Page 92 of The Single Dad Project

As any good dad wouldn’t be.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ADAMCLIMBEDTHEoutside steps to Flo’s apartment, feeling both silly and worried.

Should he be here at eight o’clock at night? Probably not. He’d left Justine at his house with Jennifer, and God, he still hadn’t fully grasped that his ex-wife was here. But when he’d spoken to Flo a few hours earlier, her voice had sounded a little off. Not particularly upset, but maybe subdued? Or... Hell, he didn’t know, but it had planted a seed of concern and he hadn’t been able to root it out since. So here he was, his ex-wife in his home with their daughter while he stood outside Flo’s front door. Feeling a little foolish, but still...worried.

Resigning himself to possibly looking like an overprotective idiot, he raised his fist and knocked on the door. Within seconds it opened, and Flo was there, a surprised but welcoming smile curving her pretty mouth.

And yep, he felt even more foolish because she was obviously okay. And the relief coursing through him didn’t come anywhere near to capsizing the pleasure at looking down at her lovely face. He visually devoured her as if it’d been days since he’d seen her instead of hours. This pleasure, it was more than physical. He just...

Yeah, he couldn’t go there. Not now.

“Hey, Adam.” She smiled wider and stepped back, inviting him inside her apartment. “This is a nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for just dropping by without calling.”

“No problem. I said it was a nice surprise,” she teased, closing the door behind him. “Is everything okay? Is Justine all right?”

A burst of warmth filled him that her very next question was about his daughter.

“Yes, she’s fine. When I left her, she and Jennifer were arguing over which movie to watch. If I’m not mistaken, Jussy was winning.”

Flo laughed, and he struggled not to touch her. Not to brush his fingertips over that smile. Struggled...and lost. But instead of her mouth, he traced her cheekbone, the arch of her eyebrow. She—touching her, being near her—had become a compulsion he couldn’t deny himself.

Jesus, he was in so deep.

“I have a confession,” he said, knowing it wasn’t exactly wise to admit the truth to her, but hell. It wasn’t wise to feel this, this encompassing need for her, either. “I was worried about you, and I couldn’t shake it. Something didn’t seem right earlier, and I had to...come see if you were okay.”

Her grin softened, as did her face, and her pretty eyes brightened. She moved closer to him, not stopping until her breasts brushed his abdomen and her thighs pressed to his. Without his permission and completely out of his control, his cock hardened. A natural occurrence around her, it seemed. Her hands slid over his waist to his back, her fingers denting the taut muscles.

Tilting her head, she said, “Not that I’m not happy you’re here, but you know you could’ve called and asked me if I was all right.”

Yes, he’d considered that very thing as he walked out of the house. As he started his car. And as he drove through the quiet, pretty streets of Rose Bend. Definitely as he approached the building that housed her studio and apartment.

And even now.

All he said in response to her observation, though, was, “Yes.”

Her mouth stretched with the return of her grin, and her fingers dug harder into his spine, sending curls of heat from there straight to his cock. He couldn’t stop himself from pressing closer to her, from cupping the nape of her neck.

“You’re not wrong,” she said, but her smile didn’t dim. And the knot that had tightened his stomach at her words eased as he studied her face. “Something happened today. But not bad. Not bad at all. Come on.”

She stepped back, releasing him, and he immediately missed her hands on him. But she led him toward the living room, scooping up a stack of mail off a small table by the door with the other.

“You have good timing, actually,” she said, sinking down to the couch and tossing the envelopes onto the coffee table. Curling a leg under her, she turned to face him as he followed her down onto the cushion. “I just got home about five minutes before you arrived. It’s been...” She sighed, but it wasn’t weary. Quite the opposite. It sounded light. “A day.”

Leaning a shoulder against the back of the sofa, she started telling him about her conversation with her brother, and then going to her family’s inn to see Noah. Astonishment winged through him as she talked. Astonishment and pride. In her courage and vulnerable, forgiving heart. Regret coalesced in his belly. God, he would’ve loved to have been there for her, even if only for support. Or maybe just to witness that act of bravery. She’d faced her fear, confronted her past and forged a new path for the future. That took guts and a beauty that momentarily stole his breath.

“We ended up having a family dinner, a complete family dinner, for the first time in years. And it was great. Dad with his brother, and seeing them laugh and cut up together? It was...” Her voice thickened. “It was really amazing. For the first time I could see how much Dad had missed him. I think he might’ve hidden that in the past because of me.”

“No,” Adam gently corrected. “Because of his love for you. There’s a difference.”

“Yes.” She nodded, her eyebrows wrinkling in a tiny frown before clearing. “Yes, there is a difference. But it was good to see that he didn’t have to hide it anymore.”

“I’m glad for you. For all of you,” he said, then huffed out a small laugh. “Look at you. Today you’re two for two. First, you did...whatever you did with Jennifer. I’m still not exactly sure what happened there.” She chuckled, and he shook his head. “My mind’s still reeling from thegreat fathercompliment. And then this with Noah. I wasn’t kidding when I called you a miracle worker.”

Flo buffed her nails and blew on them, smiling. He laughed and shifted forward, cradling her cheek, and she leaned into his palm, rubbing against it. And because he couldn’t resist, he leaned in and took her mouth. She melted into the kiss, parting her lips for him and he took full advantage, indulging in the feel and taste of her.

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