It Was Always You

Chapter Five

He was a lot younger than she would have guessed.

In fact, he didn't look old enough to be a father to a six year old which made her wonder how old he actually was. He was handsome alright, actually too damn good looking for her liking. She was expected to live here with just him and his daughter? A single father, just the three of them?

The one question burning through her mind was where was the child's mother?

As soon as she looked over from where they had walked through the kitchen door it was like the world around her had stopped. His blonde hair was slightly short in the back and a bit long on top. It was styled in a way that made him look as if he just casually rakes his fingers threw it on a daily basis. He was tall and lean wearing a long sleeve shirt that showcased his manly physique that proved he goes to the gym.

Shasta crawled down from her father's arms and ran straight for her yelling, "Issie, you're here!" Jumping right into her own.

"Oh! Hey there little one." She beams at her with all the affection she was already feeling with her.

And his daughter looked just like him. Blonde hair, green eyes and the dimples to match when he finally came over to shake her hand with a smile. It made her wonder what the mother looked like.

As soon as their skin touched it was like a star exploded in the deepest parts of her soul that she had never experienced before. She felt him stiffen in their grasp his pupils slightly dilating a bit as if he to felt the strange phenomenon.

Selena clears her throat causing him to quickly let go making the weird feeling fade and she couldn't help but feel the huge disappointment overwhelm her which only confused her more.

"Shall we show her around then? I have to get going in a few minutes, so we'll need to be quick." Selena looks at her watch with a frown on her pretty face.

"It's alright Sel, I can take it from here if you need to head out." Evan tells her.

"Are you sure? I can stay a bit longer if needed." She looks to him and then to Isabel.

"Thank you for helping, I really do appreciate it, but I think we're good." He looks to her as well and she nods in agreement.

"Yes, thank you for everything and I hope we'll be seeing each other soon."

"I have no doubt on that, and you'll probably end up meeting my brother Jared and his wife Mila. Well if that's all then I'm heading out. Call me if you need anything." She states to Evan as she bends down to hug Shasta and kiss her on the cheek.

"Bye Auntie Sel." Shasta quickly says before grabbing Isabel's hand and tugging her along further into the house. "I want to show you my room!"

"Shasta I'm sure she's going to want to head to her own room to get settled in." Evan informs her as he says his goodbyes to Selena.

Once the door closed silence between them ensues with Shasta ignoring her father while she continues to pull her to the stairs.

"Shasta." His tone held a warning.

"It's alright. I don't mind seeing her room first." She quickly says as she follows her up the stairs.

For the next hour she listens to the little girl as she shows her all her toys, her drawings and tries her best to follow what she tells her. It was cute to listen to her as if she already knew who she was talking about. Evan at first stayed in the doorway, leaned up against the frame as he watched the two of them, making her feel a little nervous. But then he finally joined in at the little chair and table where a tea set was already set up and laughed at some of the things his daughter told her.

He had an amazing laugh, and she truly liked the sound of it.

"Alright baby girl, let Isabel get settled in and we'll prepare lunch. Unless you would rather get familiar in the mother house. Your first day isn't until tomorrow." He frowns a little as he gets up to do just that.

"Oh no, it's quite fine. If you don't mind me joining the two of you. To be honest getting to know you both is a bit more important if I'm going to be living here." She says shyly.

He gives her that dimpled smile that made his face completely light up. "Right this way then."

He shows her the rest of the house before they headed to the kitchen, and she was flabbergasted at how huge the place was. She was nearly spot on with how many rooms there were. Six bedrooms and with three of them having their own bathrooms and one half bathroom downstairs.

"Normally I wouldn't have gotten such a big place, but I figured it would be beneficial during holidays with my family. It's worked out so far. I was even able to use it for my best friend's wedding reception." He tells her as they stood on the back porch looking at the yard.

After that they had lunch and continued to listen as Shasta kept talking animatedly about anything and everything. Except for one thing she had hope the little girl would bring up but never did and it only made her more curious.

Curious enough to finally ask as he walks her to the mother house where she'll be staying after putting Shasta down for a nap.

"May I ask a personal question?" She asks as they reach the front door.

He stops right next to her, the space of the porch causing them to get a lot closer than needed to be. She couldn't help the hitch to her breathing when she inhaled the scent of his cologne that made her senses go haywire a bit.

"Sure, ask away."

"Where is her mother?" She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she was going to receive but it wasn't the dark look he displayed a split second before he masked his features.

He sighs deeply, raking his fingers through that gorgeous hair of his. "Shasta's mom is...a bit complicated. Honestly, I should have mentioned this during the interview, or rather should have told Selena to inform you, but Kristan, her mother, is kind of a problem."

Instantly her guard goes up at hearing that. "What kind of a problem?"

Is she about to dive right into some serious baby mama drama? She hoped she wasn't one of those crazy girls that get overly jealous or fought the father of her child with every little thing that goes on in their lives.

He looks into her eyes as if gauging her reaction of what he was about to say next. Her heart pounds in her chest, his eyes were so intense but strangely in the best possible way if that made any sense. She barely met him today and yet she never in her life felt this strongly about a stranger before.

"I promise to tell you everything about Kristan and the kind of mother she is, but before I do I need to know whether you're willing to stick around through it." He slips his hands in his pockets waiting for her response.

That sounded serious she thought to herself. "What do you mean, stick around through it?" She asks instead.

He hesitates a moment, licking his lips before he finally states, "Kristan is the reason every single babysitter I've had, no matter gender or age, has quit or gotten fired. She's making it her life mission to ruin my life."

And the only thing she could say in the moment was, "Oh."