Ember In The Heart

Ember made a face. “Don’t panic. You are not required today. Now what is it? I need to go.”

She still wouldn’t look at him.

It was beginning to piss him off. Even though he knew he deserved it.

“Foster is in a bit of a jam. His new nanny quit before she started and he needs someone to be here in the morning to get Georgie ready for school and pick her up afterward. You could organize your appointments so they’re all in the morning and I thought you could collect Georgie from school and keep her at the shop with you.” She gestured to Foster who was pissed off he hadn’t seen where the conversation was going. “Foster can collect her from the store.”

“That’s not necessary,” he said tonelessly.

Ember’s eyes flew to him. He couldn’t read her expression as she studied his face. “I can do it,” she finally said.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t know what to do with a five-year-old.”

“Why? Because I’m a single, childless thirty-six-year old woman and therefore I must not have a maternal bone in my body?”

He bristled at her defensiveness. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“Hey.” Celeste held up her hands between them—even though there was a fence to do that—her gaze curious and questioning. “Cool it. Georgie needs someone to look after her. Someone responsible. There’s no one more responsible than Ember. She dropped out of college to look after me and Luna when our parents died and before that, she always helped our parents out with us.”

Guilt prodded him. He’d forgotten they’d lost their parents young. And he hadn’t known Ember dropped out of school to take care of her sisters.

It was more than he’d done for G.

“I really wouldn’t mind.” Ember’s gaze moved beyond his shoulder and softened. “She’s a sweet kid.”

Colt vouched for Ember. He thought she was the shit.

Still, “I’d prefer her not to hang out in your store?”

Ember crossed her arms over her chest. “Why? What do you think is in there?”

He shrugged. “Nonsense occult, paranormal crap that might make my kid uneasy.”

She grimaced. “I sell candles, jewelry, crystals, yoga mats, cute yoga gear, and books on meditation.”

Oh.

“You should consider checking it out. Meditation has a way of removing large sticks from small assholes.”

Celeste choked on a bark of laughter, her round eyes swinging to Foster’s in apology.

He glowered at her and then her sister. “Don’t really want my kid around someone with that mouth.”

Though he’d like to taste it.

A lot.

A deep, wet taste.

Fuck.

He glanced over his shoulder to check on G again but also so they couldn’t see the heat in his expression. How could be attracted to a woman who continually insulted him? There must be something wrong with him.

“Oh get over yourself, Darwin.” Ember’s voice brought his head back around. “I can look out for Georgie until you find someone permanent. Think about it. You know where to find me. Now I really do need to go.”

Foster watched her sashay away, annoyed but hungry.

A throat cleared, drawing his attention back to Celeste.

Her head was tilted to the side and she studied him with a knowing glitter in her dark eyes. “Oh. Okay.” She smirked.

What did that mean?

“So … are you going to take Ember up on her offer?”

“I’ll think about it.” He spun around and returned to G, willing his pulse to slow down.

3

Ember

I loved night swimming. It was a good thing too because I also loved food. Swimming and yoga were great exercise but I’d never be one of those slender, athletic women who looked great no matter what they wore. And I was okay with that. It took me until my thirties to be okay with that but when I finally let myself be happy with my body and own my curves, it was amazing the kind of peace it brought me.

Women spend far too much emotional energy worried about our weight. If I could bottle the formula of my ‘could give zero fucks formula’ I wouldn’t charge for it. I’d dole that stuff out for free so every woman in the world would be happy and see the beauty in themselves that the people who loved them could already see.

My feet hit the pool wall and I pushed off it, propelling me back toward the opposite end and I saw movement on the patio. Realizing there was a large figure there, I startled in the water, coming to a stop. Floating in the middle of the pool, I watched as the tall man strode into the light.

Foster.

“Sorry if I scared you.” He crouched, those intense dark eyes of his focused on me.

Despite my distaste for him, I was curious about his appearance. Swimming toward him, I came to a stop at the side of the pool and looked up. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw you swimming.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward his house.