Page 32 of The Souls We Claim

He was gentle. Hecanbe gentle. I’ve seen him with Lola.

In preparation, I use a makeup wipe to freshen up as I’m not stepping foot back in the bathroom yet. I grab some clean clothes from my suitcase and pull them on. When I start mermaid braiding my long hair, I know I’m procrastinating.Abandoning it, I pull my hair up into a simple ponytail. My hands shake as I tighten it.

I step into Lola’s room but find her crib empty. Now he’s doing my job too. He’s going to be furious.

The stairs creak as I walk down them, trying to remind myself it was a simple mistake. I didn’t mean to stare. I was paralyzed. Jesus, even to myself it all sounds weak, because in the face of a body like his, the sheer masculine energy I felt watching him, I didn’t want to move.

I’ll start with sorry. For invading his privacy and for staring. I’ll be honest. That he’s an attractive man.

No.

That’s a really bad idea.

But maybe flattery will soften him up.

Flattery always worked with Patrick.

As I blow out a breath, I realize I can smell something cooking. And there’s a squeal from Lola.

Okay. Maybe he won’t get mad in front of Lola. The thought is cowardly because I’m hiding behind a child.

When I push the kitchen door open, I see Halo, his back to me, at the stove. His hair is still wet, leaving damp marks on the back of his faded black T-shirt that fits his shoulders way too well.

He’s stirring something in the pan. Eggs, I deduce from the carton on the counter. Just how many balls am I going to drop today? Shouldn’t I have prepared breakfast while he was in the shower?

Lola squeals again when she sees me. Her face is covered in bits of soggy toast sticks she’s sucking on. I smile and wave.

“Hey, Halo. Have you got a minute?”

He turns to face me for a second, glances down at my shorts, then turns back to the pan. “One second.”

When the eggs are ready, he serves them up onto a little plate and carries it to Lola’s high chair. She grabs a handful and eats it hungrily, all the while her little legs kick out beneath the small white table.

“You look like you could do with some air,” Halo says finally. “Let’s go outside.”

“We can’t leave Lola alone while she’s eating. She might choke.”

Halo eyes me carefully. “Which is why I was going to move her too.”

Halo’s house is on a lovely lot, with trees at the back of the property. I can hear gulls in the distance, a reminder that the Jersey shore I’ve heard about isn’t too far away. I can’t remember the last time I saw the ocean.

There’s a wooden bench on a stone patio near the door, and he gestures to it before moving Lola’s high chair outside with her still in it. He puts her down close enough where we can all see and hear each other.

“What’s on your mind?” he asks as I sit on one end, and he sits on the other.

My cheeks burn. “I’m sorry. About earlier. It was an accident. I’d had a bad dream. A nightmare, really. I wasn’t thinking about you or the shower until I was in the doorway, and then…”

Halo bites back a smirk. “And then you couldn’tstopthinking about me and the shower?”

I groan and put my head in my hands. “I’m so sorry. It was highly inappropriate. I should have knocked. I mean…I will knock. From now on. Unless you need me to leave, which I would totally understand, because it was…”

Hot. Sexually exciting. Uninhibited.

“You want to finish that sentence, Arianne?”

When I look up at him, he still has that easy smile, but there is something heated in his eyes.

“Why did you say my name?” I ask. The words come out on a whisper.