Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

A short time later, the car was unloaded and my living room now boasted a playpen holding an assortment of baby toys and a happy baby, and a hot as hell woman on my couch, feet tucked under her as she watched Kaden play.

I was standing by the chair, watching her, mesmerized by the soft smile lighting her features as she stared at the little boy, the depth of her love for him radiating from her.

I shifted, and it must have caught her gaze. She looked over at me, her lips still curved in a smile, but I could see the question in her eyes.

“Sorry,” I said. “I, uh, I’m gonna go jump in the shower real quick. If you want, there’s a menu on the fridge for the best Chinese place in town, or there’s other menus in the drawer to the left, but you’ll probably want to order from the one on the fridge. Take a look, decide what you want and I’ll order it as soon as I’m done.”

She nodded, so I turned and disappeared down the hall, intent on taking the quickest shower known to man. In fact, it was probably the fastest I had ever showered in my life, which is saying something considering how I was always oversleeping and running late for the bus growing up, which inspired some record showering times. Or so I thought.

I walked back into the living room to see her looking over the menu she’d grabbed off the fridge.

“Decide what you want?’

She jumped a bit, glancing up at me with startled eyes. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me! I didn’t realize you were out of the shower yet.” She glanced at her watch, her eyes widening a little bit more. “Damn. That was fast!”

I shrugged one shoulder, trying to play it off like I didn’t rush, and sat down beside her.

“Let’s go ahead and order.” I grabbed my phone out of my pocket where I’d stashed it after I pulled on clean jeans and a simple grey t-shirt when I got out of the shower. I dialed the number, pausing before I hit the call button. “You want to order yours, or do you want me to do it?”

“You can,” she said. “Just get me…actually, I better do it. Just go ahead and order yours and then I’ll do mine.”

I hit the call button and when they answered, ordered my regular large order of beef lo mein, two egg rolls, and fried rice, and then handed her the phone. She ordered a large order of garlic chicken, ‘extra spicy, no veggies, add cashews,’ and then potstickers and an order of fried wonton.

When she hung up, she glanced at me, saying, “Fifteen minutes, it’ll be ready.” Her eyes narrowed. “And it better be good.”

My mouth opened to reassure her, but she smiled and laughed.

“I’m just kidding. So, how far is it to pick it up? I just need to put Kaden in his car seat.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just go pick it up and you guys can wait here. No need to drag him out. Are you okay with that?” I asked her.

She nodded, reaching into her pocket. “Just let me give you some money-”

“Dani.”

She jerked her head to look at me as I cut her off. “No. I asked you to have dinner over here with me. My treat.”

“Calland, you bought my dinner last night. And I ordered a lot of food, so let me help pay for it.”

I shook my head, pulling my hands back as she tried to hand me money. I got up from the couch when she tried again, moving toward the door. I shoved my feet into my unlaced boots that I’d taken off when we came in and grabbed a sweatshirt that was hanging on the doorknob to the entryway closet, pulling it on.

“I got it. Just sit tight and I’ll be right back.”

With that, I slipped out the door, but then, shame-faced, had to go right back in to grab my keys off the kitchen counter where I’d tossed them earlier. Dani laughed at me and, in a knee-jerk reaction, smart ass that I am, I flipped her off as I went back out the door. I heard her gasp as I closed it behind me and winced, realizing that my stupidity probably just pissed her off. But when I moved to open the door again, I heard her laughter, clear and sweet, ringing out through the closed door. I smiled, figuring if she was laughing then I hadn’t offended her and she didn’t hate me, so I left to get dinner.

When I got back, she had Kaden strapped into his car seat, using it as a makeshift high chair as she sat on the floor and fed him from small jars of green and purple goo. She looked up as I came in, depositing the bags of food on the coffee table beside her.

I grinned down at her, she grinned up at me.

And then she said, “Fuck you, too.”

I roared with laughter, startling the baby, making him jump. Thankfully, he just looked bewildered for a second and then smiled up at me, dribbling an alarmingly puce colored mess down his chin as he did so.

I emptied the bags out onto the table, separating our food and then going into the kitchen to get napkins and silverware as Dani finished feeding Kaden.

I called out to her, “Do you want something to drink?”

“Ice water, if you have it, please,” she called back.

I carried everything in to the living room as she wiped Kade’s face and hands off with a wet wipe and then got to her feet, gathering the dirty spoon and empty jars to take to the kitchen. She came back out and grabbed the diaper bag, heading back into the kitchen to make a bottle for Kade.

While she was gone, I unstrapped him from his seat and lifted him into my arms, settling back onto the couch. She came back in and I reached for the bottle, but she held it back.

“No, Calland. Go ahead and eat while your food is still hot. You worked all day so I know you’re probably starving.”

I motioned for the bottle again, but she shook her head. “I’ve got him. Just eat.”

I gave in, passing the baby to her, but made no move to eat.

Then she growled at me.

I glanced sideways at her, one eyebrow quirked. “Did you just growl at me?”

“Just EAT Calland!” she ordered.