trouble-free upbringing. One brother, one sister. Went to college, law school. Worked in the city for years. Divorced. No kids. Always wanted them, apparently.
He came to Amber after his divorce because he needed to slow down. He was adjusting to Amber well, at least that’s what he said. Though I got the impression small town life didn’t exactly suit him.
There were no awkward silences throughout the date. He seemed genuinely interested in me. Seemed to like me.
“It was an enchanting evening,” he responded as he walked me to my car.
Ugh. Enchanting? Who said that unsarcastically?
I dug through my purse for my keys, cursing myself for not doing it sooner because now he’d have an excuse to linger by my car. It wasn’t exactly late, but there’d been three courses. Then after dinner coffee. So the parking lot was emptying, and there weren’t many cars around where I’d parked.
“I’d love to do it again sometime soon, maybe next week?” Edmond asked, hand on the small of my back as it had been since we’d left the restaurant.
I moved so my back faced the car, getting away from his touch, my hands thankfully finding the keys.
“Yeah, I’ll have to check the kids’ schedule,” I hedged, smiling. “The joys of motherhood, my time is not my own.”
He smiled back. His teeth were too white. “I’d love to meet them sometime.”
No way. “Um, yeah. I’m kind of... protective over them. With everything that happened. It’s not personal.”
He nodded. “Of course. I’m getting ahead of myself.” His eyes flickered over my body before he met my eyes again. “I really do hope that I’ll meet them. That we continue this. You’re a beautiful woman, Elizabeth.”
That was another thing. I’d told him at least three times over all of our interactions to call me Lizzie. He was like my mother who had a strong distaste for Lizzie. For any casual nicknames, really. She’d named me after a regal woman, and regal women were not called Lizzie, apparently.
I swallowed roughly. Crap. He was going in for a kiss. My entire body recoiled from just the thought. Which was insane. He was an attractive, polite and cultured man. So much safer and more responsible than what I was used to. Unlikely to be killed by multiple gunshot wounds.
“Thank you,” I said in little more than a whisper. “I’ve, uh, got to get home.” I jangled my keys. “Kids. Early morning soccer game.”
Edmond smiled. “Of course.” He didn’t step back, though. In fact, he stepped forward so our bodies brushed. I held my breath as he leaned in, moving my face at the last minute so his lips found my cheek instead of my mouth.
To his credit, he didn’t seem pissed off or offended by the rejection. His lips lingered before he straightened. They were dry, and I fucking hated the way they felt on my skin.
“I’ll call you tomorrow?”
He would call me tomorrow too. No games. No waiting three days or whatever it is Ashley told me guys did these days.
“Sure,” I said, thinking of how the fuck I was going to let him down gently during tomorrow’s phone call. In reality, I’d probably be a coward and send it to voicemail. But tonight, I had higher hopes for myself.
Edmond opened my car door after I beeped it open. Polite. But somehow it felt domineering. And not in the good way.
This would not have been the end of the night if I’d been with Kace.
Who I felt myself longing for.
Chapter 14
I had managed the almost impossible feat of escaping Mia’s demands for the ‘lowdown’ on the date. Though I wasn’t exactly sure I even knew how or why I’d done that. Maybe it was the look on my face that wasn’t exactly saturated in elation or lust that had her giving me a break. That or the fact that she had ordered takeout from three different places and was in a walking food coma.
Whatever it was, I had respite for the night, at least. I’d muted my phone, too, not ready to even look at all the texts I’d received. Tomorrow was another day.
Tonight was a cheap, pink wine kind of night. I’d done my best to pretend I’d actually liked the bottle he’d chosen, but it was bitter and heavy and totally not something that took the edges off anything.
I was on my second glass, standing at the kitchen counter, staring out the window when I felt it. There was someone in my house. Someone watching me.
Crap.
Ranger’s