Page 10 of Second Chance Daddy

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“This was...” I trail off, not sure how to finish that sentence.

“A mistake?” he suggests, and there’s something in his voice that makes my chest tight.

Was it a mistake? It felt pretty damn perfect to me.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

He steps closer, his hand cupping my cheek. “Hey. Look at me.”

I look at him, and those damn eyes are going to be the death of me.

“This wasn’t a mistake,” he says firmly. “Whatever this was, it wasn’t a mistake.”

God, I want to believe him.

But I’ve made so many mistakes already.

“I should go,” I whisper.

He nods, stepping back. “Drive safe.”

That’s it? Drive safe?

What did I expect? A declaration of love?

I get in my car, my hands shaking as I start the engine. Through the windshield, I can see him standing there, hands in his pockets, watching me.

Drive away, Cassie. Just drive away and pretend this never happened.

But I can’t. I can’t pretend that what just happened didn’t change everything.

I roll down the window. “Dante?”

“Yeah?”

“This stays between us, right?”

Something flickers across his face. “If that’s what you want.”

It’s not what I want. But it’s what I need.

“It is.”

He nods. “Drive safe, Cassie.”

And then I’m driving away, leaving him standing in that parking lot, and I already know I’m going to regret this.

All of it.

But especially the part where I drove away.

3

CASSIE

Three years later

“No, Aria. We do not lick the display case.”

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