“Lunchtime,” Lia told the boys. “Why don’t you go get changed?” When they’d gone in, she said, “Sorry if we interrupted your call.”
“You didn’t.” He hesitated. “Lia…”
“If this is about last night, don’t worry. Nothing happened.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “Nothing?”
“Nothing important,” she said firmly.
He absorbed that, his eyes flickering. “You know I’m attracted to you.”
“And I know it’s not a good idea to go anywhere with it. I have children in this house. It’s important that I set a good example for Sorrel especially.” She was pleased at how brisk she sounded. “Besides, I don’t do one-night stands, or two-week stands. My emotions have to be involved.”
Idiot that she was, Lia desperately wanted him to say, Don’t you feel anything for me? Because I do for you. Can’t we find out where it takes us?
Instead, muscles flexed in his jaw as he stared at her. After an appalling length of time, he nodded. “I hadn’t actually suggested anything like that.”
“But you would have, wouldn’t you?”
His face was particularly devoid of emotion. “Maybe.”
“Well, then.” She reached for the screen door handle.
“Wait.” Was that a thread of desperation in his voice?
Slowly she turned back.
“That was Niall on the phone. My brother?”
As if she wouldn’t remember. Lia nodded.
“He wants us all to get together again. He said Desmond really enjoyed the boys.”
“Are you asking for my permission to take them somewhere?” How should she feel about that?
“No.” He took a deep breath. “I’m actually wondering how you’d feel about having them all out here. I know that’s asking a lot of you, but I imagine Rowan and Jane would bring some of the food and you’ve got a good place for it.” He was talking faster than usual. “I thought it might be easier than packing up our crew again.”
Our crew? Her heart pinched. She wished he wouldn’t say things like that. It hurt.
“Wouldn’t that be kind of conspicuous? I thought you were trying to keep your presence quiet.”
A rueful smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “I’m spending half my time outside with the boys. If our neighbors have had any reason to come looking, they’ll have seen me already.”
She suddenly had the creeps. It was all she could do not to turn her head and stare at the woods separating her house from the neighbor’s. “What do you mean, come looking?”
“They haven’t,” he said quickly. “We’d have seen them. But they may have heard me talking to the boys. We get kind of noisy out here sometimes.” Seeing her expression, he added, “It’s okay, Lia. They have no reason to think I’m anything but a friend. Maybe a boyfriend. Why would that worry them?”
“A boyfriend.” It hadn’t occurred to her what this would look like. Alarm quickened her pulse. “I could lose my license.”
He was shaking his head before she finished. “We’ll explain if we have to.”
“It never even occurred to me.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he repeated.
She marshaled her thoughts. “I guess the neighbors wouldn’t have any reason to think anything of me having a bunch of friends over for a barbecue.”
“Nope.”
She’d liked his sisters-in-law. Staying friends with them probably wasn’t an option, given the fact that their husbands were in law enforcement and she regularly broke the law, but she could enjoy them now, couldn’t she?
“A party sounds fun. It’ll be good for the kids. If they’re free, why don’t we do it tomorrow? Otherwise it’ll have to wait until next weekend.”
She could tell he’d be just as glad to put off further family interactions for another week, but with a sigh he slid open his phone. His eyes were warm on her face when he said, “Thanks, Lia.”
She waited until he had spoken briefly to his brother and confirmed that yes, Niall and family at the very least thought tomorrow sounded great. Niall would call Duncan and let Conall know whether he, Jane and Fiona would join them. Lia immediately revised her afternoon plans to include a trip to the grocery store.