Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,76

placing a hand on his chest directly over his heart. ‘You took me by surprise and I lashed out.’

‘Took me by surprise too.’ He couldn’t help but grin. ‘But that kiss was pretty damn amazing.’

She blushed, the slight upturning at the corners of her mouth making him want to kiss her again. ‘As good as I remember.’

‘Not better?’

‘Now you’re just fishing for compliments.’ She patted his chest and lowered her hand, leaving him yearning for her touch. ‘Let’s chalk it up to an impulsive gesture at the end of a long day.’

He understood she didn’t want to talk about it. No way in hell he wanted to analyse what had prompted him to give in to temptation, not when their lives were already complicated enough.

‘Are you sure you’re okay? You looked pretty shell-shocked when you first arrived.’

She ducked her head to close the dishwasher, but not before he glimpsed real sorrow in her eyes. Indignation flared swiftly; he wanted to throttle whoever had hurt her.

‘I visited my parents today,’ she said, with the slightest quiver in her voice. ‘At least, that was the plan. But my mum was away so I only saw my dad.’

‘And it didn’t go well?’

She shook her head. ‘I thought after all this time he might’ve softened, that he might even want to get to know his granddaughter …’

‘But?’

She blinked rapidly and he waited until she composed herself, his fingers curling into fists by his sides. He knew if he reached out to comfort her on the heels of that kiss, he might be tempted to do it all over again. That’s the last thing she needed, not when she trusted him enough to offload about her crappy parents.

‘He said I was still dead to them, so they didn’t have a granddaughter.’

She sounded so forlorn he had to hold her. Outrage at her shitty father made him squeeze too tight and she quickly pulled away, casting a quizzical glance at him.

‘Sorry. I don’t know your dad but I’m bloody angry he’d treat you that way.’

‘I should’ve known …’ She gave a little shake of head and squared her shoulders, as if coming to a decision. ‘At least I tried and it’s their loss. Isla’s an amazing kid and if they don’t want to find that out for themselves, too damn bad.’

‘Absolutely.’ He squeezed her arm. ‘Are you okay with me teaching her guitar?’

‘Of course.’ A small smile played about her lips. ‘I think it’s great she can share that with you.’

‘Have you given much thought to how this coparenting will work after I leave?’ He didn’t want to bring this up, not when they were getting along much better than a week ago, but at some point he’d be leaving and he wanted to get their custody arrangement locked down.

Predictably, the shutters descended, darkening her eyes, wiping her expression. ‘Not really. We’ve got another month at least?’

He wanted to call out her blatant lie—as if she wouldn’t be thinking about how custody would work. She loved Isla and, from what he’d seen, was a brilliant mother. Which probably explained her brush-off: she was scared about how sharing custody would work. Rather than push, he backed off a little.

‘Yeah, but I don’t want to leave it till the last minute to get something concrete in place.’

Her heartfelt sigh shot straight through his chest. ‘Logically, I know we’ll need lawyers to draw up some kind of agreement. But the sentimental part of me wants to give it more time to see how things go between you and Isla.’

He had no idea what she was implying. Did she think he’d turn his back on his daughter once he left? If so, she didn’t know him at all and never had. He wouldn’t have abandoned Isla if he’d known about her back in their dating days and he sure as hell wouldn’t now.

‘She’s a part of my life, Tash, and that’s not going to change.’

She must’ve heard the anger in his tone because she slipped her hand into his. ‘I know, but I’m scared.’

‘Of what?’ He wanted to wrench his hand away. He didn’t need her comfort. He needed her to see him as a responsible parent, a good father who’d do anything to make his child happy now he knew of her existence. But he didn’t, because he needed to hear what she had to say, to reassure her that she could depend on him.

‘I’m scared of letting Isla travel with you because she’ll find living with you more