Amelia’s heart almost melted at the sight of Grace’s blond head tucked into the crook of Liam’s shoulder. And her heart almost melted again when Liam caught her eye.

  “Is she sleeping?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Yes, she is.”

  “Wow.” Liam looked down at Grace, then over to Amelia. There was a spark in his eyes, as though he couldn’t believe what was happening. They left the zoo and crossed to the parking lot, where Liam gently set Grace into her car seat.

  “Can you buckle her in?” he asked. “I don’t want to pinch her legs with the clips.”

  “You can do it,” Amelia encouraged. “Don’t worry; the clips are made to be safe for toddlers.”

  Liam successfully buckled Grace in, and they got into the front seats of the car. Liam didn’t start the engine right away, though. Instead, he turned to Amelia.

  “Thank you.” He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. A tingling sensation washed up Amelia’s arm at his touch. “This meant a lot to me.”

  “I think it meant a lot to Grace, too.”

  “Did you have a nice day?”

  Amelia nodded, touched that he’d asked. “I did. It was a great day.”

  “Good.” Liam brushed his thumb over the back of Amelia’s hand, creating another wave of sensation. His blue eyes were fixed on hers, but then they dropped slightly to rest on her lips. Amelia felt heat pool inside her. She might be completely misreading this situation, but it seemed that she and Liam were sharing a moment.

  Amelia’s eyes drifted over Liam’s handsome features, from his chiseled jaw to his five-o’clock shadow to the blue of his eyes and the compelling swoop of his broad lips. How might it feel to have those lips on hers?

  Just then, Grace stirred slightly in her sleep, and Amelia snapped back to the present. It was one thing to daydream about one’s attractive boss-slash fake husband. It was quite another thing to actually come this close to kissing him. After all, Liam was still her boss. Their relationship was strange enough as it was. And on top of that, just because he’d been a good father today didn’t make up for the years he hadn’t been involved in Grace’s life. One good day didn’t make him a good person.

  “We should probably head home,” Amelia said. Her voice came out a little breathier than she’d intended. “Grace needs to have dinner before she can really sleep.”

  “Of course.” Liam withdrew his hand and started the car. “Let’s head home.”

  They drove back through the dusky streets of San Francisco in silence. Amelia was lost in her thoughts. Somehow, her initial attraction to Liam had passed through annoyance and back into attraction. That didn’t matter, though. What mattered was Grace and making sure she had a strong father figure to rely on.

  Especially after Amelia was gone.

  CHAPTER 14

  LIAM

  The week flew by.

  On Sunday, Liam, Amelia, and Grace spent a quiet day at home. Amelia made them all breakfast, with “help” from Grace. Then they went to the park for a long, slow morning of play. Liam had expected to be bored, but he actually enjoyed the time spent playing with Grace or sitting on a bench watching her play while he and Amelia talked.

  Monday, Liam returned to work, somewhat begrudgingly. Things had started to pile up over the weekend, but he still left the office at four to enjoy dinner with Amelia and Grace. A similar pattern followed on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

  Slowly but surely, Liam was feeling more confident around Grace. He was realizing that she wasn’t scary at all — she was just a little human with the most charming thoughts and opinions on all manner of things. She frequently made both Liam and Amelia laugh with her antics. Occasionally, she grew upset. Sometimes, Grace seemed to miss her mother, and other times, she was just going through normal toddler problems like not wanting to leave the park or eat her dinner.

  With Amelia’s help, Liam had come to understand that Grace’s struggles were normal and that they could get through them, together. All in all, he felt much more comfortable and competent around Grace than he’d ever felt around a child.

  Amelia was a different story. As the week went on, Liam felt less and less competent and comfortable around Amelia. After the day at the zoo on Saturday, Liam had taken Amelia’s hand and thanked her for everything. The moment had deepened and, briefly, he had thought he might kiss her. And from the way Amelia’s lips had been parted and the look in those beautiful brown eyes, he’d thought she might want that.

  But then Amelia had pulled away and recommended that they get home. It had been the push Liam needed to end the moment. Now, in retrospect, he wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking. Amelia had been clear that she didn’t want to kiss him, which he would obviously respect. But more than that, he had surprised himself. He couldn’t kiss Amelia. He couldn’t pursue anything real with her. This was all temporary, and each moment he forgot that was a dangerous moment.

  Now, here he was, back at the office with a mounting pile of work looming over him, and he was still distracted by thoughts of Amelia. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized how much depth there was to this woman. She was not only a wonderful mother figure to Grace, patient and caring and loving, but also whip-smart, funny, and insightful. And sexy. Liam ached just thinking of how the sundress she’d worn to the zoo had accentuated her feminine curves.

  As if Liam’s thoughts had summoned her, his phone buzzed with a message from Amelia.

  Hey. Shall we take Grace to Skillet and Mug this evening?

  Liam grinned as he remembered their conversation about the local diner. They’d talked about taking Grace there, and this was the perfect time. After all, the long-awaited barbecue was the next day. After that, Liam would have to dedicate himself to work again — his fewer hours this week were starting to have an effect.

  I’d love to, he replied.

  Four o’clock?

  Perfect.

  It was already two o’clock, which meant that Liam didn’t have much time to work before he’d need to leave. He threw himself into a review of Lilypad’s growth over the last quarter and tried to banish Amelia from his mind.

  Two hours later, he hadn’t made quite as much progress as he might have liked, but it was time to go. He gathered his things and headed out, nodding at Ryan on the way past.

  “Hey, boss?”

  Liam turned back to Ryan. “Yes?”

  “Did you get around to reviewing those advertising briefs? Our marketing team said they were pretty urgent.”

  Liam felt a surge of annoyance. Ryan had never asked something like this before.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “And the quarterly growth figures?”

  “Those too.” Liam frowned slightly. “Why are you asking?”

  “It’s just that you haven’t been in the office as much lately. I wanted to be sure all the boxes were still getting ticked.”

  “Everything is under control.” Liam hesitated. It was true that things had been slipping a little over the last week — but he’d needed to prioritize Grace. “I’ll be in on Monday as long as is needed.”

  “Have a nice weekend.”

  Liam left, still bristling from the conversation with his assistant. As he stepped out into the fresh summer air, though, thoughts of work began to drift away. And by the time he arrived at Skillet and Mug and spotted Amelia and Grace in a booth near the window, he wasn’t worried at all.

  Grace loved the pancakes, just as Amelia had said she would. When the waiter brought out a stack of pancakes with chocolate chips and a whipped-cream smiley face, Grace nearly bounced out of her seat.

  “Pancakes! I wuv pancakes!”

  “Is it just me, or is she getting better at full sentences?” Liam asked Amelia in a hushed tone.

  “She is. Kids at this age learn new skills very quickly. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Grace learns new words every day.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Fanks.”

  Amelia and Liam turned to Grace, who beamed up at them with a chocolatey smile. Liam’s heart almost burst with an unexpected pride. His daughter was so smart.

  The waiter returned with two plates piled with Amelia and Liam’s food.

  “I have the farmer’s plate and the sunrise scramble with home fries.”

  “The farmer’s plate is for me,” Liam said. “And the sunrise scramble is for my beautiful wife.”

  “Here you go.” The waiter set down their food. “What a sweet family.”

  “Thanks.”

  He left and Amelia caught Liam’s eyes.

  “Your beautiful wife?”

  “I’m practicing for tomorrow.” Liam winked. It was true that he’d been trying to introduce her as his wife a little more often, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d done it. Both Liam and Amelia had gotten used to people assuming that they were a family and were good at not correcting them. But over time, Liam had found himself imagining, here and there, that it was true. It was easy to picture an alternate reality in which Amelia really was his wife, in which he would come home to her every day for the rest of his life, and in which he would share her bed.

  Liam knew that none of that was true. Amelia would leave, sooner or later, when their agreement ended. When she left, Liam would need to hand over most of Grace’s care to nannies — just because he was bonded with his daughter didn’t mean he could quit his job to take care of her. This sweet little world the three of them had created was temporary, and that was for the best. Liam was not a family man. That didn’t mean he couldn’t live in this world as long as he could, though.

  “Of course.” Amelia nodded. “And how are you today, my handsome husband?”

  “I had a nice day, thanks. And how was your day, my little princess?” Liam had started calling Grace his princess, and it had stuck.

  “Good.” Grace took another big bite of pancake. Then she grinned that chocolatey grin up at Amelia. “Pancakes is good, Mommy.”

  Liam and Amelia froze. Amelia looked stricken. There was a beat but, as always, Amelia recovered quickly.

  “Oh, honey, I’m not your mommy.” Amelia put her arm around Grace, who was sitting next to her. “I love you, and I’m here for you, but I’m not your mommy. You remember your mommy, right?”

  “Yeah. Mommy.” Grace nodded importantly. “Mommy and Mommy.”

  “I think she’s saying she can have two mommies,” Liam said slowly.

  “I think so too. I guess we didn’t explain that all this is temporary.” Amelia looked slightly teary again. She took a breath. “Grace, honey, I’m Meel. Remember?”

  “Okay, Meel.” Grace went back to her food. She didn’t seem to have noticed how momentous this conversation had been for the adults in the room.

  After a few moments, Amelia and Liam went back to eating, too. The evening fell back into a familiar rhythm of eating and chatting.

  When they arrived back at Liam’s penthouse, Amelia smiled at him. “I think you’re ready to handle bedtime.”

  “On my own?”

  “I’ll stick around, but yes, I think you can do it.”

  “All right. Grace, are you ready for a bath?”

  “Yay!”

  Liam filled the tub with warm water and bubbles, checked the temperature just the way Amelia had shown him, and helped his wiggly, excited daughter into the warm water.

  “Sing, sing!”

  Liam chuckled. “No, no, I’m not a good singer.”

  “Sing, Daddy!”

  His heart melted at the word. It was the first time Grace had called him Daddy. He looked up at Amelia, who was leaning in the doorway, and she gave him a thumbs-up.

  “Okay, okay. One song.” Liam bust out a rendition of “Old McDonald Had A Farm” that was so bad Amelia was in stitches after the first verse. Grace didn’t seem to mind, though. She just sang along, as happy and enthusiastic as Liam had ever seen her.

  After bathtime, he got Grace into her pajamas and tucked her into bed. Then he read her three stories. By the time he closed the last book, Grace’s eyes were closed and her chest was rising and falling with the peace of toddler sleep. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. His heart was full with love for his daughter — and appreciation for Amelia. He never would have gotten this far if it weren’t for her.

  Liam tucked the blankets in around Grace’s small, sleeping form, then got up and tiptoed out of the room. Amelia was waiting in the living room and, when Liam appeared, she got to her feet.

  “Hey. Is she sleeping?”

  “Yep. It was a successful bedtime.”

  “I knew you could do it.” Amelia smiled at Liam and took a step closer. “I think we need to talk about what Grace said today, though.”

  Liam nodded. “I think we do. Have a seat. It’s time we talked about Grace’s mother.”

  CHAPTER 15

  AMELIA

  Amelia sat back on the couch and tucked her legs beneath her. It felt strange to talk to Liam here, in the living room instead of his study, and despite his assuredness a few moments ago, he didn’t exactly seem ready to dive into conversation. They sat in silence for a few long moments. Amelia didn’t want to push Liam to talk, even though she was burning with curiosity.

  Finally, Liam sighed. “All right. I know I don’t look great in this story, but it’s important that you know.”

  There was another pause, and Amelia decided that he might be waiting for her to say something.

  “I agree. It’s important for me to know because it’ll be important for Grace to know, someday, the story of where she came from. And it’s important for her now to be able to talk about her mother, which is hard for me to do, since there’s a lot I don’t know.”

  “I agree. And that’s on me.” Liam sighed once again. “Okay. Grace’s mother is — was — a woman by the name of Cora Matthews. Cora and I weren’t in a relationship, by any means, and that wasn’t something that either of us wanted. We were both clear about that. We had… fun together, and that was all.” Liam winced slightly at the word “fun” and glanced at Amelia, as if to gauge her reaction. Amelia kept her face neutral. There was nothing wrong with Liam having enjoyed casual relationships, especially since it sounded like it had been mutually casual.

  It wasn’t even a problem if Liam was having casual relationships now. It wasn’t like Amelia had any claim on his heart. The thought was painful, but Amelia knew it was for the best to face facts. If Liam’s style was casual flings, they would be an even worse match than she’d thought. Amelia hadn’t dated much, but she knew that when she did, she’d want something real and long-term.

  “Anyway. Cora and I saw each other off and on for a month or so. I’m ashamed to admit that neither of us knew many personal details about the other. Then, the relationship ended — not in any major way; we just drifted apart. I never heard from her again.”

  “Wait.” Amelia had to clarify this. “Never? Not even when she found out she was pregnant?”

  “No.” Liam shook his head. “Cora never told me that she was expecting. I had no idea that Grace existed.”

  The whole world shifted on its axis. If Liam hadn’t known about Grace, he wasn’t an absentee father anymore. How could he have been present in Grace’s life if he hadn’t known she existed? Sympathy flooded Amelia, replacing the disregard she’d felt before. It wasn’t Liam’s fault that he didn’t know how to raise a two-year-old — he hadn’t been given the chance to find out. Amelia tried to imagine how difficult it must have been for him to learn that he had a daughter and take full custody of her, all as a complete surprise.

  “Are you… I mean, I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but are you mad at Cora? For not telling you, I mean?”

  “Not at all. I can’t blame her for not telling me. I was clear that I wasn’t looking for anything serious and that I wasn’t interested in marriage or kids at all. I imagine she felt that if she told me, I wouldn’t have reacted well — and she was probably right. On top of that, I would have been an absolutely clueless father. You’ve seen how much I struggle to take care of Grace. That would have been even worse a few years ago.”

  Amelia shook her head. “Liam, don’t say that. You aren’t clueless. Yes, you still have a lot to learn, but I’ve seen how you care for Grace. And I’ve seen how she looks at you. You might not have been ready to be a father, two months ago or a few weeks ago, but you’re doing a wonderful job now.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  The words warmed Amelia’s heart, but she shook her head again. “No, thanks to you. You decided to be a father to Grace, and I can see it working.”

  Liam inclined his head. “I am trying.”

  There was a pause.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, though… why did you tell Cora you didn’t want kids or marriage?”

  “Because it’s true. Or… it was true. I don’t know.” Liam ran a hand through his hair. “Now that Grace is in my life, I love her, and I can’t imagine being without her. But I always knew I was better off not having a family.”

  The affection and sympathy Amelia had been feeling soured slightly. “Because your job is more important?”

  “Partially. But also because family is, well, a fickle thing.”

  “What do you mean?” Liam had always avoided talking about his family, but this time, he didn’t change the subject. At least, not right away.

  “I’ve told you that I was an only child, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “My parents had me too young. There’s nothing wrong with young parents, but mine were young enough that their parents disowned them when they had me. They moved into a trailer park, because that was all they could afford. My father worked long hours at a steel mill in town, and my mother had several jobs as a maid and a waitress, all cobbled together. They were trying to keep the family afloat, but it was hard. As soon as I was old enough, I got a job, too.”

  “How old were you?” Amelia’s voice was hushed.

  “When I got my first paper route, seven. I built from there. There aren’t many places that’ll hire a kid, even if they pay under the table, but I found every opportunity I could. Whatever I earned went to my parents, and they spent it — on food and clothes, but also on alcohol and lottery tickets. My parents loved me, but they also resented me, I think. It was because of me that they had to live the life they did.”