“Because you are. It’s the way we roll.”
She tipped her head. “I like it. A lot.”
“Good.” His arms ached to hold her, to pull her close and ease away the rest of the tension in her body. It would be all about her, not him, her pleasure and her experience. He’d let the darkness of night wrap around them, a seduction to end all others.
He kept his arms locked at his sides. If she made a move, he’d be all over it, but he wouldn’t be the one to act first. This middle-of-the-night nerves proved she was still on edge about her ex showing up, despite the weeks that had gone by with a no-show.
“I’ll, er…” She licked her lips. “Go back to bed.”
He nodded.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Jayden.”
She left his side, then the room. He wondered what hadbeen going through her mind in those last few seconds. Had she wanted him to make her forget everything? Had her body cried out to be held and pleasured? At this very moment, was disappointment lacing each one of her breaths?
Sighing, he flopped onto the sofa again, his eyes wide, his mind trolling what-ifs as he spun his thumb ring around and around.
He could never have predicted the day Hudson had ordered him to keep an eye on his niece and her son, that his life would have gotten so complicated so fast.
****
The next morning started off with Zak bounding into the room and emptying a tub of LEGOs onto the table.
Jayden sat and scrubbed his hand over his head. The clatter of the small bricks echoed around his mind. He couldn’t remember falling asleep again.
“I’m building a new rocket,” Zak said, spreading the LEGOs in an arc in front of him. “I had a dream about it. It’s blue with enough space for three pilots. So me, you, and Mommy can all fit in it if we want to go to the moon.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jayden said, his voice sleep-gruff.
“You might not have time to finish it before school,” Tammy said from the kitchen. She smiled at Jayden and held up a green mug. “Coffee?”
“Yeah, sure.” He stood and stretched his arms over his head. Eked out the knots in his back and shoulders and let out a groan.
“Do you want to help me?” Zak said.
He ruffled his baby soft hair. “Until I’ve drunk the coffee your very kind mom has made me, I’m good for nothing.”
The usual chaos ensued in the two minutes before leaving the house. Jayden stood on the porch with a smoke and watched it with amusement. Zak hunting for his gym shoes. Tammyinsisting he take an apple in his lunchbox even though Zak said they tasted boring. A mad last-minute dash back inside the house for the book about the flea and the dog.
Finally, they headed off along The Strand. They met up with Sarah and Caleb, and the two boys chatted happily as Sarah and Tammy also swapped polite conversation.
Jayden hung back. He liked Sarah. She didn’t pry. Her topics were mainly on motherhood, the school, the beach, and Netflix. He could see Tammy warming to her as she relaxed in her company.
She’s building a life here. A life I want part of.
As had become his habit, he scanned the school gates, looking for an unfamiliar face with thinning brown hair. There was no one suspicious, and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Gary had given up. Accepted that his wife and child had left his sorry ass and was content to keep the monetary assets to himself. If that was the case, Jayden wouldn’t complain, though he was pissed to miss out on kicking the waste of space into next week.
Tammy said goodbye to Sarah, who was heading into her secretarial job at a local insurance brokers, then wandered over to him. She was smiling, and it lit something inside of him.
“You good?” he asked.
“Yeah, she’s nice. And the boys get on so well.”
“Zak certainly seems happy.”
“I’m amazed at him. How he’s taken to his new life. No complaints, just thrown himself into it.”
“Kids are resilient.”