I blow out a breath. Based on prior experience, they’ll be in town for at least two to three months. And if Josh is the star, chances are he’ll be here the whole time.

Fuck my life.

* * *

I’m still brooding about it by the time I arrive at school to pick up Melly. The sight of her breaks me out of my weird mood.

“Mummy,” she calls out as she skips toward me.

“Hey, baby. Have a good day?”

She leaps into my arms, and I twirl her around, pressing a kiss into her hair. “The heater wasn’t working in the classroom, so we were in room four today.”

“Were you?” I walk out toward the school entrance and down the road a little until we reach the car.

She climbs into the back seat, and I fasten her harness before giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” She’s so cheery, and it warms my heart.

My heart that’s been as frozen as my feet since I left the diner.

The cold probably isn’t helping my mood.

I drive back toward the diner, and my mind is not on anything other than Josh. I’m not sure how I’d cope if I saw him again. Time might have passed but the memory of how things went bad and the fallout afterward are raw.

I’ve got my daughter and my business to focus on, and I haven’t had a man in my life for a while. And no one I’ve introduced to Melly.

Seeing him again adds complication to my life that I could do without.

But is it realistic to think we won’t run into one another at some point?

* * *

After Melly’s gone to sleep for the night, I can sit and take stock of the day.

I have to stop worrying so much.

But it doesn’t make thinking of the past hurt any less.

I smile as Josh’s lips graze my neck. “Are you making breakfast?”

“I told you I would.”

His dark eyes are so full of affection, and I melt just looking into them.

I knew Josh Carter would be trouble. The last thing I was looking for was any kind of romantic attachment in the weeks leading up to me leaving the US and going home, but when he walked into my life, he walked into my heart.

Even if he managed to accidentally insult me on that first day.

Somewhere on the floor on his side of the bed, a phone buzzes its way across the carpet.

Josh frowns. “Who the hell can that be?” He shrugs, kissing my lips this time.

“Get it. It might be important.”

“You’re important.”

I grin. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He leans over the side of the bed and plucks his phone off the floor. His face tells a me I was right.