“You know Stan?”

Once the man had driven off, I turned to Emberlyn. “Yeah. He’s one of the best when it comes to security systems. You chose well.”

“He came highly recommended,” she said. “I just need to look at my books and make sure I can afford it. I have a few extra orders this month, so I think I should be able to slide it.”

Without thinking, I blurted, “If you need–”

“God no!” she exclaimed. “I’ll be fine. It might be tight for a month or two, but I have a fail-safe.”

“Okay.” I watched her, watching me, that stubbornness lighting her eyes.

“Daddy, you can go now,” Rosie cut in.

A humored expression replaced that of Emberlyn’s one of stubbornness, and I watched as my neighbor tried to stifle the smile that was threatening to break out on her face at my daughter’s words.

“What if I don’t want to go?” I asked my little girl.

“Then you’ll be making bubble bath and cream that stinks, but it makes your skin tingle,” Rosie stated.

My lips quirked as I asked Emberlyn, “Stinky creams sell?”

She lost her battle with her smile, and added a soft giggle to the mix. “It’s stinky to her, because she’s all for the berries and cotton candy.” Rosie giggled when the woman flicked her nose. “It’s stinky because I use arnica, St. John’s wort, and eucalyptus in my pain salve. She was around after I’d finished making a batch of infused oils to see if I could bring in a massage oil component to the mix.”

“Ah.” Honestly, I’d heard about the healing properties of herbs before, but I’ve always relied on my trusty BENGAY to soothe away the aches and pains. The way the woman spoke of mixing everything, however, had me interested in discovering more about her knowledge.

You shit! You want to know more than that and you know it.

If I was being honest with myself, yeah, I did want to know what made Emberlyn tick.

“You all set?” The woman broke me out of my head as she put out her hand to my daughter.

“Uh-huh!”

“Are you staying?” she turned to me. “You’re more than welcome to.”

“You don’t mind?”

“I might put you to work.” She winked, a mischievous smirk playing at her lips.

“Then point me to my station, boss,” I joked.

The contrast between the two females before me was startling. Emberlyn was the light to my daughter’s darkness, but they fit.

I watched as the two worked side by side, stirring whatever that crap was the woman had set in front of me earlier, to mash up. Emberlyn’s gentleness, compassion, and patience with my little girl had me feeling things that perhaps I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help it.

I could see how one brought out the best in the other. Lana Rose had always been a happy little girl, but I’d noticed a change in her as of late. It’s as if she was missing that motherly bond. She had my mother, but I knew it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t the same. In this moment, the reality hit harder than at any other point since I lost my wife. My Eva.

Despite this, I couldn’t bring myself to get out there and date. I didn’t want just anyone. I wanted the one. Eva could never be replaced, and I’d always love her. Having Emberlyn around, seeing how she and Rosie interacted, catching the jokes, the laughter…the smiles, I knew I’d found a gem in this woman. She made my daughter shine with happiness. She adored her, that much was evident, and when Rosie showed her any form of affection, the woman never hesitated, giving it back twofold.

How come you haven’t caught on until now?

It showed that I’d been somewhat of an absentee father.

Shame filled me at that realization. Apparently, Emberlyn noticed too.

“You okay?” she asked, after Rosie had excused herself to use the bathroom.

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “Are you two always like this?”

Beaming at me, she confessed, “Yeah. We usually talk more than today, though. I think it’s because you’re here.” She took away the pot of liquid I was stirring, turning the hotplate off and moved the lot to the side.

Leaning forward, my chin in my hand, elbow on the counter, I returned her smile from across the counter. “So what do you ladies talk about?” I wiggled my brows.

She harrumphed. “Like I’d tell you,” she teased. “It’s girl code not to say anything.”

Her eyes widened when I got to my feet, then came at her, our eyes never unlocking from their hold. Coming to a stop in front of her, I reached up to cup her cheek. “I like the way you are with her,” I rasped.

“You’ve got a really great little girl, so it’s easy. She’s pretty amazing,” she whispered.

“You’ve opened your door, and your heart to her, when you didn’t have to,” I stressed. “You’re amazing.” She blushed at my words. Her eyes showed me she felt so much more than I knew, and I wanted to discover those hidden thoughts. Those feelings. Just…everything. “Go out with me,” I blurted in a whisper.

“We shouldn’t.” She swallowed hard, sadness evident in her words, the brightness in her eyes dimming. “It’s not that I don’t want to, Shane, it’s–”

“Why not?”

“What if it doesn’t work out?” Her gaze filled with sorrow. “Rosie loves coming here. It would break me to lose her, Shane.”

The conviction in her words had me weighing my next ones carefully. “I would never take her away from you.” As if a magnet was pulling us closer together, we each stepped toward the other. “I can see you two have a bond, but something’s going on here, between us, and I feel it needs exploring. Can you deny it?”

Fire entered her gaze. “I can, if it’s safest for that little girl.”

Cupping her neck in my hands, I smirked, my eyes flicking to her lips. “Your body’s telling me the truth, when this beautiful mouth of yours is spouting lies.” My thumbs ran from the hinge of her jaw to stop on that plump lower lip of hers.

Her breath hitched. “I-I…” She licked her lips, the tip of her tongue brushing my digits.

Nuzzling her nose with mine, I said with absolute certainty, “You want this, sweetheart.” I moved my hands back to the sides of her neck and very lightly brushed my lips against hers. “You want this as much as I do.” She leaned in as if expecting a kiss, but I held back, watching the attraction swell in her eyes before I went in for the kill. “Stop lying to me…to yourself, and put us both out of our misery. Just say yes.”

To prove my point further, I fused my mouth to hers, feeling her body shudder against mine as she gave in.

The creak of the bathroom door had Emberlyn stiffening, but I soothed her with a few gentle pecks before she let her forehead fall to my shoulder.

“I’ll go out with you,” she capitulated, shivering slightly as my hands rubbed up and down her back soothingly.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” I kissed the top of her head, then made my way back to my seat, my smile feeling like a permanent fixture on my face.

“Persuasive jerk,” she mumbled, but I didn’t miss the smile she was also sporting on those deliciously kiss-swollen lips of hers. “Here.” She pushed a mortar and pestle my way with more herbs in it. “Make yourself useful and use those muscles to mash more of this into a powder.”

Suffice it to say, when Rosie returned, she entered a room filled with laughter.

Mine and Emberlyn’s.

It fucking felt great.