Page 111 of Cinder
Elle watches us with open curiosity, and I crouch to her height again.
“Bed soon, okay?” I press another kiss to her cheek. “And that’s your goodnight kiss.”
I take a moment to adjust my jacket, and Evan walks out from behind the kitchen island and steps closer to me, his hands tugging the collar as he straightens it for me. His fingers brush the hollow at my throat, and I know he can feel my pulse thundering under his touch.
“Daddy,” Elle says thoughtfully. “You should give Penny a goodnight kiss, too.”
My entire body stills, and Evan’s hands drop immediately. He clears his throat, then steps back, glancing down at Elle.
“Penny doesn’t need a goodnight kiss from me, bug,” he says lightly.
Something small and painful ripples in my chest, because actually—I do. I would very much like one. But before I can decide what to do with that, Frankie toots the horn again.
“Okay!” I call, snatching up my bag again. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Evan moves to the front door and holds it open for me, and I brush past him close enough that I feel the heat of him again.
“Have fun,” he murmurs.
I wait for a beat, pausing just in front of him, but he doesn’t move closer. Doesn’t touch me again. Doesn’t even say another word, just nods with those warm hazel eyes of his.
And I don’t know why that stings so much, but it does.
I turn, the cold biting instantly at the strip between where my jacket meets my jeans. Damnit, he was right.
“Penny!” Elle appears next to Evan as I look back. “Love you to Pluto!”
My smile trembles slightly. “Love you to Pluto and back, bug.”
I head down the steps, then glance back one more time to see him still standing in the doorway, one hand braced against the frame, watchful and restrained. Then I turn and slide into the back seat of Frankie’s car, shutting the door as she whoops excitedly.
“Finally!” she says. “Okay. Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?” I ask, buckling in.
“Like something happened,” Remi says, twisting in her seat to look at me properly.
I turn toward the window instead, catching one last glimpse of him through the glass as the car pulls away.
“Nothing happened.”
That’s the problem.
***
The doors of Neverland swing shut behind us, and warmth rushes over my skin, layered with the smell of beer and citrus cleaner and something fried.
Music hums low under the chatter, glasses clink somewhere to my left, and Gwen gives us a friendly nod from behind the bar.
Frankie drags us toward the pool tables.
“Okay,” she says, dropping her bag on the edge and turning to me. “Start talking.”
“I literally just got here.”
“Exactly,” Remi says, racking the balls. “We need to catch up on details.”
I shrug out of my jacket, folding it over the back of a chair. “There are no details.”
