And then a chill trickled through her bloodstream. She’d been afraid he wouldn’t trust her if she told him all her secrets, but her silence suddenly felt wrong.
She had to tell him everything...but not now. It wouldn’t be so terrible if she waited, would it?
He planned to work from home for a few days, so she could talk to him in the morning. Give herself the rest of the night. Soak up all the memories she could, in case his reaction to her confessions was what she expected. Of course he wouldn’t be able to ignore the things she’d done...and not done.
But he was hers for tonight.
* * *
HOLDING ROBIN CLOSE, stunned, Seth knew he should say something but had no idea what. The thoughts he was having were wildly premature.
“That was amazing,” he said after a moment.
Robin murmured something indecipherable.
Apparently she hadn’t taken offense, because they made love twice more during the night, and, having awakened to the gray light of dawn, Seth had just cupped his hands around her breasts when a perplexed “Mommy?” came from the hall.
“Damn,” he muttered.
Robin shot up, disheveled and disoriented, clutching the covers. “What? Where—Jacob?”
“Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”
“Jacob?” Robin breathed. “Seth, I don’t suppose you can reach any of my clothes.”
“Uh...” Seth leaned over the edge of the bed and was able to snag her panties and jeans. And, stretching, his shirt.
“I’m in here,” she called.
“Mommy?” Jacob appeared, wafting the smell of urine. “The bed is wet.”
“I can handle this,” Seth suggested. Beneath the covers, he yanked on his knit boxers, then swung his feet to the floor and stood. “How about I start you a bath while Mommy gets dressed?”
“Yeah!” Jacob snagged his hand.
Seth grinned over his shoulder at Robin, who still looked discombobulated.
An hour later, the sense of happiness and optimism he’d started the day with had waned. He’d known that sleeping with Robin would change their relationship. How could it not? What he hadn’t expected was her to shut him out.
Her smiles were polite and didn’t reach her eyes. She jumped up and left the table when Jacob finished eating. Seth was left to finish alone. When he wandered after them to the living room, she concentrated her attention on Jacob. Tiny worry lines scored her forehead. She kept her distance, pretending not to notice when he held out a hand to her.
She did focus on him after he called the hospital. “Will they let your dad come home today?”
“He needs to wait to see the doctor around eleven. He says the nurse thinks he’ll be released.”
“Oh. Oh, that’s good.”
Jacob tugged at her shirt. “Mommy, look!”
She admired the tower he’d built and clapped when he toppled it.
Feeling invisible, Seth went back to the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee.
What was going on? He’d swear the night had been as good for her as it was for him, so why would she regret anything about it?
Brooding wouldn’t help, so Seth opened his laptop and went online to check his email. He scanned the list. Nothing new from Hammond. Had the sergeant been able to leave an officer watching Winstead’s house? Likely not, given the usual budgetary restraints.
His phone rang, a county deputy letting him know that two houses on the outskirts of town had been broken into during the night and the usual electronics, wallets and jewelry taken.
“Fits the profile,” the frustrated deputy reported. “One couple was out of town. It was a neighbor who saw the back door open and called. The other family slept through the intrusion.”
Frowning, Seth tipped his chair back on two legs. “They’ve been careful so far not to enter homes when people are there.”
“Method of entry was the same.”
Mostly flimsy back-door locks had been jimmied. Why did people bother with dead bolts on the front if they were going to make it so easy to break into their houses through other doors or windows? Seth particularly disliked exterior doors that had glass panes. Witness yesterday’s break-in here. He had so far been unable to persuade his father to replace the damn door, although he’d already made up his mind to do it without asking permission.