Keenan stepped aside for Ryleigh to use the plunger and propel a new ball into the playfield.
After assuring Tommy was out of earshot, Keenan said, “He’s more excited about sparring with you than he’s about his birthday this Saturday.”
“Why is that?”
“I think he doesn’t feel like celebrating because it also reminds him another year has passed without his mother.”
Ryleigh lost her eye on the prize and let the ball go. Keenan wasn’t in the habit of opening up about this painful subject, so he tried to focus on the bet and said, “My turn.”
She didn’t move from behind the pinball machine, and they ended up almost toe-to-toe.
“I’m sorry, Keenan.”
He winced. He didn’t want her pity. And he certainly didn’t want to think about Evangeline while he was out with Ryleigh—and Tommy, of course.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“I know. But I wished I could do something for you.”
He took a step back and said, “You already do. You’re helping me with Tommy.”
A cute smile curved her lips, and she slung her ponytail over her shoulder. In her green sundress, she’d turned a lot of heads at this arcade. Keenan already gave two dads and a teenager the stink eye when they’d checked out Ryleigh’s jiggling breasts while running across the room to get to this machine.
“You’re twenty points behind… better step up your game.”
“I will, no problem,” he said.
After a few minutes of her silently watching him play, he knew she was brooding on something. He could just sense it. He dropped his hands from the sides of the machine and whirled on his feet.
“Okay, just come out and ask me.”
She opened her mouth and closed it. Ryleigh shook her head and said, “No. Not like this. If you’d wanted me to know, or if it wasn’t painful for you to talk about, you would have told me what happened with Tommy’s mom during our phone call or even this morning.”
For a twenty-one-year-old, she’d acted more mature than he did.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be such an asshole.”
“It’s okay…”
He took a deep breath and righted his shoulders. Although Tommy had never opened up about his mom to anyone before, maybe Ryleigh could give him some kind of support if she knew what he was dealing with.
For Tommy’s sake, he said, “She walked out on him—on us, three years ago. Never seen her again. She packed up all her shit and just left, without a damn note. I know that around every birthday Tommy gets his hopes up and wonders if, on that one special day of the year, his mother would contact him. But there’s been nothing. Not even a damn card.”
The reason he never talked about Evangeline flashed in the beautiful eyes of Ryleigh. Shock, replaced by sadness and pity, stared back at him. This time, she didn’t give him the obligatory ‘I’m sorry’ speech.
She surprised him by putting her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his chest. He was a selfish bastard because he took her comfort even though it wasn’t smart for them to get close again.
His next breath filled his lungs with the scent of her hair; caramelized apples, pollinated with cinnamon. With no control over his next movements, he embraced her. His hands slid over her back and he held her even closer.
Damn. It felt good to have his arms around a woman for the first time in over three years. Her soft curves molded against his hard muscled body. He couldn’t stop his physical reaction to her, no matter how hard he tried.
Her sharp inhale made her breath hitch, and she stiffened in his embrace. Yep. She’d felt his hardness, all right.
The way her eyes dilated and her pink tongue swept over her bottom lip, showed how she reciprocated his desire.
Infuriating. That’s the best description of this temptress standing before him. It’s been years and years since he last had sex. He’d compared everyone to Evangeline. And nobody ever came close.
But this puzzling woman in his arms? She had him tied up in knots for these past months after only seeing her just once. And now she would stay in his home, taking care of his son. Ryleigh had been the only one who Tommy took a liking to as his nanny so he couldn’t fire her to keep his distance from her.