way to Clover Point in relative silence, punctured every now and then by Daisy’s stream of chatter, blended with bursts of humming and, her latest discovery, whistling.
Ethan looked out the side window. Leah’s stubbornness ranked pretty high on a scale of one to a million. Well, whether she realized it or not, he could match her tenacity. All he wanted was to be a good father to Daisy and a successful author. To prove to his daughter, his readers and himself that he had something worth sharing with the world, after Anna’s demeaning verbal shots during the final months of their tumultuous marriage took their toll on his courage and self-belief.
In the past, he’d run from confrontation—not anymore. Not when he had learned what hiding from reality could do. A man losing his wife and a child losing her mother.
Anna was unlikely to disappear from his life again anytime soon. And neither Leah nor Daisy deserved even the slightest slash of his ex-wife’s poisoned tongue.
If Leah wanted to play nurse outside working hours... Thoughts not entirely suitable for his current dilemma filtered into his imagination.
“Something funny?”
He coughed and sat a little straighter in his seat. “No.”
“You were smiling.”
He faced her. God, she was beautiful. Beautiful and kind and caring...and sexy and pretty spectacular in every other way, as far as he could tell. Finding out more about her was something he might have wanted, but had to ignore if he had any hope of keeping her away from Anna.
He shrugged. “I was just thinking about something I saw on TV.”
“Hmm. Sure you were.”
She shook her head and the soft sway of her cropped, glossy blond hair about her face took a little of his breath away. He shifted in his seat and glanced at Daisy in the back. She stared at him mischievously, her mouth stretched into a grin.
His smile dissolved as unease rippled through him. Was his attraction to Leah so obvious a seven-year-old could see it?
He might not want to be alone forever, but now was the worst possible time for him to contemplate getting into anything...if Leah ever came to consider him romantically, of course.
Even if he took Daisy’s emotional stability out of the equation, Anna’s impulsiveness, her unpredictability and spiteful temper had caused a cold, hard spot to linger like death in his heart. His marriage had marred him, made him into a man prone to bouts of selfishness, unnecessary protectiveness and moods that had no place around a woman or child. Sometimes it took all he had to keep Daisy safe from his weaknesses. Month by month, year by year, his daughter had given him the ray of light he needed to strengthen his hold on his internal ugliness.
It was his baby who made him fight to get out of the box that still sometimes proved to be so firmly closed since Anna left.
He wasn’t sure he could keep his internal battle hidden from another adult—another woman in particular—as well as he did from Daisy.
The crunch of gravel beneath the tires told him they were home, and Ethan buried his thoughts. Yanking on the door handle, he got out of the car and headed to the back to help Daisy.
The driver’s door clunked shut and Leah spoke behind him. “I have an idea. If you’re okay with it, of course.”
Ethan frowned as he helped Daisy from the car and onto the gravel. “What?”
“I’m happy to help Daisy get showered and into her pajamas while you’re speaking with your agent.” She shrugged. “It will save time and it is getting kind of late.”
Ethan stared. Let her see to Daisy? Let her spend time alone with his little girl? He looked at Daisy. She vehemently nodded. “Please, Daddy. I can shower myself and show Leah my new pajamas.”
He looked to Leah. “Are you sure?”
She smiled. “Absolutely.”
He blew out a defeated breath. “Okay, then. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll just grab my first aid kit from the trunk.” She walked to the back of the car and was hidden from his view for a moment before she slammed the trunk shut. Coming toward Daisy, she held out her hand. “We’ll have fun while Daddy’s talking to his agent, won’t we?”
Ethan stepped back as his baby took Leah’s hand and they walked toward the house, Daisy screeching with laughter at something Leah said.
He closed his eyes.
He was in all sorts of trouble...and not just with Anna.
LEAH LAID THE last piece of tape around Ethan’s bandaged hand and sat back in his kitchen chair. “There you go. Good as new. Those stitches will need to stay in another few days, but I think—if you keep it clean and dry—I won’t need to come back tomorrow. But I can swing by Saturday morning if you like?”
He gently probed the bandage. “Um, why not leave it for a few days, and if there’s a problem, I’ll call you.” He lifted his bright blue eyes to hers. “You said yourself it’s healing well.”
It was clear the man was no closer to trusting her than she was him. “Look, I know you want me to butt out of your problems, but all I’m doing is trying to help.”
“And you are. With my hand, at least. Everything else, you need to leave to me.”
Their gazes locked and frustration hummed through her. Sooner or later, she was going to have to make a choice to either call the police or leave Ethan to his own devices. But how could she do that without ignoring her professional obligations? She inhaled a long breath, then exhaled. “How about we exchange numbers? If there’s a problem with your hand, you can call me. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll come by in a few days to remove the stitches. Agreed?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. He shrugged, his gaze returning once more to his injured hand. “Okay, fine.” He met her eyes, gave a tight smile. “That would be good. Thanks.” He stood and walked to the counter to grab his phone. “What’s your number?”
She told him before typing his number into her phone. So she liked him. So caring about his hand had been partly a ruse to get his number, but now she would stop being friendly for a while and be her usual pain in Ethan’s butt instead.
“So...” She inhaled again. “As much as I don’t want to harangue you about what happened with your ex, and as much as you want me to stay out of it, in order to do that I have a few questions I need answered.”
His tentative smile dissolved and irritation simmered in his gaze. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She stared at his bowed head, her impatience rising. “Ethan, your ex attacked you. What would’ve happened if Daisy had been in the house? You need to ensure your ex-wife doesn’t come back and end up physically hurting you again. Or worse, hurting Daisy.”
His jaw tightened. “I won’t allow Anna anywhere near Daisy.”
“So
