I couldn’t believe what a good actor he was, pretending to care about my feelings. "I’m fine," I snapped.
Paul brought in our breakfast and I concentrated on helping Molly slather honey on her pancakes.
Breakfast was a strangely quiet affair. I could feel Luke's quizzical eyes on me as we ate, but I refused to meet his gaze. I was tired of playing games and if Molly hadn’t been with us, I'd have told him so.
After breakfast, he pushed his chair back and stood up.
Penelope entered the dining room at the same time as Luke got up. “Are you leaving already?” she said and went to him. “Let me fix this your tie for you,” she said and walked towards him.
It felt like I’d just been punched in the stomach. My insides felt as though they were being shredded apart.
I tore my glance away.
I could feel Luke’s glaze on me. I refused to look up. I couldn’t bear to look into his eyes, knowing he had been lying to me all along. He’d let me believe there could be something between us. I was on the verge of crying but I wasn’t going to humiliate myself in front of Penelope.
“Don’t,” I heard him mutter to Penelope.
She giggled.
So he didn’t want me to know they were back together again. I swallowed hard.
“See you later, Molly,” he called.
“Bye, bye, Daddy,” Molly said, slipping off her chair to go give him his kiss.
The whole time, I never lifted my head. I heard the sound of Molly kissing his cheek, then his footsteps faded away as he left the room. I breathed again, when I heard the slam of the front door. I fought to keep my face from crumbling.
"I'm going away today," Penelope said while pulling a chair next to Molly.
Molly's little face went white.
Penelope saw it too and spoke fast, "Not forever. I'll be coming to see you. I'll skip tomorrow and come the next day. Take care of your daddy for me, won’t you?"
Pain shot through my heart like a sharp arrow. She didn’t need to keep driving home the point that Luke was hers now. I knew this already. I was out of the ring. I just wanted to do my job to the very end and then go back to my own life.
"You can go and play while I have a word with Ella."
Molly left the dining room.
I stared at Penelope and waited for her to speak. What could she possibly have to tell me?
"I suppose you're wondering what's going on between Luke and me?" she asked, a sly smile on her face.
She was wrong. I wasn’t wondering. I'd seen what I needed to see. But I didn’t say it, knowing instinctively that she would tell me whether I wanted to hear it or not.
"We're together now, but I really need us to go slow," she said.
"Good,” I croaked. I didn’t know how long I could keep my tears at bay.
"Actually, I also wanted to reassure you that your job is safe for now. Molly really likes you and we want to do everything we can to make her feel secure and happy, but eventually…" She paused before carrying on, “So if you find anything suitable, just let Luke or me know, okay?”
"Okay," I mumbled.
"Good. I’m glad we're in agreement." She groaned dramatically. "God, my body aches," she said and let out a girlish laugh. She leaned forward as if to whisper to me even though there was no one else in the room. "I have to confide in someone and I know you can keep a secret, so I’ll just tell you. My husband is such a beast in bed." She giggled again, then pushed her chair back and left.
I bowed my head and allowed the tears to flow from my eyes.
How was I going to do this? Would I be able to watch Penelope touch and kiss Luke when I wanted him for myself? I wanted to do right by Molly, but it hurt.
God, how it hurt.
The desolation I felt was all consuming and I had to force myself to get up from my chair and get on with my day. I had a job to do and I would damn well do it, whether my heart was broken or not.
Luke
I was in a good mood when I got home. Penelope was gone! I felt like I had been given a fresh lease on life. Now Ella and I could go back to our normal passionate lives. I missed sleeping with her in my arms and waking up to her sweet sounds of sleep.
But during the day at the office, it wasn’t Ella's hot sexy body I thought of. It had been the sound of her laughter and the various expressions she wore. She hovered in my mind throughout the day and when I left work, she jumped at the forefront of my thoughts and I found myself smiling for no reason.
I pushed open the front door. "I'm home," I announced.
A patter of little feet sounded before Molly appeared and threw herself at me.
I laughed and held her close. "How was your day sweetheart?" I asked.
She smiled up at me. “Good."
"Wonderful. Where’s Ella?"
Rather than reply, Molly took my hand and led the way out to the backyard where Ella was playing with Bean. Molly dropped my hand and ran to join them.
I stood for a moment to watch the three of them. Molly's laughter rang out as Bean wrestled her to the grass and licked her face.
Ella knew I was standing there but she never looked up once. With a frown, I approached them. "Hi Ella."
She mumbled a response.
I stared at her in confusion. I couldn’t even hold her gaze and ask her what the matter was. What the hell was wrong? She had acted odd even at breakfast. Obviously, it had something to do with me because she'd been
