Cross My Heart (A Contemporary Romance Novel)

immediately, rolling onto his side and lying next to her. He ran a finger down her forehead to the tip of her nose, and the casual tenderness of the gesture touched something deep inside her.
    A part of her that wasn’t ready to be touched.
    “You should probably go,” she said, her voice unsteady.
    “Don’t worry. Claire’s not going to be home for hours yet. And, anyway, you know she’s hoping I’m over here. She’s rooting for us to get together.”
    A cold feeling swept through her. She moved away from him and sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. “That’s why she can’t find out about this. We don’t want her to get her hopes up. Right?”
    She wanted reassurance that they were still on the same page, but something in his expression told her they weren’t.
    “Jenna, listen. I know we said this would be a one-night stand, but—”
    “Damn it, Michael!”
    He grabbed her arm before she could jump off the bed. “Hey! Slow down a second.” She struggled against his grip, but his hold only tightened. “Don’t run away. You know damn well there’s something between us.”
    She was furious. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”
    “Doing what? What’s so terrible about saying I want more than one night with you?” He sat up, too, and faced her. “Most women would be glad to know that the guy they just had sex with actually wants a relationship.”
    She jerked away from him. “I’m not most women. And we’ve already talked about this. You know how I feel. Why can’t you accept me for who I am, instead of trying to make me fit into your life the way you want me to?”
    “Jenna—”
    “Everything has to be on your terms, doesn’t it? You want a relationship with me, so you’re ready to steamroll over who I actually am to make that happen. And you’re terrified to have a relationship with your daughter, so you won’t even ask her to come live with you.”
    He stared at her for a long moment. Then he got off the bed and started grabbing clothes off the floor. “Why do you always do that?”
    “Do what?” She was trying not to miss the warmth of him in her bed, and she was failing.
    “Bring up Claire when I’m trying to talk about us.” He kept his back to her as he stepped into his jeans and tugged his tee shirt over his head.
    “Because that’s the relationship you should be thinking about. Your daughter is the most important person in your life, and you know it. Letting her go back to Florida would be a huge mistake, and you know that, too. But you’re too much of a coward to ask her to move here—or else it’s just plain selfishness, because you don’t want your life to change.”
    He bent down to grab his second shoe from under the bed. “Her life is in Florida. Everyone she knows is there.”
    “Except for you. And you should at least give her the choice.”
    He strode over to the window, his back to her. After a minute he turned around. “I’ve never been her dad, not full-time.”
    “I know.”
    There was a long pause. When he spoke again, his voice was so low she almost couldn’t hear it. “I don’t want to let her down.”
    Her heart contracted. “You won’t.”
    His hands slid into his pockets as he started to pace. “I work eighty hours a week between the hospital and the clinic. I could try to cut back, but what if it’s not enough? A teenage girl needs more than a few minutes a day with a dad who, let’s face it, doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.”
    “Yes, she needs more than a few minutes a day with you. And you’ll have to make sure that happens.”
    Tension was coming off him in waves. “I didn’t have the greatest role models, parent-wise.”
    “I know,” she said softly. “But you’re nothing like them, Michael. And you and Claire have been getting along so well...”
    He stopped pacing and faced her. “That’s because of you. If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t be getting along.”
    She shook her head. “That’s not true. Sure, I was the catalyst in the beginning. But you don’t need my help anymore. You’ve spent the last three days together without me, and Claire said it’s been great.”
    “She said that?”
    “Yes.”
    He dragged a hand through his hair. “I wish I could know for sure that it’s the right thing to do. For Claire.”
    “You can’t hedge your bets on something like this. What does your heart tell you? Your instincts?”
    “I don’t make decisions that way.” Then he looked