Page 20 of Too Close To Call

I grin. Most kids couldn’t care less about spilling on their clothes. I would think that’s even a given. But not my fashion-forward child. “That’s okay, Daisy. We’ll run upstairs and I’ll put some stain remover on it and you can change.”

“Are you sure? This is my very favorite design. It has crowns on the skirt like a real princess.”

I know where this is going to go, but I try one more time. “You know, Daisy, if you wore shorts and a t-shirt when you’re in the garage, you wouldn’t care if you got them dirty.”

The blue eyes that fill with disappointment make me want to laugh. “Mommy, I like my dresses. I like how they swish around my legs and I like to twirl in them. Besides, Auntie Car says a lady should always go out in style.”

I bite my lip at the misinterpretation of Car’s saying. When she said that, she was headed out for a night on the town in a little black dress she’d designed to hug and accentuate every curve, valley, and peak of her body.

When I take Daisy’s hand, she gives my shirt a curious look. “Your shirt is very pretty, Mommy.”

“Thanks.” I pause before we take the stairs up to our apartment and look through the window at the work bays. Case is talking with Paul as they look inside the hood of a RAM truck. My body’s reaction is a normal one, I just hadn’t experienced those feelings for a very long time. Nobody gets to me the way Case does.

My nipples harden and lower places tingle when he flexes his arm to reach up and lower the hood. The muscles in his back ripple and I remember how they felt under my palms. How can I walk away from this?

I can’t.

Case laughs at something Axel says and our eyes meet. A flush quickly rises on my cheeks because we are both remembering what just happened in the office. I bite my lower lip and his gaze zeroes in on my mouth. A flare of desire flames in his eyes. He wants me. He can’t deny that.

His eyes move down to my shirt and fixate on the excess of cleavage showing. I may have snipped a bit lower than I’d intended. My breasts are a full-size C cup. Nothing above average, but Case had no problem with them. In fact, they were always his favorite playtoys. From his rapidly rising and falling chest and his laser focus, I’d say they still hold that position.

I’ve never been one to, as Car would say, use what the good Lord gave me, but I want to. I’ve never played games, and I hate women that do. Just how desperate am I to even be thinking of winning Case back in that way?

I tug the neckline of my shirt up, covering more of the exposed skin. I want him, but I can’t be anyone but who I am. I need to be enough for him. I always was, but now…I’m not sure.

Case’s reputation, by his publicist’s manifestation, was fast on both the track and with women. That was the persona he showed to the public, but that wasn’t the real Case. I had the real man. I trusted him. Even when I was away at college, I knew he would never betray what we had by giving into the many temptations thrown his way.

We were each other’s first kiss, first lover, and first love. After we broke up, he made no secret of the fact that he’s been with other women. What if he discovered I’m lacking in that area? Maybe I’m not enough for him now. How can I compete with that? Case is very handsome and could have his pick of women. Why would he ever want me?

I could believe that, but my mind travels back to the way he kissed me and took me over the edge in the office just a short time ago. Those emotions were true. He’s crazy if he thinks he can separate sex from love. It’s ridiculous to even think he could.

My back straightens with a new resolve. Case’s taunt of a sex-only relationship may be all he has to offer me, but he doesn’t know I’m going to take him up on that. I’m aware my plan does have hidden dangers, but I might wear him down and make him realize we belong together and that he can take a final leap of faith. Or it could end in heartache. Mine.

With our wardrobe catastrophes taken care of, a non-ripped t-shirt for me and a new princess dress for Daisy, I’m back at my desk working while Daisy is playing in the waiting area just outside the office.

I’ve been working for about an hour before I zero in on a conversation she’s having with someone other than herself.

“You really shouldn’t have three doughnuts. They aren’t healthy for you.”

“But I like doughnuts,” Case says and I grin.

“Why don’t you have an apple and one doughnut instead?” Daisy suggests a healthier alternative.

Case chuckles. “What are you, the doughnut police?”

I giggle quietly. “No. I’m Hannah Alisha Hamilton.”

I can’t breathe. How will Case react to my daughter’s full name?

“Hannah?” he asks, his voice gruff and scratchy. He remembers. We always planned to name our first daughter after his mom. I know it was wrong to use that name with another man’s child, but when Daisy was born, I couldn’t name her anything else. In a way, it was like I made my child a part of us.

“I thought your name was Daisy.”

“It is. When I was a little kid, I had a blanket with daisies on it that I carried with me wherever I went,” she explains. When she says everywhere, she means exactly that.

If she didn’t have it, she’d cry herself to sleep. Nobody enjoyed that. Thankfully, that had only happened once when she’d dropped it and we had no idea where. Woody eventually found it in one of the garage bays. We think Bella might have had something to do with its disappearance.

“And you don’t do that anymore?” he asks.

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