Page 74 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

“Do you, um . . . still talk to her? Your ex?”

“Jealous?” I threw her question from last night back at her.

She grinned. “Yes.”

“No.” I chuckled. “I don’t talk to Emmeline. I doubt I ever will again.”

“Hmm.” She pushed down her turn signal. I could have sworn I heard a “good” under her breath too as we pulled off the highway to a gravel parking area beside the

lake.

“We’re here.” Charlie’s small fingers hurried to release her harness, and she was out the door almost as fast as Thea.

I got out of the car and met Thea at the back.

“Here you go.” She handed Charlie a tiny red pail with a yellow handle. “For your rocks.”

Then she reached into the back of the car for one of the larger buckets and gloves. “Here.” She shoved them at my gut, then got out her own bucket, a trash bag and another pair of gloves. “All set.” She stood and tried to scoot past me, but I caught her at the elbow.

“How are we going to handle this?”

Her eyebrows came together. “Handle what?”

“Us. There’s no way I’m not going to kiss you today. I’m wondering if you want me to hide it from her. Or if you’re okay with her knowing that her dad is crazy about her mom.”

She smiled and looked down at her flip-flops. “Crazy?”

“Insane.” I hooked a finger under her chin, tipping it up. “Hurry, baby. She’s on her way back.”

“Then we’d better sneak one in fast.”

The inch between us disappeared, but not because I’d crossed it. She had. She stood up on her toes and pressed those soft lips deep into mine. Her tongue darted out for a quick taste before disappearing back behind her teeth. Then she moaned, making my cock jerk so hard I shuddered from head to toe.

Fuck, this woman.

She was ruining me one kiss at a time.

As fast as she’d come at me, she pulled back. The flush in her cheeks was a sexy pink that matched her lips. With the tie of her swimsuit poking out around her neck, her hair up in a messy knot and that flush, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“We’d better keep this between us for a while. Until we figure some things out. Let’s give her a chance to adjust to the three of us spending time together. And we should see where things go.”

I nodded. “All right.” When it came to Charlie, I trusted Thea’s judgment. Though I already knew where things between us were going to go.

She patted my stomach. “We’d better go.”

“I need a second.”

Behind those sunglasses, her eyes widened. She stood stunned for a moment but then she giggled.

“What are you laughing about?” Charlie called back to the car. “Come on! Let’s go.”

“Coming!” Thea yelled back and closed up the car. She started down the path to the lake but stopped. “Oh, and Logan?” She glanced back. “Her mom is kind of crazy about her dad too.”

“Good to know.” I smiled, then took a few breaths, making sure that I had my dick under control so I wouldn’t have to explain to my daughter why my shorts had an odd bulge. Then I jogged down the path, catching up to Thea and Charlie as they headed for the lake.

“What exactly am I looking for?” I asked, swinging my empty bucket at my side.

“Trash,” Thea answered.