by Rose, Louise
Chapter Seventy-Four
“Can Daddy read my bedtime story?” Amber asked as we brushed her teeth together and got her ready for me.
“Sure.” I plastered on a fake smile. Truth be told, I loved our bedtime routine. I loved snuggling up next to her in her bed, choosing a good book. We were working through The House at Pooh Corner at the moment and I loved putting on silly voices for all the characters. I was planning on reading Beatrix Potter to Amber once we’d finished. I was going to introduce her to all the best children’s classics so that by the time she got too big for me to read to her, she’d be one of the most well-read kids in town.
After a bedtime story, we would sit and tell each other three things we were grateful for about that day. I always ended by saying that I was grateful she was in my life, because I was. My daughter was a blessing and I felt so privileged I got to be her mother. Then I’d kiss her on the top of the head, on the tip of her nose and on each cheek before Amber did the same to me.
It was a ritual we’d done every night for as long as I could remember. But my daughter had casually tossed it aside in favour of having Lucas read to her and I had to be the bigger person and be okay about it. The last thing I wanted was to make Amber feel like she had to choose between us. I was going to be a grown up and be supportive of Amber’s relationship with her father, even if I felt like I was dying inside.
“Daddy! Daddy! Come read to me!” Amber ran out of her ensuite bathroom and called to Lucas from her bedroom door. A moment later, Lucas was there, carrying Tyrone with him.
“Can Tyrone listen to the bedtime story too?” he asked.
“Of course, silly.” Amber giggled. “We’re having a sleepover!”
I watched as Amber and Lucas tucked the gigantic stuffed toy up in bed before Amber climbed in next to him. She was lucky she had a room big enough for a double bed – if she was still in the small cot she’d had when she was younger, there’d be no room for the bear, let alone for her as well.
“What story are we reading?” Lucas asked, going over to the bookshelf.
“Pooh! Pooh!” Amber laughed again, the strange bear name always amusing her.
Lucas found The House at Pooh Corner and came over to perch on the edge of the bed. I tiptoed out of the room, as Amber helped him find the right page. Bigger person or not, I wasn’t quite ready to watch Lucas usurp me.
I went downstairs and poured myself a generous glass of wine. I figured I’d earned it after the day I’d had. I took a large gulp before going to sit in my favourite comfy chair to wait for Lucas to finish the story.
Was this was it was going to be like from now on? Lucas gradually taking my place in Amber’s life while I get shoved aside?
I tried to tell myself not to be so daft, but it was hard not to feel a little hurt when my daughter had ignored years of bedtime stories in favour of having some stranger read to her. Because that’s who Lucas was to her – a stranger.
I took another large swig of wine. Everything was going to be okay. Lucas was just a novelty to Amber. Once the excitement of someone new wore off, she’d be back to her regular clingy self, wanting me instead of some man who was just as likely to get tired of her as she was of him.
Yeah, right.
Watching the two of them together this afternoon, I could see that there was a definite bond between them. It wouldn’t take many more afternoons like that for the two of them to develop an unbreakable connection. I just hoped that Lucas wouldn’t suddenly abandon her. I didn’t like the idea of picking up the pieces. I hated seeing Amber upset at the best of times. If she lost her father, she’d be devastated and if Lucas hurt her, I wouldn’t rest until he paid the price.
“Whew!” Lucas came down and slumped onto the sofa. “Amber’s full on, isn’t she? She wanted me to read her three stories and then sing her a song. When I said I didn’t know the words to Baby Shark, she insisted on teaching me. She point blank refused to settle down until I’d sung it to her word perfect, complete with a little dance.”
“Ha!” I snorted, before taking another sip of wine. “If you think an afternoon’s tough, you should try the last four years.”
“I don’t know how you’ve done it,” Lucas said. “I take my hat off to you. Hey – is there any of that wine left? I could really use a glass.”
“The bottle’s on the side in the kitchen.” I waved a hand, indicating he could help himself. I really wasn’t in the mood to get up and serve him. He’d forced his way into my life again. He could get his own damn wine.
Lucas went and poured himself a small glass before coming back to sit with me. “I better not have too much. I’ve got to drive home.”
An awkward silence descended. I’d run out of small talk for the day and it seemed that Lucas felt the same way.
Whatever. It wasn’t my job to entertain him. Didn’t he have wine in his own place? Did he have to stay here?
“So, what are your plans for the rest of the weekend?” he said at last.
“Nothing special,” I replied. “We usually spend Sunday with my parents. They love Amber and she absolutely adores them and all her aunts and uncles. She’s particularly close to Archer. She never could say his name properly, so she always called him Unky Woof when she was little. The nickname’s stuck and everyone calls him Woof now.” I caught the amused expression on Lucas’s face. “I wouldn’t call him that if I were you,” I warned. “Archer will take it from cute four-year olds. Not so much from guys who abandon their family.”
“That’s low,” Lucas said. “I didn’t know you were pregnant. I’ve already told you I wouldn’t stayed away so long if you’d said something.”
“Whatever.” I sighed heavily. “What’s done is done. We need to figure out where we go from here.”
“Well, if it’s okay with you, I’d rather not involve the lawyers,” he said. “If we can agree an arrangement between the two of us, I’d rather keep things informal. How about if I take Amber every weekend?”
“What – and leave me to have to deal with all the school runs and meltdowns when we get home without the fun of downtime at the end of the week?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“All right. What about if we have her alternate weeks? That way, we both have to deal with school and we both get to have fun with her at the weekend.”
“That would be way too disruptive for Amber.” I shook my head even more vehemently. “It’s not going to work.”
“All right. You make a suggestion then.” Lucas was working to keep his tone light, but I could tell he was getting frustrated.
“You can have her every other Saturday,” I said. “That way my parents can still keep our Sunday tradition.”
“That’s nowhere near enough time,” Lucas protested. “I have to have her for at least the whole weekend.”
“She still doesn’t know you,” I pointed out. “Give it some time. Sure, you had a good afternoon with her today, but you’re a novelty and you came with a big present. When you become just another person in her life, she won’t seem nearly as cute and she can push boundaries like nobody’s business. I think you’ll find one day a fortnight is more than enough for now. We can always change it later once she’s had a chance to get to know you.”
“What you say makes sense.” Lucas nodded slowly. “But it’s still not enough. What about if I have her on every Saturday?”
I had to work hard to keep the smug grin off my face. I’d been expecting Lucas to fight harder for more time. One day a week was okay for now. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with the family lawyer yet, but I knew enough to know that if I made some concessions now, it would look good for me if we ever ended up in court.
“I think I can agree to that.” I held up my glass in salute and Lucas leaned over to clink his against it.
“Good. There’s a circus coming to town next week. I’d love to take Amber to it.”
“Just be careful you don’t set the bar too high,” I warned. “You’re her fath
er, not her best friend, okay?”
“You don’t want to be the bad parent, that’s all.” Lucas laughed. “If I want to be a fun dad, that’s on me.”
“Uh-huh. Well, when Amber starts acting up and you don’t know how to deal with her, don’t come crying to me.”
“I’m the headmaster of the Academy, remember?” Lucas pointed out. “I handle hundreds of kids every day. I think I can tackle one iddy biddy four-year-old.”
“We’ll see.” I lifted my wine glass to hide the smile on my face. Lucas might think he knew it all, but I knew from experience that teaching children and parenting them were two very different things.
Lucas finished up his wine. He looked in the empty glass, considering his next words.
“I suppose I ought to get going,” he said at last. I’d been expecting him to say something else, but he must have changed his mind. “I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
“Okay.” I stood up to walk him to the door. I opened it for him and stood there, waiting for him to leave, but he hesitated, again, looking like he wanted to say more.
“Yes?” I folded my arms, giving him my best teacher glare.
“Nothing. I’ll see you at the Academy on Monday.”
He went off to his car and I closed the door so I wouldn’t have to watch him leave. I didn’t want him to think I cared. Part of me wanted him to stick around, maybe even flirt a little. He looked even better than I remembered him and it had been a long time since I’d enjoyed any male company. But it wasn’t worth the risk. Right now, Lucas was the enemy, someone who might try to take my daughter away from me.
If I forgot that, I’d only end up regretting it.
Chapter Seventy-Five
I sat there, trying to look like I was paying attention as Lucas moved on to the next item on the agenda in the weekly staff meeting. He was currently talking about his plans for the football team and how he wanted to get sponsorship from all the Houses so that they could go on a European tour playing against other Academies. As Knight heir, I should have been taking notes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care. I’d ask my father to write a cheque for however much Lucas wanted and forget about it. I wasn’t interested in any of the details, but I knew better than to speak up and tell Lucas to move on to the next topic already. I didn’t want anyone to think there was any kind of conflict between the two of us. I was determined to be a consummate professional, regardless of my personal feelings about the head.
“Unless anyone has got something to say, I think we’re just about done.” At last, Lucas said the magic words. I held my breath, praying no one would speak up and when no one did, I jumped up, ready to make the dash to my car and go home.
“Milly, can I have a word?” My heart sank when Lucas called me over. Whatever he wanted couldn’t it wait until tomorrow? I’d spent more than enough time here today.
Reluctantly, I mooched over to him as the other teachers hurried out. As he left, Nigel put a hand on my shoulder in sympathy. “Good luck,” he whispered.
“Thanks.” I smiled ruefully, as I went to stand by Lucas.
“Give me a minute,” he said and it was all I could do not to roll my eyes in exasperation. He seemed to be shuffling round his papers for no real reason and it was annoying. Some of us had children to get home to. Out of everyone, he should have understood that.
Lucas looked up and watched the last teacher leave.
“What did you want?” I looked pointedly at my wrist as if I had a watch there. “Amber will get worried if I’m too late.”
“Sorry.” Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “I needed to talk to you about something and I’ve been struggling to think about the best way to approach it. The last thing I need is to be accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.”
“Why would anyone do that?” I frowned.
“Because I want you to go out with me.”
My face must have been a picture. When I heard him say that, my jaw dropped and my eyes boggled. “Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Lucas shrugged. “You and I had fun together in the past, didn’t we?”
Fun wasn’t how I’d describe it. Mind blowing sex, maybe. Life changing consequences, but fun..?
“You’re right. This could open you up to being a sexual harassment case.” I was stalling I knew, but this had thrown me for a loop. “But I don’t see why that would matter. It’s not like you need the money.”
“No,” Lucas conceded, “but there are other reasons why I need this job. So, I figured I’d ask you out without any pressure so we can get this out of the way. If you’re not interested, say the word and I won’t ever mention it again. We’ll keep it strictly professional from now on. I’ll come round to pick up Amber but keep conversation to a minimum when I do and I won’t even think about what it would be like to spend time with you, get to know you better, discover the difference being a mother has made to you…”
He was saying all the right words, but the way he was looking at me suggested he had one thing on his mind: rekindling the fire we shared in bed.
I knew I should tell him no. I knew the best thing to do was to see if he could stay true to his word and be professional. I opened my mouth to turn him down.
“Yes.”
“Great!” Lucas’s smile lit up his face. “How does Thursday sound? That leaves us the weekend free to be with Amber.”
“Thursday would be good.” I nodded cautiously.
“I’ll make a booking. Do you still like curries?”
“The hotter the better.” I smiled.
“No problem. I’ll pick you up from yours at seven, okay?”
“Looking forward to it.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
“What on earth was I thinking, agreeing to go out with Lucas?” I wailed, tossing yet another outfit on my bed. The pile of clothes was impressive, but I couldn’t find a single thing to wear that worked for a date with my baby daddy who I may or may not be interested in having a relationship with if only I could make up my mind.
“You were thinking that you deserved a little bit of fun after all these years living as a born-again virgin,” Ivy said. Although Claire had offered to stay late to look after Amber, I’d asked Ivy so I could have a bit of moral support while I got ready for my date. It turned out to be the right decision, since I was having a total crisis of confidence.
“Maybe I should phone Lucas and tell him I’ve got a migraine. No, a tummy bug. No, the plague! He won’t want to date a woman suffering from the plague, will he?”
“Milly…” Ivy shook her head pityingly. “It’s just a date.”
“A date with Lucas,” I reminded her. “Your ex-husband and Amber’s father. This could never be just a date.”
“Why not? From what you’ve told me, Lucas sounds genuinely interested in being a proper dad and I know you always had a crush on him.”
I could feel myself blushing. “I thought I’d hidden it well.”
“You did.” Ivy rushed to reassure me. “But you forget I’m your best friend. I know when you’re hiding something and it didn’t take much to figure out what. I knew you’d never do anything you shouldn’t but I always got the vibe Lucas liked you back.”
“Really? What made you think that?” I couldn’t help being curious.
“Oh, just little things here and there.” Ivy shrugged. “He’d make a comment about something you were wearing, something a guy wouldn’t normally notice unless he was interested in someone. And there was a certain look he had on his face whenever he talked about you. I knew he wouldn’t risk doing anything to anger my father, so he’d never have acted on it, but I’ll be honest. I wasn’t surprised when you told me he was Amber’s father. It made perfect sense.” She reached out and rubbed my arm reassuringly. “You didn’t need to keep it a secret from me, you know. I wouldn’t have judged you. I never loved Lucas. I barely consider him an ex – it’s not like I wanted to marry him. Our marriage was a total sham, like o
ur relationship was. If you think he’ll make you happy, then you should go for it. Just…”
“What?”
“Be careful, Mills. I always thought Lucas was a decent enough guy, but he’s always been good at keeping secrets. There’s a reason why he’s come back after all this time and it’s not because he has a burning ambition to be a headmaster.”
“I know, right?” I laughed. “I mean, the guy’s worth millions, billions even. Why would someone like that come back here and run a school? There’s something weird about it, but I have no idea what.”
“Have you thought about asking him? If only you had the opportunity to get him on his own so you could persuade him to tell you everything. An opportunity like… a date?” Ivy gave me a sly look and grinned.
“Okay, okay.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I won’t tell him I’ve got the plague. But you have to help me decide what to wear. I can’t figure out what would say ‘I’m open to being seduced but you’re going to have to work hard to make up for the past five years.’”
“Hmm.” Ivy surveyed the clothes strewn across my bed. “What about this?” She picked up a short black dress that barely covered my butt.
“Too short.” I shook my head.
“This?”
“Too big.”
“This?”
“It doesn’t fit properly.”
“This?”
“I don’t like how my bum looks in it.”
“This?”
I tried to come up with an excuse not to wear the dress Milly was holding up, but I had nothing, so I took it from her and went into the bathroom to get changed.
When I came out, Ivy wolf whistled at me.
“Looking good, girl.” She grinned. “I love the colour you’ve used on your lips.”
“It’s not too much?” I hadn’t been sure when I put on my makeup whether I was going too far. I’d kept my eyes light, with just a touch of green on my eyelids, but I’d gone all out with a rich, deep red on my lips, making them look even more pouty than usual.