hasn’t signed anything yet,” Shane cautioned his uncle. “But it does look promising.”
“I’m sure you got it. I have full faith in you. We all do.”
“Thanks, Raymond.”
It had been a compliment, Shane thought as he slid his phone back into his pocket. A sincere one. So why had it left him feeling more stressed than ever? He could only imagine how much more pressure the family would put on him if they knew he was in contact with the child they’d all grieved since Brittany had disappeared with her.
He couldn’t help wondering if it was really the family piling on that pressure—or if he was doing it to himself. The weight of the promises he’d made to his brother and father sometimes pressed more heavily on his shoulders than he suspected either of them would have intended. Which didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything within his power to honor those assurances.
He reached for the door handle and slid out of the car. It was a warmish day for the last week of October, so he left his leather jacket in the back seat. He was comfortable enough in his pullover and jeans as he walked into The Perkery.
He was probably playing with fire by showing up here again, but he kept being drawn back. And while he tried to convince himself he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his niece, he suspected he was equally unable to resist spending more time with Elle.
This would all be much easier if he wasn’t so damned attracted to her. Despite the complicating circumstances, he’d had a hard time keeping his eyes off her last night—not to mention his hands. Spending the evening at the park with her and her friends had been the most fun and relaxing couple of hours he’d managed during the past few months. There’d been a moment of connection when he’d parked in front of her house that had made his body tense with awareness of her, but he’d warned himself to remember why he couldn’t act on the attraction.
And then she’d kissed him.
He’d lain awake half aroused for quite a while last night, staring at the motel room ceiling and mentally listing all the reasons that kiss had been a big mistake. As much as he’d enjoyed it, as secretly pleased as he was that she’d wanted to kiss him, he shouldn’t have let it happen while she was still unaware of his connection to her daughter. Of his reason for spending time with her—or at least, the reason he’d initially looked her up.
Maybe it had been too long since he’d been involved with anyone. The only semi-serious relationship he’d had since getting out of the service had ended when the woman said he spent too much time working and taking care of his family, leaving no time for her. Fair accusation, he supposed. As he’d reminded himself before, he had more than enough on his plate for now; he certainly didn’t need to take on a single mom with her own business and an emotionally dependent widowed mother.
Not that there’d have been much chance of that, anyway. Not once Elle found out that he’d deceived her, if only by omission, from the first time they’d met. She’d made it clear last night that she’d always dreaded the possibility of one of Charlotte’s biological relatives making contact. He had no plans to interfere with the perfectly legal adoption, but she couldn’t be sure of that. She would have to wonder why he’d been hanging around.
At this point, he wasn’t sure he could answer her. He was beginning to question it himself.
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