“Yeah. I felt really guilty for all of the things Axl has been through lately—for all that’s happened between his dad and I really—and, well ... we wanted to make it up to him. Gabe wants us to go to Lake Tahoe, and I think it will be really good for Axl.”
“You want time off to go on vacation with your ex-husband?”
I frown. “He’s Axl’s dad. So, it’s not as if I’m just taking off for the weekend with Gabe.”
“You’re driving yourself, then?”
“Well, no. I’d be going with Gabe and my son.”
“Just one happy little familia, no?” He shakes his head. “Did this invitation extend to me also?”
“No. Look, I know it doesn’t seem ideal, but we have to be able to co-parent peacefully, and part of doing that is keeping life as normal for Axl as possible.”
“So you want me to let you leave on our busiest day in order for you to go on vacation with the man who fathered your child, but who also kissed you while we were dating?”
“Yes?” I grimace. “Though to be fair, you kissed me on my wedding night.”
He chuckles and slides his hand up to cup the nape of my neck. “I remember it differently. It was you who kissed me first.”
“I think we’re getting a little sidetracked.”
“You are my employee, and you are my lover, but you are a mother first. I would not ever try to keep you from la familia, Lo. I am not thrilled you’re going away with your ex-husband, but I will not stand in your way.”
I wrap my arms around him. “Thank you, Art. You’ve just made Axl’s whole year.”
“Feel like making mine?”
“I really do.” I press my lips to his, but I pull away before we can get too caught up, because I want him to know how much this means to me. “I really appreciate you being okay with this.”
“De nada.”
“It’s not nothing. I know that. If you came to me and said you wanted to go away with your ex for the weekend, I’d have kittens. I just want you to know, that whatever Gabe and I are to one another, it’s ancient history.”
“History has a way of repeating, mi corazón.”
Was he right? Were Gabe and I destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over?
“History can bite me,” I say sharply.
History has done nothing for me but chew and gnaw at my heart, and I’m done with it. I’m getting my life together. I have a good job that I actually like, a boss I can’t stop kissing, and a son whom I would give my last heartbeat for. So what if Gabe kissed me? So what if I’d felt everything I shouldn’t have in that split second that our lips met?
So what if I found it nearly impossible to breathe when we were in the same room?Every family has problems, right?
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
Lo
“Mommy, Mommy, wake up!”
I sit upright and glance around in a blind panic, my heart whooshing in my ears. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Get up! It’s Tawhoe day.”
It’s still dark outside, so now that I know an ax murderer isn’t trying to kill us, I flop back on the pillows and close my eyes, snuggling in. “Oh, baby, no. It’s too early. Daddy won’t be up yet.”
“Actually, Daddy’s been up for an hour,” Gabe says from the doorway, and I bolt up, clutching the sheet to my chest.
He leans against the doorjamb in worn jeans, and a black T-shirt. A knit cap is pulled low on his forehead, and a plaid flannel shirt is tied around his waist. “Gabe, what are you doing here?”