I laid a gentle kiss on Carly’s forehead. “All right, you close your eyes now, and I’ll go get your daddy to come say goodnight.”

“OK,” Carly replied, and yawned, stretching her arms wide above her head. “Thanks for reading with me, Riley.”

“No problem.” I stroked her curly, wild hair, smiling, then switched off her bedside lamp. “I had a fun day with you today.”

“I had a fun day with you too,” she whispered, through the darkness.

I gave her a wink, then headed for the door, my heart betraying me. I loved this little girl. And her father… oh god, I didn’t want to think about that. We’d already opened up too much and passed all the boundaries I’d sworn I’d keep up after Marcus.

But everything’s OK, now. There’s nothing to worry about. Marcus is gone, and we can focus on us. But the doubt swirling through my mind said otherwise. I tried shaking it off as I exited Carly’s bedroom, clicked on the hall light.

“Riley?” Carly’s timorous voice drifted out of the room.

“Yes, honey?” I peered back in at her.

She lay on her pillow still, clutching a fluffy brown teddy bear to her chest. “I love you.”

Break my heart, why don’t you. “I love you too, Carly. Sleep now, honey, it’s just past your bedtime.” I moved down the hall, my smile falling away. Gosh, was it supposed to be this difficult? Was it wrong of me to tell her that I loved her too, when this afternoon she’d asked if I was her daddy’s girlfriend?

This was seriously intense.

“Woman up,” I muttered to myself. “You’ve been in worse situations before.” I walked down the hall toward the study and halted outside the dark wood door, tension burrowing a hole through my gut. I had to get a hold of myself.

I lifted my fist to know, but Bryan’s voice, stern and slightly raised, rose from within and stalled me.

“—I won’t allow it,” he said.

Allow what?

“Clint, I understand your hands might be tied in this, but you can help. You have to help. Marcus is a megalomaniac. He’s not going to take no for an answer, and I’m sure as hell not going to give him what he wants.”

My heart iced over. Marcus? Was he back?

Christ, of course he was. How naïve of me to believe that he’d actually leave me alone.

“Yeah, yeah, listen, man, all I’m asking is for you to be there. Can you commit to that?” A beat passed. “No, not an entire fucking unit, just you, if you have to. This could look really good on your resume.”

What the hell is he talking about? I moved my hand up again—eavesdropping wasn’t my thing—and knocked once on the door.

“Shit, man, I’ve got to go,” Bryan said, softly. “Call me back with your decision. You’ve got the details.”

I knocked again.

“Come in,” he called, and I turned the doorknob and stepped into his study.

Bryan stood by the window that looked out on the back garden. His phone was on the desk, along with a collection of papers, neatly stacked and organized. His laptop was still on, though on screensaver mode, and his back was to me.

“Bryan?”

“Yeah, Riley, sorry,” he said, and turned away from the window.

Once again, for what had to be the billionth time, I was stunned by him. The rough glare, the short blond hair, the beard, the sheer muscular size of him, and the power that emanated from every slight movement, whether it was his head, his hand, or just a goddamn finger.

Dangerous. I shoved that aside, ruthlessly.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, Carly’s in bed. Just about to fall asleep. Thought you would want to say goodnight to her,” I said, slowly. “Bryan, what was that call about?”

He raised an eyebrow at me and gave me one of those charming smiles. “Now you’re eavesdropping on my business calls?”

I blushed but lifted my chin. “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just happened to overhear.”

“You sure about that?” he asked, still smiling, clearly not serious. Or was he? “You hiding a glass behind your back?”

“Hilarious,” I replied, and lifted my hands. “See, glass free? But seriously, Bryan—I heard something about Marcus. Is everything OK?”

“Everything’s fine.” He strode over to me, took my hands, and raised one and then the other, planting kisses on each. “I’d tell you if it wasn’t.”

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

“Because I don’t want you to think you have to protect me or something weird like that. You know that’s not the case, right? I can look after myself, and I don’t need you to guard me from the big bad wolf.” Even if the big bad wolf was my ex.

“I said everything’s fine.” Bryan lowered my hands and gave them one last squeeze. “You have nothing to worry about, Riley. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He shifted his gaze toward the open door behind me.

I nodded and stepped aside.

Bryan walked from the room with that same confidence he’d always possessed. He didn’t look back or try to reassure me. He disappeared from sight, and the soft murmur as he said goodnight to Carly followed a moment later.

I pressed my lips together and finally exited the study. I didn’t walk over to his phone and snoop, even though I was desperate to. For once, just this once, I’d allow myself to actually trust him. I stopped one pace from the study and made to turn back, then shook my head.

No, I had to stick to my guns.

But Marcus. He mentioned Marcus.

I bit my lip and stared back through the door of the study, at Bryan’s phone on the desk. Footsteps tracked out of Carly’s bedroom, and Bryan appeared, smiling softly. “Hey,” he said, as he reached me. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You in the mood for Netflix and chill?”

And just like that, the topic was dismissed. “Sure,” I said, quietly. “Are you sure you have the time?”

“Mmm, yeah. Tomorrow will be a rough day. Let’s make the best of tonight while we can.”

While we can. The words rang in my mind as we walked down the hall toward his bedroom.