Her eyes fluttered closed for a second before she wrapped her hand around his so she could finish talking. “I make less than you do, pal, even with whatever your child support payments must be, so I seriously doubt this will throw you in the poorhouse. And no worries. When we untangle my finances, I fully intend to pay you back.”
His hand slid from the water and he flicked the water free. “You don’t have to. I owe you rent…”
“You’re helping out with the protection factor, remember?”
“We’ll discuss it later.” He flipped his hand to link fingers with hers. “Will it freak you out if I call my ex? Something wasn’t right with Lauren’s call yesterday.”
“That parent radar?”
“I don’t know if I can claim that. I’m not around her enough to call myself perceptive. Even a moron would know she’s upset.”
“I’m sorry.” And she was. It would be petty to mind him calling his ex, she just wished she didn’t have to listen in. Jealousy made her look petty and she hated such small emotions—not to mention what it said about how tangled her feelings for Rick had become in a short time.
Okay, they were sleeping together again, not in a one-night-stand capacity.
Determined to enjoy this Thanksgiving afternoon with Rick, Nola slid deeper into the bubbles, savoring his stroking touch between her legs. Not to mention the firm press of his erection against her, reassuring her that he wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. As if she didn’t have enough to make her jittery hoping she hadn’t goofed with her surprise present.
Life would be far simpler if she could just fish out her earplugs and pretend she didn’t care about his phone call to his ex-wife.
Behind the wheel of the new SUV rental he’d put on his credit card when Nola’s bottomed out, Rick drove while he thumbed numbers on his cell phone. Calling his ex-wife never ranked high on his list of favorites, but they had a child to bring up. They may have sucked as a couple, but they loved their kid and Lindsay was a good mom.
This new guy entering the picture, however, he didn’t know jack about. Why hadn’t Lindsay phoned to let him know?
Nola sat beside him in the passenger side, periodically piping up with a “turn left” or “turn right,” but otherwise silent. He wondered about her surprise because he couldn’t plan protection from the stalker when he didn’t have a sense of where they would be. Stubborn woman refused to pony up the info. He grinned—
The cell phone stopped ringing and his wife answered. His smile faded.
“Lindsay, Rick here. I got a call from Lauren.” Might as well skip the niceties and cut right to the chase. Besides, Nola had said her surprise wasn’t much farther down the dusty county road. “She said you’re getting remarried.”
Nola went still beside him and Rick wondered for the first time if perhaps he should have had this conversation in private after all.
“Well, hello to you, too, Rick,” Lindsay answered with a touch of sarcasm. “I’m doing fine. How about you?”
“What’s the point of wasting time dressing this conversation up with a bunch of pretty chitchat?”
“Direct and to the point. You haven’t changed a bit.”
Nola had said she liked that about him. He found himself smiling and not so totally pissed off about having to play the Lindsay game right now. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, thank you. Very happy right now, as a matter of fact.” At least she had the grace to pause. Awkward silence crackled for the next four telephone poles whizzing past. “I was going to call and tell you about the engagement.”
“That would have been nice, but it’s not the point.” Although it was a subpoint. He would have liked a heads-up when talking to their kid. “She’s upset. Actually that’s an understatement. She’s really shaken up enough to say she wants to come live with me.”
Lindsay snorted. “That’s not going to happen.”
He knew it wasn’t possible, but still he bristled at Lindsay’s outright refusal to even consider the possibility. Sheesh. He wasn’t the Antichrist.
Wait.
Calm the hell down.
His ex wasn’t a bad person, just ill equipped to handle military life, complete with a husband who hurtled out of airplanes and only spent two or three months a year at home.
Who could blame her? He never had before. Why the resentment now? He’d stopped loving her long ago.
Because for some reason he found himself wondering what a real life would be like. The kind of life she was building. Not with her, though.
Ah damn.