“It’s not your job to be his friend, Trace. You’re a parent, not a bestie.”
“I’m not sure I even know what you mean by that.”
“Which just proves my point.”
“You’ll have to excuse me. I’ve only been a parent for four days. Nature didn’t notify me of my pending parenthood four years ago and neither did my son’s mother.”
He got up and went to the front door. “I’m going for a run, but I will be back and I will watch my son tomorrow. Leave me written instructions on anything you think is vital I know that a ‘real’ father would know about their son.”
With those sharp emotional digs, he stormed out of the front door and was gone.
Ha. It would serve him right if she locked him out of the house.
Not that she would, but the thought made her feel a little better.
But not much.
* * *
With sleeping on Chrissie’s sofa, not waking up as she moved around the house in preparation for leaving for work was impossible.
Trace had always been a light sleeper, but, since his time overseas, he often felt he slept with one eye open and one ear on guard.
Not one for pretense, he sat up and was stretching when Chrissie entered the room.
Her gaze immediately went to his bare chest and a rosy blush stained her cheeks.
“Um...” she muttered, stopping in her tracks and not seeming to know what to say.
Trace glanced down at his bare chest. “Something wrong?”
“You shouldn’t sleep half naked.”
He laughed. “I’m wearing shorts, Chrissie.”
Her gaze went back to his chest, then jerked away. “Whatever.”
“Does my lack of shirt bother you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” she snapped.
Excitement rushed through him. “You like what you see?”
“You know you’re a beautiful man. You don’t need forced compliments from me.”
Only maybe he did because her words pleased him more than they should have.
“My scar doesn’t bother you? You mentioned it yesterday. Some women would find it ugly.”
Her gaze dropped to where his shorts rode low, revealing the edge of his puckered skin. The pink to her cheeks turned ashen and he wondered what she thought.
“How I find you doesn’t matter, Trace. What matters is that you take care of our son today. My mom will be here not too long after Joss wakes.”
He sighed. She was right.