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I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust that this moment was real, that his feelings weren’t just a product of our circumstances. But the fear was still there, whispering reminders of every time I’d been left behind, every time I’d been disappointed by someone I’d trusted.
“I need time,” I said finally. “To think. To figure out what this means.”
He nodded, though I could see the disappointment flicker across his face. “Okay.”
“I’m not saying no,” I clarified quickly. “I’m just saying . . . this is complicated.”
“I know it is.” He stood up from the couch, running a hand through his hair. “But Gianna? Some things are worth being complicated for.”
As I watched him head upstairs, I sat there touching my lips and wondering if he was right. If what we were building together was worth the risk of heartbreak. If love—real love—was worth fighting for, even when it came wrapped in custody battles and legal complications and all the messy realities of life.
I thought about Luca upstairs in his bed, dreaming of solar systems and soccer games. I thought about the parent-teacher conference next week, and all the ways our lives had become intertwined.
And I thought about the way Colby had looked at me when he’d said this felt like home.
Maybe some risks were worth taking after all.
CHAPTER 7
Colby
The coffee shop downtown buzzed with the usual morning crowd, but the corner table where I sat felt isolated from the cheerful chatter around me. I’d arrived fifteen minutes early, needing time to prepare for a conversation I’d been dreading since Lyla’s text yesterday:
We need to talk. Just the two of us. Millbrook Café, 9 AM.
I checked my phone for the third time in five minutes. No messages from Gianna, who was at the flower shop preparing for a wedding delivery. We’d barely spoken since the kiss three nights ago, both of us dancing around what had happened with careful politeness that felt worse than outright conflict.
The bell above the café door chimed, and Lyla walked in wearing a charcoal business suit and the kind of smile that had once made me think she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Now it just made me wary.
She spotted me immediately and approached with the confident stride of someone who owned every room she entered. “Colby. Thank you for meeting me.”
“Lyla.” I stood to pull out her chair, old habits dying hard. “Coffee?”
“Please. Black.”
I signaled the waitress while Lyla settled herself across from me, placing her designer purse on the table like a statement piece. She looked polished as always, every hair in place despite the October wind outside.
“You look tired,” she said, studying my face with the calculating gaze I remembered from our worst fights.
“Long week. What did you want to talk about?”
She accepted her coffee from the waitress with a gracious smile, then turned those blue eyes on me. “Your marriage.”
My jaw tightened. “What about it?”
“Come on, Colby. We were married for four years. I know you better than anyone.” She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to the tone she’d always used when she thought she had the upper hand. “This whole thing is a setup. A desperate attempt to look stable for any future custody discussions.”
“That’s not?—”
“I’ve done my research. Gianna Stapleton, florist, single with no serious relationships on record, conveniently available right when you might need to prove you can provide Luca with a stable home.” Lyla’s smile sharpened. “The timing is remarkable.”
Heat rose in my chest, but I kept my voice level. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I? She’s been your friend for years, always available to babysit, always ready to step in when you needed help. And suddenly, right when things might get complicated, she becomes the love of your life?” Lyla laughed, the sound cutting through the café’s ambient noise. “Even for you, that’s quite a coincidence.”
“My relationship with Gianna isn’t up for discussion.”
“Your fake relationship with Gianna is absolutely up for discussion. It’s fraud, Colby. Designed specifically to make you look like the perfect family man.”