatter away.

“Thank you for that,” Adam murmured low enough that his daughter didn’t overhear.

Flo forced a smile, and damn if it didn’t feel strained. And damn if his suddenly sharp and narrowed gaze didn’t catch it.

“You’re welcome,” she said, ignoring the question in those hazel eyes. “I guess I should’ve asked you first if a playdate with the other kids is okay. I mean, bringing them all over to your place.”

“It’s fine. She’ll enjoy it,” he replied. Even though she purposefully stared ahead on the pretense of scanning the throngs of people, his scrutiny seemed to scorch her skin.

“I’m hungry,” Justine announced again, louder this time, tugging on their hands and shifting her father’s attention away from Flo.

Saved by the child.

Again.

But why did this only feel like a reprieve?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ADAMSIGHEDAShe pulled the door to Justine’s bedroom closed, leaving it open just a crack.

Finally.

After the full day at the town picnic, she should’ve been knocked out as soon as her head hit the pillow. But no. All the fun and excitement of the day seemed to have worked like a sugar high, and it’d taken three stories and a firm warning before she eventually fell asleep. Now that she was, though, it would require an earthquake to wake her. And only if it was about an eight on the Richter scale.

He paused outside her bedroom, his hand still gripping the doorknob.

I don’t want to leave! Can we live here now?

Unbidden, Justine’s words from earlier echoed in his head. And like then, unease rippled through him like a crack spiderwebbing across a windshield. Why did it affect him so much? Rose Bend wasn’t the first town his daughter had liked. Wasn’t even the first one she’d declared their new home.

But it was the first one that had ever tempted him to want the same thing.

Even as the words entered his mind, he flung them out, shaking his head as if that would make sure the traitorous, ridiculous thought wouldn’t dare return.

Yes, this place had its charm, but just like when every job ended, he and Justine would leave and return home. To Chicago.

“Shit,” he murmured, scrubbing a hand down his face then over his head.

At the picnic, Flo had diverted Justine’s potential tantrum like a pro. Like everything she did with his daughter. There was no denying the connection they shared; Justine adored Flo, and from what he could see, the feeling was more than mutual.

When it came time to leave, that close relationship would only make it harder to go.

Not just for Justine.

No, he couldn’t deny that, either. It wouldn’t only be his daughter who would find it difficult not to look back. But that didn’t change the future. Didn’t change the reasons why they wouldn’t work in the long-term. He and Flo might burn like fire together, but that wasn’t a foundation for a solid, lasting relationship or conducive to providing a secure, nurturing environment for Justine.

Keep telling yourself that.

Damn, it was time to go to bed. Maybe his brain would shut the hell up once he was asleep.

Striding down the hall, he returned to the living room, turning off the lights for the night. As he flipped the switch in the kitchen, a knock sounded on the front door. Frowning, he paused, his hand still on the wall.

It was a little after nine. Who could be on his doorstep? And why? Everyone with the renovation and TV crew had been at the picnic, so this couldn’t be a work emergency. He moved forward, the questions whirling in his head.

Because you could take the man out of Chicago, but not Chicago out of the man, he paused at the front door, hand on the doorknob and peered through the peephole.

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