Harlequin Special Edition: August 2022 Box Set 1 of 2 by Stella Bagwell

Author:Stella Bagwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The following day was once again an exercise in resisting his attraction for a woman he wanted—which was something he usually didn’t have to do. He’d always let himself go for what he wanted in the romance area. And looking back, that lifestyle probably had a lot to do with his declining performance at work and his father’s decision to make him take a look at himself. If he was being honest, he was learning a lot about the man he was and who he wanted to be, but he was nowhere near ready to thank his father for any of his actions. Not when he’d so coldly sent Aurora away. And although he tried not to be, he was angry at Aurora for taking the money and so easily cutting him from her life.

He rinsed a plate and put it into the dishwasher.

“Thanks for doing the dishes,” Emma said and put leftovers in the refrigerator.

“No problem.” Nicholas dunked the lasagna pan in the soapy water and took out some of his pent-up frustration by scrubbing the stuck-on cheese.

“I’ll go check on the baby,” she said and passed by so closely they almost touched.

Every time he had the urge to reach out and touch Emma, he pushed aside his own desires for her sake. And when his lips ached with the need to connect with hers, he thought hard about what he’d promised himself he’d do for Emma: give her time and not push her out of her comfort zone.

But maybe what she needed was to be pushed out of her comfort zone just like he had been?

That could be fun for both of us.

Nicholas winced. That was not the direction his thoughts should be going. He turned the pan around in the soapy water and attacked it from another angle. His time here was turning out to be good practice for how he wanted to live his life. An exercise in restraint and controlling every whim that struck him. Thinking about someone other than himself. Considering what Jax and Emma needed was giving him a new perspective about life. And in the future, he would make more of an effort to think beyond his own selfishness.

“I think that pan is clean enough,” Emma said from behind him.

Slightly embarrassed that he’d been caught washing the same pan for five minutes, he rinsed it and set it on the drain rack.

“I need to walk over to my parents’ house, check things and water their plants. Want to put Jax in the stroller and come along?”

“Sure.” He closed the dishwasher—that she’d had to teach him how to load and start. “Your parents live within walking distance?”

“Yes. But they’re away for the whole summer on a cross-country RV trip, and I’m looking after their house.” She went into the living room, lifted Jax from his bassinet and gave him the sweetest smile.

With a sleeping baby in the stroller, they walked along her street in a comfortable silence. Light from the full moon sifted through the tree branches and made shapes and shadows dance across the ground.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.