But...damn, there was a voice. Not a voice—his father’s. And it was close.
“Shoot,” he growled, bumping his forehead against hers. “Dad’s coming.”
With a gasp, Robin tore herself away. “Jacob!”
Her son. A boy who’d probably never seen his mommy being kissed by a man before. Even as Seth understood her alarm, he didn’t like her obvious shock. She’d kissed him as much as he’d kissed her.
Her back to him, she mumbled, “I almost forgot the vegetable.”
“Okay by me.” He might have tried for lightness, but that came out husky. And, hell, he couldn’t let his father see him like this.
Robin had found a chiding expression for him by the time Dad and Jacob came in the door from outside. Seth had almost hustled out of the kitchen when Jacob rushed to her.
“Mommy! I swinged high!”
She laughed and scooped him up for a hug. “I’ll bet you did.”
Seth kept going. “Gotta wash up.”
He used the hall bathroom to wash his hands and wait for his body to accept defeat. Nothing more was going to happen tonight. With the door open, he heard his father say, “Smells good.”
“Like father, like son.”
God, he loved even her voice, irresistibly warm.
This wasn’t helping. Seth reached over to close the bathroom door and stared at himself in the mirror. Mostly, he saw the same bony face as always. He ran a hand over his jaw. Yeah, he could use a shave. And maybe his lips were a little swollen. He’d never seen himself as a handsome man, not like—
Disgusted with himself, he splashed some cold water on his face. Looks didn’t make the man. And she’d welcomed his kiss, which he hoped wasn’t a mistake.
When he returned to the kitchen, Jacob rushed to Seth, who hoisted him high over his head. The boy squealed in excitement and laughed. Seth lowered him to his feet and said, “I think it’s time for dinner, buddy. What do you say we set you up at the table?”
“Thank you,” Robin said distractedly.
He had to wonder whether her cheeks were pink from the heat of the stove or self-consciousness with him.
“Michael,” she said, “will you get the garlic bread out of the oven?”
The house had a rarely used formal dining room. The family had always gathered in the kitchen, where the table easily seated six. Like the stair gates, Michael had kept a high chair, which Seth now strapped Jacob into. The kid immediately grabbed his spoon and began banging it on the tray. He chanted, “Sghetti! Sghetti! Sghetti!” until Michael distracted him with a piece of bread.
Seth caught an odd, possibly wistful expression from Robin, who’d paused to watch her son. He strolled over to her and, in a low voice, asked, “What are you thinking?”
“What? Oh! Just about dinner.”
“Not just about dinner.”
He thought she was concentrating on draining the spaghetti, but she said suddenly, although also quietly, “Just how much Jacob is enjoying attention from you and your dad. He’s never really known a man very well. When his day-care operator’s husband comes home, Jacob is really shy with him.”
She poured the spaghetti into a large ceramic bowl and handed it to him. “Sauce is already on the table. I’ll get the peas...” She glanced around, as if sure she’d forgotten something.
“Parmesan?” he suggested.
A minute later, they sat down around the table. Seth thought of how empty his own house was, and didn’t like knowing that Robin and Jacob wouldn’t stay forever. In fact...was that what she’d been worrying about, too?
His father and he had been giving Jacob something important. Clearly, Robin didn’t have any men in her life to replace them. Seth switched his gaze to the boy, who had cheerfully splattered his cheeks in red sauce as he switched between a fork and his hands to shovel in the pasta.
“Sghet-ti,” he sang around a bite.
Seth laughed. “Let me wipe your face.”
Jacob submitted to the cleaning, then grinned at Seth and deliberately smeared his hands over his face.
Laughing again, Seth said, “Okay, we’ll wait to clean you up until you’re done eating.”
“This is an especially perilous meal,” Robin said with amusement. “You notice I used a giant bib.”