“Hi,” Brooklyn said, smiling.

“Hi.” I smiled back and turned to her mother. But Cori just regarded me with a cool expression and said nothing. Maybe she was skeptical of any woman who would be spending time with her daughter.

“This is for you,” I said, handing her the centerpiece I’d bought her. It was a basket of Christmas greenery and pinecones. She looked at it with her lips set in a thin line.

“Thanks.” She took it but wouldn’t even look at me. Kane rubbed his hand over my hip.

“Brooklyn, I’ve got something for you,” he said.

Her dark eyes sparkled happily as he handed her a small box. She tore through the shiny silver paper and delicate red ribbon to reveal a Tiffany blue box. Kane seemed to be holding his breath as she opened it.

She gasped and looked up at him. “It’s so pretty. Can I wear it?”

“Brook,” Cori prompted her. “What do you say?”

“Thank you,” she said to Kane.

“You like it?”

“I love it. Can I put it on?”

Kane looked at me. “I’ll let Viv handle that because me and those tiny necklace clasps don’t get along so well.”

Brooklyn handed me the box and I looked down at a silver heart-shaped pendant on a chain with small sparkling silver stones on one side. Kane was working hard at being a good dad. I was so proud of him.

I helped Brooklyn move her hair aside and I put the necklace on her, trying my best to ignore her mother’s icy glare.

“Perfect,” I said when she turned around to show it to me.

“We have to go,” Kane said. “But I’ll see you soon, Brook. Maybe Viv and I can take you ice skating over your school break if it’s okay with your mom.”

“Can I?” Brooklyn asked Cori.

“We’ll talk about it.”

“Merry Christmas,” Kane said to Brooklyn.

“Merry Christmas.” She smiled and toyed with the shiny new necklace around her neck.

Cori reached for Kane and hugged him, pressing herself to his chest. I gripped my purse strap, feeling awkward and out of place. He patted her on the back, but didn’t return the full embrace. Finally, she pulled away, her eyes full of emotion as she looked at him.

We said goodbye and walked out, and Kane wrapped his arm around my waist again for the walk to the car. Once inside, we drove in silence for a couple minutes before I spoke.

“What was that about?”

“What?”

“Cori,” I said, my tone indicating it was obvious. “She hates me.”

“No, don’t take it that way.”

“She glared at me the whole time we were there. What does she have against me?”

He shifted in his seat and I felt a nervous flutter in my stomach.

“Kane. What does she have against me?”

“How can she have anything against you? You’ve never met before.”

I sighed with aggravation. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice how cold she was to me.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Was she just upset that we dropped by unannounced?” I continued before he had a chance to answer. “No, because look at the way she hugged you. It’s just me she hates.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I know there’s something you aren’t telling me. What is it?”

He shifted in his seat again. “Let’s not talk about her on Christmas, babe.”

“Too late. Tell me.”

His expression darkened slightly. “She’s made comments about wanting to get with me.”

My heart nearly stopped. “Get with you? Are you serious? What, like sexually?”

He gave a half shrug. “Yeah, but not just that. She wanted us to try a relationship.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” My voice was high with panic but still laced with anger.

“I told her no, Viv.”

“Pull the car over.”

“Babe, don’t––”

“Now. Pull over, Kane. Right. Now.”

With a heavy sigh, he did. Then he just looked at me, his expression a mixture of annoyance and expectation.

“Why didn’t you tell me? How could you take me over there and not tell me that?”

“I told her no,” he repeated, as though it answered everything.

“Did she even know I was coming with you today?”

He lowered his brows and stared straight out the windshield. “No. I don’t need her fucking permission to bring my girlfriend places with me.”

“But to her house? On Christmas?”

“Look. She got out of line last weekend and I was trying to send her a message. I’m with you, and she needs to respect that.”

My mouth fell open in shock. “What do you mean, out of line?”

He shifted in his seat. “Does it matter?”

“You bet your ass it matters.”

“She . . . came on to me, I guess. Grabbed my dick and said some stuff.”

My heart pounded wildly. “Grabbed your dick? And you didn’t think you should mention that to me? What did she say?”

“I already told you. She wanted to get with me. Talked about her pussy being shaved and shit.”

The fucking whore. I thought it and almost let it fly out of my mouth.

“With Brooklyn there?”

“No. Brook left to go to a sleepover.”

Tears pricked at my eyes. “And you stayed? With Cori? Who was grabbing your dick?”

“I left when she started that shit.”

I buried my face in my hands and took a few deep breaths.

“Viv, what are you so pissed about? I turned her down cold. Several times. I’m with you. I love you.”

“And what about seeing Brooklyn? You’ll just keep going over there and playing right into Cori’s hands, because it’s the only way you can see her.”

“I’ll never turn my back on Brooklyn again. Don’t ask me to do that, Viv.”

I lowered my hands to my lap, clenching them into fists. “I’d never ask that. But now I feel like a homewrecker.”

“That’s fucking nuts. Cori and I slept together a few times ten years ago. I was too high to even remember it. She got pregnant. We’ve never been together. Not like you and me.”

“She’s Brooklyn’s mom.”

“So what?”

I turned to face him, gathering my courage to ask a question I was afraid of the answer to.

“Did you think about it? Giving things with her a chance so the three of you can be a family?”

He pressed his lips together, silent for a few seconds. The longest seconds of my life.

“There’s my answer,” I said, my voice breaking. “Take me home. I don’t want you coming with me tomorrow.”

“Be rational, Viv.” He scowled at me. “What matters is that I chose you.”

“While I foolishly didn’t even know I was in a contest with anyone.” I wiped the tears from my face. “I hate you right now. Take me home.”

He did, and I slammed the car door and stormed into the house alone, locking the deadbolt. I got in bed and cried and cried and cried, not stopping until my eyes were swollen and I had a pounding headache.

It hurt bone deep that my one and only had considered another woman, even for a second. I didn’t think that was something I’d be able to forgive.

TWO FUCKING WEEKS.

Viv hadn’t answered my texts or phone calls since Christmas Day, and I was out of my mind. I stared at the January calendar on Jeff’s wall, wondering how many more weeks it would take. How many days. How many hours.

“What’s going on with you and Viv?” Jeff asked, closing the screen on his laptop. Obviously he’d figured out I had no interest in his boring financial forecast for the club.

“Nothing,” I muttered.

“Bullshit. The servers are afraid to even make eye contact with you.”

“Nothing’s going on with us,” I said sharply. “Nothing at all since Christmas. She hasn’t spoken to me since we had a fight that day.”

“Shit, man. What happened?”

I rubbed my forehead and exhaled deeply. “I fucked up like I always do.”

“Don’t give me some abstract shit, Kane. What, exactly, happened?”

“You know I’ve been seeing Brooklyn over at Cori’s place.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, the weekend before Christmas Cori asked me to come over for dinner and didn’t mention Brooklyn was going to a sleepover right after dinner. She hit on me while we washed dishes. Grabbed my cock and told me I should give us a chance at a relationship so Brook can have a real family.”