Single Dad Christmas: A hot Aussie Christmas, workplace romance with a guaranteed HEA... (Italian Rivals Book 7) by Clare Connelly

Author:Clare Connelly [Connelly, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

“Fox,” the voice, as familiar to Noah as his own, came through his car speakers after three rings.

“Hey, it’s me,” Noah said, unnecessarily. “Got a sec?”

“Is everything okay?” Max Fox asked. “It’s early.”

“Shit, yeah. I forgot the time difference.” Max was over in Perth, overseeing one of the Fox family pearl farms. “Were you sleeping?”

Max laughed. “No. What’s up? All good?”

“Not exactly.”

“Is it Mum and Dad?”

“No, no.”

“Taylor.”

“No,” Noah laughed, despite the gloom of his mood. “And yes. Kind of.”

“What’s happened?”

Noah gripped the steering wheel a little more tightly, and then gave Max the discreet, PG version of events. Max listened to the whole thing, without interjecting.

Then, “So you like her?”

He thought of Louisa and something in the region of his heart panged. “Yeah.”

“Really like her?”

Noah pulled up at a set of lights and stared straight ahead. His mind was full of Louisa. “Yes, but she’s pretty adamant that it needs to stop.”

“Because you made her feel like an outsider,” Max said. “No woman you’ve been treating like a partner suddenly wants to feel like they don’t belong.”

Noah frowned. “I didn’t mean—it was just Taylor⁠—,”

“Oh, we’ll talk about Taylor’s choices later,” Max grunted. He’d always hated Amy and had been very wary of the other woman’s influence on Taylor. “But in the meantime, you have to work out what you want. If you think that’s Louisa, in any capacity, then you can’t run around behind Taylor’s back indefinitely. And nor should you. She’s fifteen, not five. She can handle the thought of her dad dating some other woman.”

“I don’t know if she can.”

“She has to. You and Amy broke up, effectively, years ago. And with very good reason. Taylor can’t keep living in a fantasy land of her mother being a perfect angel.”

Noah considered that. “Amy’s not a bad person, Max.”

“No, she’s a sick person, and you have done everything you possibly can to help her get better, and to keep your daughter safe in the meantime. But you’re allowed to have a girlfriend, Noah. You’re allowed to have a life.” Max sighed into the phone. “If Taylor was still a little girl, I’d be all for the decisions you’re making to insulate her from reality. But she’s fifteen and capable of understanding the nuances of adulthood.”

The lights changed and Noah accelerated through the intersection, mulling on that. “I guess there’s sense to what you’re saying.”

“Damn straight. So, tell me more about Louisa.”

And Noah smiled because he didn’t know where to start. She was the first woman he’d actually felt this way for. He’d met Amy so young, and then they’d had Taylor. After he’d left Amy, he’d put all his energy into being a father, so in effect, Louisa was the first woman he’d actually cared for and wanted to pursue. “I like her,” he said, simply. “I like everything about her, from the way she is to the way she makes me feel. I don’t want to stop seeing her.”

“Then you need to talk to Taylor, and Louisa. And I’m here for you, man.

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