Her Lost and Found Baby (The Daycare Chronicles 1)

“So, what do you want from me?”

The billion-dollar question. He’d promised to be honest with her. But how honest was he supposed to be?

He raised one shoulder. “You want some more wine?” He held out the bottle, hovering it over her glass, which was almost full. “Come on,” he urged, adding a small amount before moving toward his own, also almost full glass. That distraction had bought him nothing. Not enough time for an answer to occur to him. Or the chance to look unconcerned. Who made a point of refilling full glasses?

“You ever think about, you know—hooking up?” Probably the worst come-on he’d ever delivered, but he wasn’t seriously intending to come on to Tabitha. She was his partner. His friend. Not a woman he should start something with.

Their partnership was dissolving in three months and he sensed that Tabitha wasn’t the sort of woman a guy walked away from if he was having sex with her.

But he reminded himself that he’d never felt passionate enough about anything to find it particularly difficult to walk away. Look how easily he’d left the family business, his home, his parents and family and friends, for an entire year. The same ease with which he’d left every sport he’d excelled at.

Giving his thoughts free rein while his question hung unanswered between them, Johnny reflected again on the idea of going back to his life. Finding a woman he could start seeing in the interim. Tried on the idea a second time. It didn’t fit any better than it had the other night.

“We’re being honest here, right?” Tabitha finally asked.

He couldn’t get any harder, but his body stiffened anyway, in anticipation of what might actually happen...

“Of course. It’s the only way to run a successful partnership.”

She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, holding her wineglass. Ran her tongue over her lips, as if she was nervous, and said, “In all honesty, I’m thinking about it now.”

He had a strong urge to know if this was the first she’d thought of it. Never in his life had Johnny wondered if a woman wanted him. Any woman he’d wanted had made it obvious that his feelings were returned.

Angel had made no secret of her attraction to him when they were still in high school.

Angel. He was on her quest and hitting on another woman. Or was he?

It felt more like taking care of a problem that had cropped up than anything else. Talking about his condition so that he and Tabitha could deal with it together. At least he wouldn’t be secretly lusting after her anymore.

“And?”

“The last time I had unconditional sex, it was with a man who turned out to be a kidnapper. I ended up pregnant and lost my son. I’m not eager to go the unconditional route again.”

The words struck him farther up than his fly. In a way that was new to him. Like he had to get up and slay dragons or something equally preposterous.

“I hope you know that if you ever need anything, whether we have sex or not, I will be there for you. Always.”

“You say that now, but our agreement dissolves in three months, Johnny. A little less than that, now. Once you’re back in your regular life, you might not be able to get away—or even want to. You’ll have other responsibilities. Real relationships. Ones that fit your life. This time with me...it’s going to fade for you. And me? I’ll still be right here, living it.”

She made sense, and that annoyed him. “I can guarantee you that if you ever call me, now or anytime in the future, I will answer.” The conviction behind the words didn’t feel familiar to him, and yet there it was.

And there they were. There he was, at any rate. So, was she attracted to him or not? She’d never really said, had she?

He sat forward again—and noticed that his face was now only inches from hers.

There was one sure way to find out if she was attracted. He looked at her lips. He had to kiss them. To let them tell him what he needed to know.

“Do you think I’m crazy? I mean about this thing with the Harrises and The Bouncing Ball. With Jason being Jackson.” Thoughts of sex disappeared completely at the expression on her face. Her confidence, her strength, seemed to have faded away.

“A time or two in the past week I figured I was crazy,” he said with an attempt at a chuckle. “But you? No. Never crossed my mind.”

Sitting back again, Johnny relaxed against the couch, drinking his wine more slowly as his penis settled down for the night. Tabitha needed to talk. Needed his support.

He’d promised to give it to her.

Sometimes life really was that simple.

Chapter Fourteen