Page 20 of Nolan

"Where's Ashlynn?" he asks me, his voice low.

"In the backyard. We're doing crafts." I step aside to let him in.

"Good." He nods once, approval flashing in his eyes. "Keep her there, please."

Our gazes lock for a moment, and despite everything, my heart still trips over itself at his proximity. Then he turns to Lisa, and the tenderness in his expression evaporates.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demands, not bothering to invite her in.

I back away, giving them space but still within earshot. This isn't my conversation, but I can't bring myself to leave completely.

"I'll go check on Ashlynn," I say quietly, though neither of them seems to hear me.

As I head toward the back door, I hear Lisa's voice, sharp and accusatory. "So this is why you won't answer my calls? You've got yourself a little girlfriend playing house with my daughter?"

I freeze, waiting for Nolan's response. She's been contacting him?

"What does it matter, Lisa?" His voice rises, raw with emotion. "The two of us haven't been together in years, and I'm free to live my goddamn life, since you threw me and your daughter away."

Their voices fade as I step outside, back to where Ashlynn waits, her hands now covered in glitter, her smile bright enough to chase away the shadows that have gathered in my heart.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nolan

The concrete is still wet when my phone rings. Usually, I'd let it go to voicemail, we're on a tight schedule, and even though I'm the boss, I like to work alongside my crew. Leading by example and all that shit. But when I see Annabelle's name on the screen, something in my gut tightens.

"Take over," I tell Marco, wiping my hands on my jeans and stepping away from the pour.

He nods, used to my occasional need to handle business calls. But this isn't business. This is Annabelle, who I've been carefully keeping at arm's length. Since I broke my own rules and tasted what I shouldn't have.

"Hey, Annabelle, everything okay?" I try to keep my voice neutral, professional.

"Nolan, there's someone here." Her voice is low, urgent. "Lisa is here. She's asking to see Ashlynn."

Lisa. My ex-wife. The woman who walked out on our daughter and never looked back. The woman who signed away her parental rights for a quick divorce and a fresh start three thousand miles away.

"I'll be right there," I say, already moving toward my truck. "Don't let her in. Don't let her near Ashlynn."

Marco catches my eye as I pass, questioning. I make a quick gesture, family emergency ,and he nods, understanding without words. That's why he's my foreman. That's why I trust him to handle things when shit like this happens.

"I'm on my way," I assure Annabelle. "Fifteen minutes, tops." Though I'll try to make it in ten. "Stay on the phone with me if you need to."

"I think we're okay for now. But please hurry."

"I will." I pause, gratitude washing over me. "And Annabelle? Thank you."

I end the call and throw my truck into gear, peeling out of the construction site with a spray of gravel. My hands grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turn white.

What the fuck is Lisa doing here? After years of silence, after refusing to even send a birthday card to her own daughter, she just shows up unannounced? And what does she want? Money? To disrupt the life Ashlynn and I have built? To fuck with my head just when things were finally,

No. Not finally settled. Things with Annabelle are anything but settled.

That kiss. Christ, that kiss had been months in the making. Too many months of watching her with Ashlynn, of coming home to her smile, of feeling something crack open inside me each time she laughed. A year of fighting it, of reminding myself she's Ashlynn's nanny, not some woman I picked up at a bar.

And then I'd gone and ruined it all with one impulsive moment.

I slam my hand against the steering wheel, frustration boiling over. Focus, Nolan. Deal with Lisa first. The mess with Annabelle can wait.

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