Page 59 of The Fiancé Hoax

She gave me a warm smile. “You’re not like that at all. I can’t imagine a better father than you.”

“I do what I can for my daughters. It’s not always easy, but they deserve someone who’s there for them. They sure don’t have that in their mother.”

Felicity nodded. “Sadly, they don’t.”

“I’m so glad to have Eva and Lily.” I smiled. “But… two kids is it for me. I couldn’t handle any more.”

She looked up at me. “You don’t think you’d want any more if you met the right woman?”

I shook my head firmly. “No.” Lowering my voice, I added, “And I definitely don’t want to get married again.”

She blinked at me, and something like surprise flickered across her face. “Never?”

“No. I’m not making that mistake again.”

Felicity looked away and became silent, leaving me to my thoughts.

What I didn’t mention was that I didn’t trust myself to fall in love again.

Gen had taught me that lesson. It was too easy to get trapped in a bad situation.

I couldn’t let myself fall for that again.

Our food arrived, and I was glad when the topic of conversation shifted to something lighter.

Felicity told me some details of her own childhood. She skirted around what were obviously painful memories of her dad’s emotional unavailability.

Instead, she focused on her mother, who had been a loving parent to her. Her mom, like her father, had come from humble roots. I got the sense Felicity’s mother never quite fit in with the new upper-class society Marsh had expected her to thrive in after he made it big.

And like her mother, Felicity had stayed down-to-earth. She’d grown up in a fancy house, but she was still humble.

Listening to Felicity, I began to appreciate her even more. She’d been through a lot, especially with losing her mom at age eighteen.

Though she didn’t say it, I could tell that she’d turned to her dad for support in her grief, but he’d withdrawn.

As the night carried on, I felt a sense of protectiveness rising inside me. I wanted to be that support Felicity needed. I wanted to keep her safe, to tell her that everything would be all right.

And then I wanted to carry her to my bed and make her writhe in pleasure until she came over and over.

But none of that would be possible. There were so many reasons it would never work with us.

All I could do was enjoy the company of this remarkable woman while she was here.

16

COOPER

“Woo-hoo!”

Felicity cheered beside me as Eva sauntered down the “catwalk” wearing her new fashions.

Two weeks after Felicity started to teach the girls to sew, they were already showing off their creations in a fashion show at home.

Of course, Felicity had given them a lot of help. In fact, some of the things they were wearing she had made on her own. But I was amazed at how much my daughters had learned in a short period of time.

Eva struck a pose at the end of the catwalk we had created by rearranging the furniture in the living room. Then she turned and exited the room. Inga was waiting in the hallway to help her change into the next outfit.

Felicity and I clapped and cheered when Lily stepped out wearing a pink dress. The little girl was beaming as she shyly walked through the room and twirled around.