JAMESON
“Did you buy any of that last night?” I ask Bobby over coffee. He arches an eyebrow and shakes his head. “What in the world was she doing?” I ask him for the millionth time since he hustled me out of Hailey’s room last night.
Bobby shrugs. “Who knows? Maybe she has a fetish for the undersides of mattresses?”
I snort. “That can’t be a thing.”
Bobby shrugs. “Rule 34. If—”
“If you can imagine it, there’s porn for it on the internet—”
“And if you can’t find it, you’re morally obligated to create it,” Bobby finishes with a grin. “So I guess the real question is: do we try to search for it? Because if we can’t find it, you’ll be fucking me under our bed and that sounds—”
“Shh.” I warn Bobby as a door opens down the hall, and Hailey emerges with a laptop bag. She’s wearing a white floral sundress that hits at mid-thigh, showing off long, tanned legs.
“Morning,” she says, just a little too brightly.
“Morning,” Bobby and I reply in unison. Hailey glances at us, but then her eyes slide away just as quickly. Bobby smirks at me over his coffee cup.
“I’m going to head downtown and work at the cafe for a bit. Can I bring you guys anything on my way back?”
“A baguette to go with dinner would be great,” I say. “I’m working today but I’ll be home around seven.”
“I’m replacing the light fixtures at the Connors’ place today,” Bobby says with a grin.
“Lucky ass,” I grunt. I know why he’s pleased, but Hailey makes a baffled expression. “He won’t just be changing light fixtures,” I explain. “Willow pays him to play with their toddler, Juniper, so she can take a nap.”
“Aww,” Hailey coos in Bobby’s direction. “That’s sweet of you.”
“That’s me,” Bobby says, his expression devious. “I’m sweet all over.”
I snort.Says the man begging me to fuck him harder last night.
“Yes?” Bobby turns to face me with an exaggerated scowl. “Do you have something to contribute?”
“Not me,” I grunt into my coffee cup.
Hailey watches us, the smile on her face growing wider and more genuine by the second. “You two are hilarious together.” She adjusts the strap of her bag and pulls her hair over one shoulder.
“We do our best,” Bobby says, watching her with hungry eyes, Hailey doesn’t seem to notice. Even when he licks his lips, she’s oblivious to the effect she has on him… and on me. She just double checks the contents of her bag and gives us a wave as she heads for the front door.
“See you tonight.”
Bobby watches her go, absolutely shameless. I kick him under the table, trying to silently tell him to rein it in. I know he’s caught me staring a couple times, but he looks ready to devour her.
While I’d be right there with him underanyother circumstances, I can’t let him fuck this up. He—we—need to remember what’s at stake here. The family we’ve wanted for years. We’ve fought for it, begged, pleaded, and paid for it.
We’ve invested our life savings in it. And if one of us crosses the line, Hailey would almost certainly vanish from our lives, taking any chance of a baby with her. Then I think abouthervanishing and my thoughts turn stormy. It’snotjust about the baby. “Bobby, do we need to talk about Hailey?”
“What about her, besides the naked under the bed thing, I mean?” He watches something out the window, not wanting to meet my eye.
We’ve gotten close to her over the last few months. Close enough to know her weakness for raspberry fudge ripple ice cream paired with horror movies. We’ve been her friend, but one of these days, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be enough. Not for Bobby and not for me.
“You want her.”
“It’s a non-starter,” he says flatly, standing to wash his coffee cup. I follow him to the sink, sidling up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist. He relaxes against my chest and sighs. “We can’t risk upsetting her.”
“I know. But for what it’s worth, I want her too.”