Cross My Heart (A Contemporary Romance Novel)

hit her without warning, a memory of Michael looking down at her with that mixture of passion and possessiveness that turned her inside out.
    Derek had never looked at her like that. When she was with him, what he’d wanted was sex. When she was with Michael, she knew with utter certainty that what he wanted was her.
    Being wanted like that was a heady experience. The kind of thing a woman could get used to.
    Which, she reminded herself, was the reason she couldn’t have him. When it came time to leave, she didn’t want to wrench herself away the way she’d had to wrench herself away from Derek and the Mollies. That had hurt like crazy, and she wasn’t in the market for that kind of pain again.
    “The three of us could go bowling tonight,” Claire was saying now, and Jenna pulled herself out of her thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation.
    “No, this is your last night here. I’m sure your dad wants you all to himself.”
    In fact, Michael had told her that he’d made a reservation for the two of them at a fancy restaurant in the city, as a surprise. She glanced at him now, wondering if he might use the opportunity to ask his daughter to stay in Iowa for good.
    She really, really hoped so.
    Claire had been putting strips of blue tape over the window trim. Now she stopped, turning to look at Jenna. “Then...is this the last time I’m going to see you?”
    “No, of course not,” Jenna said quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow before you go, and after that...well, we have email and Skype. There’s no reason we can’t stay in touch.”
    When she saw the sparkle of tears in the girl’s eyes, she went over and gave her a huge hug. “Don’t be sad, kiddo. I’m in your life for good now. Like it or not.”
    And then, suddenly, Claire was crying so hard Jenna could feel her body shuddering with sobs. Jenna hugged her harder, patting her back and murmuring “It’s okay, it’s okay.” She looked over her shoulder to see Michael looking helpless, and she frowned at him. “Come here,” she mouthed at him.
    After a moment’s hesitation he did, putting his arms around Claire and holding her, a little gingerly at first, and then tighter. Claire was small and her dad was big, so Jenna was enveloped in the hug, too. She was caught off guard at how natural it felt—the three of them in an interlocking knot of care and affection, her arms around Claire and Michael’s arms around them both.
    “Sorry,” Claire said after a minute, after her tears had subsided. Jenna stepped back to give her a little space, and Michael did, too. “You guys must think I’m such a dork. I don’t know why that happened. I mean, I know we’ll be in touch, Jenna. So I don’t know why I broke down.”
    She took a quick breath. “Let’s turn up the music and get started.”
    * * *
    Michael tried to concentrate on a medical journal while he waited for Claire to get back from Ellie’s. She’d been gone since mid afternoon, which had given him plenty of time to second guess his decision.
    He was going to ask her to stay.
    Logic was against it. Logic said that uprooting a fourteen year old girl from her support system of friends and family was insane—especially when all he had to offer her in return was himself. A workaholic single dad without a single successful emotional relationship in his past. And while he could try to scale back at the hospital, the truth was he’d never be able to spend as much time with Claire as she deserved.
    So, no, his decision hadn’t been based on logic. It had been based on instinct, on the fact that he knew in his heart that Claire belonged with him. And that if he didn’t at least try to be a real father to her, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
    He checked his watch for the tenth time in the last five minutes. He’d told Claire they needed to leave by six, and she was already half an hour late. Maybe he should call the Washingtons to—
    The front door banged open, and Claire shot up the stairs like she was being chased by wolves. A moment later he heard her bedroom door slam shut, the sound reverberating through the house.
    He went to the front door, which she hadn’t bothered to close, and checked to see if there were actual wolves out there. Seeing nothing, he shut the door.
    He looked up the stairs. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
    He sighed. If this was fatherhood, he supposed the only thing to do was wade right in.
    He went up the stairs and knocked on her