Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Fifteen…” she trailed off.

“Six,” I said, trying to help her.

“Sixteen,” she shouted happily.

“Very good, sweetheart,” I said, smiling. “You are doing so well. You will get them. You just learned them today.”

“Are we done already?”

“Yeah,” I said, laughing. “We’re done until Monday.”

“Aww,” she said, pouting.

“It’s okay,” I said, bending down to Bella. “You can have fun this weekend and then we will learn more fun stuff on Monday. And you can practice your numbers this weekend with your daddy.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

I smiled and shook my head, walking from the room. Bella continued to shock me with her intelligence, and every day that I left, I felt challenged to be a better teacher for her. Today was numbers, and she was struggling a bit with her ten through twenties, but I was confident that by Monday, she would have it on lockdown. Just the fact that she almost knew them at five years old was absolutely amazing to me. I put my papers in my bag, standing in the hallway, but I stopped when I heard footsteps approaching. Caspian turned the corner and smiled at me, his charming smile sending electricity through my chest.

“Hey there,” I said, smiling. “We survived our first week, and Bella blew my mind every step of the way. She is going to practice her numbers this weekend.”

“One through ten?”

“One through twenty,” I said, wagging my eyebrows.

“What?” he asked, laughing. “That is amazing.”

“I know, right?”

“Well, we need to celebrate,” he said, smiling. “It’s Taco Friday.”

“Sounds fun.” I laughed. “You guys are going to have a blast.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

“Oh, I… uh…”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Bella said, walking around the corner and jumping up and down.

She stood there staring at me with her hands clasped in front of her and her little nose curled up. She looked just like her father, except for her brown hair which I was assuming she got from her mother, at least from the pictures I saw in the hallway. I smiled and looked up at Caspian, whose face was almost squeezed identically to his daughter’s.

“Alright, I mean, how can I say no to those faces?”

“Yay!” Bella took off down the hall shouting.

I laughed and smiled at Caspian who nodded his head toward the living room. I couldn’t help but think that Bella was absolutely adorable, not to mention the fact that her father was sexy as hell, so dinner wasn’t going to be that hard to get through. I didn’t have any friends in town, and I figured why not make one, even though he was also my employer. Bella and I played with dolls while Caspian finished up dinner.

During dinner we talked about Bella’s week in tutoring, her new school, and her next visit planned with Grandma Betty. I couldn’t help but notice that during the whole thing, Caspian was acting differently. He was kinder, looser, and his charm was shining through like I hadn’t seen before. As Bella sang us a song, I looked up at Caspian and caught a glance from him that dropped my heart into my stomach. The gleam in his eye, the hidden sexual tension, and the way his lip quivered as he fought whatever thoughts were flowing through his mind reminded me of something that almost knocked me off my chair. It was him, the guy from my dream, but it couldn’t be. I hadn’t even met him yet. I could feel my cheeks growing red, and I looked away, almost immediately feeling like I shouldn’t be sitting there with him and his daughter.

“So, I went on a walk on the beach last night,” I said when she was done.

“Yeah, how was that?” he asked.

“Beautiful as always.” I smiled. “I walked past this little surf school called, ‘Hart Surf School.’ Do they have any relation to you?”

“Yeah,” he said, his mood changing. “I own it, but I shut it down two years ago.”

“Why?” I asked. “I mean, there has to be a serious need for surfing instructors with all the tourists that come out here.”

“It’s really a story for another day,” he said, looking at me with a kind smirk before glancing over at Bella.

“Of course,” I said, blushing. “Dinner was amazing. Thank you so much.”

“You are welcome,” he said, relaxing a bit.

“I love Taco Fridays,” Bella said. “We should have Taco Saturday tomorrow.”

“No, I think tomorrow will be takeout,” Caspian said, laughing. “Daddy doesn’t cook Saturday.”

“Is it movie time yet?” Bella asked.

“It sure is,” Caspian said.

“Lacey will you stay?” she asked. “We are watching Frozen tonight.”

I looked over at Caspian, who smiled and then looked back over me, obviously okay with me staying. I nodded my head yes at Bella, wanting to stick around longer, but not sure why. Caspian was back to loosening up, and that dream was stuck in the back of my head, pushing at me like a movie playing on repeat. It was uncanny how closely Caspian resembled him, though it might have just been my attraction to him twisting things in my mind. Either way, I was making a choice to stay, and Bella was more than excited to have me there.

I helped Caspian clean up after dinner, pulling down Tupperware and putting away the leftovers. It was kind of crazy how comfortable I felt there, like I had known them for a very long time. Caspian smiled at me as I reached over him to grab the towel, wiping the taco sauce off my hands. He pulled down three bowls and filled them with ice cream, wagging his eyebrows at me and smiling as he turned and walked toward the living room. Bella stood up with wide eyes and started cheering when she saw the ice cream.

“Alright, calm down.” He laughed. “You have to sit here until you are done and use your napkin. I don’t want another ice cream sundae issue like last time.”

“Promise,” she said, sticking her pinky out.

He twisted his pinky around hers and rubbed her nose with his. I smiled, thinking about how my grandfather used to use pinky swears with me when I was a little girl. I had to admit I had never thought about a man with a child before, but watching how good he was with her made him that much more attractive to me. He looked up and smiled at me, waving the bowl of ice cream. I laughed and walked over, stopping when he held the bowl back and stuck out his pinky. I bit my bottom lip and looked at him for a minute before smiling and pinky swearing with him.

I sat down next to Bella on the couch, and Caspian sat on the other side, looking over at me and smiling as the movie began. I had to admit, there wasn’t another time that I could think of that was more fun than I had watching Frozen with Bella and Caspian. She sang along with every song, and when the signature one came on, Caspian joined in, swooping Bella up in the air with the blanket around their shoulders, spinning her around the room. I sat there laughing at them, watching the two of them live the life they had long before I showed up. I was pretty glad, at that moment, that I did show up. These two had added something special to my life and in less than a week.

By the end of the movie, Bella was curled up and passed out in my lap, my hand cascading through her beautiful brown hair. She was even adorable when she slept, and I could have sat there like that all night long. I didn’t know if it was because I liked kids or because this particular one was so sweet, but I felt myself getting attached to her. Caspian came over and scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her bedroom. I could hear him whispering to her that he loved her, and then tiptoeing from her room and shutting the door behind him. I stood up and carried our ice cream bowls to the kitchen.

“You can just leave those there,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. “Thanks for staying. Bella really had a good night.”

“I did, too,” I said, smiling. “It was a lot of fun. And I mean, your rendition of that song was on point.”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “That is kind of our thing.”

“Well, it was great,” I said, looking down and standing there in silence for a moment.

“So, I guess I’ll see you on Monday,” Caspian said, breaking the quiet. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Yes, Monday,” I replied, grabbing my purse. “Bright, shiny, and ready to get those numbers.”

We walked out of the house with little conversation after that. I could feel his presence behind me, and heat rose up into my chest. All night, there had been some sort of unspoken thing between the two of us, and I knew there was no way I could be imagining it. I turned and looked at him when I got to my door and stuck out my hand to shake his.

“Thank you, again,” I said. “It was really nice not eating dinner by myself, and I—”

Before I could finish my sentence, he had grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. He held me tightly, looking deep into my eyes. I didn’t know what to do at that moment, but I did know that it felt really good and really right to be there in his arms. He was this strong, handsome man, and I wanted more than anything for him to kiss me in that moment. As if he could read my mind, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. I kept my eyes open for just a second, making sure that I wasn’t dreaming and that I was actually there, feeling what was going on. I closed my eyes and leaned into him, tasting the sweetness of ice cream on his lips.

I gasped lightly as his tongue slipped into my mouth and his hands moved down my sides, his fingertips digging into the skin at the waist of my shorts. I could feel the heat between us getting hotter as he pulled my body against his, the bulge in his pants letting me know that he was more than interested in me. My mind was swirling, and I knew that I should stop, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t tear myself away from his warm, wet lips. Finally, he pushed himself back, breathing heavily and covering his mouth.

“Oh, God,” he said. “I am so sorry.”

“I’m not,” I said, mustering my brave.

He looked back up at me and moved in closely again, grabbing me by the hands. He pulled them up to his lips and kissed each one separately, making it really hard to breathe. I just stared at him, my cheeks flushed and my lips still tingling. My mind was completely blown from that kiss, and I couldn’t put together a cohesive sentence if my life depended on it.

“I will bid you adieu,” he said, smiling. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Mm hmm,” I said, watching him back away, dropping my hands.

I watched all the way until he walked in the house before I turned, unsure if my legs were going to continue to support me. I climbed in the car and sat there for a moment before turning it on and driving slowly out of the driveway. I cracked the window and let in some cool sea air before pulling over on the outlook area and sitting there, staring at the moon in the distance. A smile quickly moved over my face, and I shook my head, not knowing how to think about what just happened. It was mind-numbingly shocking.