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were having sex. It requires a plan, a relationship of some kind. I can’t believe it. How long were you seeing him?”
    â€œWe weren’t seeing each other. I told you. It just…It’s not…” Jesse straightened and walked back toward her car. “I don’t want to talk about this with you.”
    â€œAsk me if I care.” No wonder Nicole was upset and crabby. Her own sister and her husband. “Are you in love with him?”
    â€œOh, please. Give me a little credit. Besides, I have a boyfriend.”
    â€œBut you slept with Drew?” None of this made sense to Claire. “Why?”
    â€œI didn’t sleep with him.”
    â€œWhat? Nicole walked in before you consummated the deal and that makes it okay?”
    Jesse looked at her for a long time. “I know you won’t believe me. Nicole didn’t, either. I don’t know why it happened. Why it had to happen. Maybe because I’ve been a screwup my whole life. This is just one more way I’ve made things worse.”
    â€œThat’s not good enough.”
    Jesse looked at her for a long time, then opened her car door. “Pretty funny. That’s what Nicole said.”
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    W YATT BUTTONED the back of his daughter’s blouse, then reached for the brush. She signed as he worked, but he pretended not to see. Amy wasn’t saying anything he wanted to hear.
    But when she turned to face him and put her small hands on her hips, he knew he didn’t have a choice. He set down the brush and held out both hands, palms up, signing “What?”
    â€œYou know what,” Amy signed in response.
    He did. He didn’t want to, but his daughter’s message had been clear enough.
    â€œNot a good idea,” he signed back.
    Which earned him the inevitable, “Why?”
    Why? There were a thousand reasons, none of which he could explain to an eight-year-old.
    â€œI want Claire,” she signed, her face getting that stubborn look he dreaded.
    As a rule, Nicole looked after Amy from the time she left school until Wyatt got away from his work. If he was in the office, she would come there instead, but most afternoons he was on a job site—not a place he wanted his eight-year-old hanging out.
    But with Nicole recovering from surgery, babysitting was becoming a problem. Amy wanted to propose her own solution.
    He didn’t think telling her that Claire wasn’t the babysitting type would help. Amy wouldn’t know what that meant. He also couldn’t get into the fact that he’d decided to avoid Claire as much as possible. The sparks between them were too dangerous, not to mention unwanted.
    â€œI like her,” Amy signed. “She’s nice.”
    Wyatt could think of a lot of words to describe Claire and none of them included the word nice.
    â€œShe won’t want to,” he signed back. “She’s busy.”
    Amy grinned. “She likes me.”
    He didn’t know how to deal with that. Maybe Claire did like his kid—assuming she was capable of liking anyone but herself.
    â€œI’m not asking for a pony,” Amy signed, making him smile.
    It was their private joke. Nothing was too big as long as it wasn’t a pony.
    He was trapped by his inability to tell his daughter the truth. That he didn’t trust Claire and he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he could control himself around her. How was that for a sad excuse?
    â€œI’ll talk to Nicole and Claire,” he signed. “No pushing.”
    Amy’s response was to throw herself into his arms. He pulled her against him and hugged her. Love filled him, as it always did around her.
    He might have the worst luck with women, but when it came to kids, he’d been blessed with the best.
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    T HE PARKING LOT at the bakery was jammed. Claire had to weave her way through cars just to get around to the back. She found a space by the wall and managed to pull in, although she