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I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t happy to see her. That my heart wasn’t pumping harder than it had in a very long time. That my body hadn’t come alive just being close to her.
But that didn’t change anything.
Presley Duncan was off-fucking-limits for a multitude of reasons.
Even the fantasy of her.
I couldn’t go there. Never again.
She didn’t live here.
She was technically still married, as far as I knew, though it had been leaked in the press that she’d filed for divorce the day she left to come home. I only knew this because Finn and Brinkley loved to send me updates. But I knew nothing about her anymore. All I knew was that being around her again was having an effect on me. And I couldn’t allow that.
Not anymore.
I prided myself on being in control, and she was the only woman who’d ever tested that.
But there was too much to lose now. Falling for my unattainable ex-girlfriend was not an option.
“Is Maxine Gracie’s mother?”
That didn’t take long. I raised a brow, enjoying how tense she looked as she waited for my answer. Hell, why did any of it even matter? We’d both moved on with our lives.
“I told you back then that I was going to be raising Gracie on my own.”
“I didn’t know that meant her mother wouldn’t be around.”
“Gracie’s mother is not in her life.”
Her gaze softened, and she let out a long breath. “I’m sorry about that. So, who is Maxine? The lady in your life?”
Goddamn, this woman hadn’t changed a bit. I could still read her just as easily as I always could. She was trying so hard to stay composed. To act unaffected. I recognized it because I was doing the same thing.
“Maxine is a pig.”
“Wow. I see you haven’t lost your charm for complimenting others,” she snipped, and I barked out a laugh.
“I’m not fucking insulting anyone. Maxine is an actual potbelly pig.”
“You have a pet pig?”
“We do not have a pet pig. Maxine belongs to Martha and Joe Langley, who guilted me into watching her. For the millionth fucking time.”
“Well, look at you… you’ve turned into a big softy, Cowboy.” The corners of her lips turned up, and damn if I didn’t still get off on making this woman smile.
“Whatever. I did it for Gracie. She loves that little porker.”
Her head fell back in laughter, and I couldn’t help but do the same.
“Gracie’s amazing, by the way,” she said, blinking several times before turning her gaze back to mine.
“She’s a good kid. I’m guessing my family has more to do with that than I do.” It was the truth. They’d all chipped in, and my parents were very involved in my daughter’s life in every way possible.
“I don’t doubt that they’re great with her, but it’s impossible to miss the way she looks at you.”
“Oh, yeah? How does she look at me? Like the sappy bastard who agrees to babysit a pig to make her happy?”
“She looks at you like she’s the luckiest girl in the world to have you for a daddy.”
