Page 36 of Nutmeg + Mistletoe
My boss’s dad.
Holy. Shit.
Chapter eleven
Confrontations & Salutations
Grant
Lunch with Marlow is awkward.
I’m a mess trying not to think about Eslin too much and the adorable way she took the news. That I’m Marlow’s father.
Marlow doesn’t notice I’m distracted. I’m playing it off well enough—years of practice will do that. But I can barely focus on a damn thing she’s saying.
I almost laugh to myself at Eslin’s reaction to seeing me. And fuck, it was good to see her. To feel her pressed against me, even if it was by accident. Even if it only lasted a second.
Until today, I’ve been doing so well. So damn well. I’ve kept my distance. Stayed in my lane. Avoided Eslin like my life depended on it.
Hell, maybe it does.
I know her schedule. When she leaves for work each morning. The hours she’s with patients. When she usually comes home. Hits the gym. Every detail.
I made sure I knew.
I’m not a stalker—far from it.
It was the only way to keep my distance. The only way to avoid crossing paths... reaching for something I know I can’t have.
But today she changed her routine.
And she walked right into me.
I didn’t even have time to react.
Well. Other parts of me sure as hell reacted. But she didn’t give me the chance to say anything more than my name. She barreled past me like her shoes were on fire and stomped straight down the hall in the opposite direction.
And now here I am, sitting across from my daughter, trying to pretend I’m not rattled. Trying to pretend like my blood isn’t still pumping too fast.
One brush of her body against mine and every carefully constructed wall I’d built these past two months cracked straight down the middle.
I take a sip of water. It barely touches the heat burning through me.
Fuck.
I’ve missed her. More than I was ever willing to admit.
And now I haven’t got a clue how the hell I’m supposed to stay away from her.
Because one look, one breath in her space, and I already know—I’m fucked.
“Daddy! Did you hear me?”
Marlow’s voice pulls me away from the pointless thoughts swirling in my head.
I blink and clear my throat. “Sorry, honey. There’s an email I just remembered I forgot to send,” I lie.
She rolls her eyes. “Always working.”
