Page 32 of Forbidden Kisses

Jeremy came running to me. "Dad, Julia's Spider-Man is awesome. I don't have that one. I hope I can find it."

I laughed but didn't do anything to curb his enthusiasm. It wasn’t long ago that he’d been into Mario Kart, and now it was his Spider-Man phase. I was sure there would be others as he grew up, and I’d be there to support him all the way.

Jeremy led me down the corridor to one of the rooms. Julia and Riley were huddled over a shelf. "Anything wrong?" I asked.

"I accidentally knocked the shelf over, and it came off," Julia said.

"I can fix it," I offered.

Riley straightened up. "We've got it."

"The hell we do. Sorry, Jeremy," Julia said with a wince, then turned to me. "Yeah, we can do a lot of things, but we're not good at handling tools."

“Do you have a toolbox?” I asked.

Riley opened her mouth, clearly about to protest, but I cut in.

“You’re baking for Jeremy in your free time. The least I can do is this.”

Twenty minutes later, I’d fixed the shelf.

"Well, well, Duncan, you really have skills," Julia said. “Thank you!”

“No problem.” I looked at Jeremy and clapped my hands together. “All right, it’s getting late. Let’s go, Jeremy.”

“I’ll walk you to the door," Riley said in a small voice. She'd avoided looking at me the entire time I was fixing the shelf.

I didn't want her to feel awkward at all, but I knew I wasn't going to make things better tonight. Quite the contrary. So when she walked us to the door, I said, "I'll bring Jeremy tomorrow at nine o’clock. Good?"

We’d agreed that they would take my car tomorrow, since it was more comfortable than the one Riley used on a daily basis to drive Jeremy around and the park was an hour away.

She sucked in her breath and then nodded. "That's great. Thanks."

"Have a great evening, Riley."

She smiled, "I will."

"Have fun. But not too much."

Jeremy looked up at me. "Why not, Dad?"

That effectively cut through the tension between me and Riley. Damn it, I couldn’t keep myself in check even around my son.

Riley blushed, and I shook my head, replying, “It’s just a saying.”

Jeremy frowned but didn’t ask anything else. I nodded at Riley just before we turned and went to the car.

After strapping Jeremy in, I went to my side of the car and got in. Riley was still standing in the doorway. I smiled at her, and even from a distance, I saw her lips curl in response.

I was certain of two things.

One: This was absolutely insane. She was completely off-limits.

Two: I couldn’t fight my attraction to her anymore.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Riley