Page 77 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Where’s the red hair come from?” he asked, touching a little curl. Emily showed off her adorable grin.

“What? Oh.” I snapped out of it. “My mom. Not as red, but….” I looked back at him. “You never told me what you’re doing here.”

“You left something in my truck yesterday. I found it under the seat and came to return it.”

“I did? What?”

Emily stuck out her arms towards him. What was this—he was her new buddy now? I stepped back to allow him to come in.

He pulled a tube of lip balm out of his pocket. “This.”

I laughed, and of course, Emily had to get in on it too. I took it from him and set it on the counter before she could grab it. “You came all this way to give me lip balm? I think that could’ve waited until Monday.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t too far from here anyway. And it looks like it’d be one of your favorites. I thought you might miss it.”

Cotton Candy Jelly Belly. Itwasone of my favorite flavors, but I hadn’t noticed it missing yet.

“Well, my lips thank you.” I could feel my face drop.Shit!That did not sound right. “Um, would you like a cup of coffee since you’re here?”

“That’d be great.” Emily stuck her arms out again. “Here, let me take her.”

“What?”

“I’ll take her while you get the coffee.”

“Ah….” Emily was kicking her legs, trying to push off me to get to him.Okay, what the heck is going on?She didn’t usually take to unfamiliar men so quickly. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “I think I can handle it.”

I handed over Emily. “So, you don’t mind kids?”

He gave me a funny look and Emily tried imitating it. She was too damn cute for her own good. How could anyone not fall in love the second they saw her?

“We’ll be fine, Perry.”

He walked off with her to the family room. Huh. I prepared a fresh pot, and while it was brewing, I sneaked over and peeked in. Emily was propped up against his leg, and they were taking turns scribbling on construction paper.

My breath hitched. Something came over me then and I had to head back to the kitchen.This man. I rested my palms on the counter and stared out the window until the coffeemaker beeped. I inhaled deeply, then grabbed a mug from the cabinet. There was no one elseto blame for my light-headedness but myself. I was the one who’d invited him to stay.

Several minutes later I was carrying his coffee—black—and a sliced-up banana for Emily. They were now rolling a ball around the floor.

“Ball.” Emily looked at me and grinned before whacking the ball at him.

“Get this girl a bat and glove. She’s ready to go.”

I smiled and set down his cup on the table behind him. I preferred not to speak since it’d probably come out a garbled mess. I wasn’t sure why seeing Stephen interacting with Emily affected me so hard, but it did. I wanted him to hurry up and leave so I could stop feeling this way.

“Thank you,” he said, picking up his cup before eyeing me. “You okay?”

“Mmhmm.” I nodded, then sat at the edge of the table and held out the plate. “Do you want some banana, Emily?”

She toddled over and grabbed a piece. Stephen sipped his coffee and watched us. My heart bludgeoned my chest like a crazed maniac. I tried pretending like everything was normal, but it so fucking wasn’t.

Emily shoved a bit of banana in Stephen’s direction, offering it to him. He put his mug down, then pretended to eat it. She pulled her hand away, laughing.

Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery.

That continued for several more rounds until she got a little too close. A mixture of banana and toddler drool ended up smearing on his shirt.

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