Walk the Line (Man of the Month 12)

"Never," she said loyally, then glanced over at Brent. Not because he was part of the conversation, but because she simply couldn't be that close to him and not look at him. "Right. Um, well, okay. I'm going to go run some errands, then."

She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Tyree's cheek. Then she very sternly forced herself not to kiss Brent, as well.

"I wanted to kiss you today."

Brent's words came out of the blue, filling the post-coital silence as they both lay silent and sated after thoroughly exhausting each other.

Elena rolled over, propping herself up on an elbow so that she could see him better. "I think you kissed me a lot," she teased. "And in a lot of very interesting places."

"Funny," he said. "You know what I mean. At The Fix. With your dad."

"Yeah. I know." She met his eyes. "I wanted the same thing."

"Someday," he said, his voice thick with sleep. He took her hand and pulled it to her lips, then kissed her fingertips. "Goodnight, babe," he said, before drifting off.

She kept looking at him, amused. He could do that, just fall off into sleep as easily as stepping off a curb. Not her. Her thoughts kept her awake most nights, and this night was going to be full-on insomnia, but of the best possible kind. Because the thought that filled her mind was the question of what he meant by someday.

At the moment, she could only think of good things. And she closed her eyes, smiled, and tried to imagine when exactly someday might be.

She was pondering Christmas when she heard the wail. At first she didn't recognize it. Then it hit her that the pitiful cry was coming from Faith's room. She whipped off the sheet, grabbed her robe, and raced down the hall.

The little girl was sitting up in bed, only half-awake, tears streaming down her face.

"Hey! Faith, sweetie, it's okay. I'm here." She hurried to the bed, then climbed on, hugging Faith close to her. "I've got you," she promised as the little girl sobbed against her.

She hiccupped and coughed and slowly calmed down. And then, wrapping her arms tight around Elena's neck, she said, "Mommy."

The word sent a golden spark of pleasure bouncing through her--only to go cold and gray when she turned to see Brent standing in the doorway, his face flat and his eyes empty.

Mommy.

But she wasn't Mommy yet. And in Brent's world, mommies left.

She knew him. Knew the way he thought. Knew his fears about Faith getting attached only to have her heart broken.

Most of all, she knew that this moment was the beginning of the end.

Chapter Thirteen

It was all right there in front of him. Everything he craved. Everything he loved.

Everything he was afraid of.

And blinking like a red beacon in the middle of

it all was Faith.

Faith.

At the end of the day, she was all that mattered. This wasn't about him. It wasn't about Elena. It was about Faith. About his little girl. A girl whose mommy had walked out on her, and who only had her father now to protect her. To keep the pain at bay. The hurt of being left. Abandoned.

He'd taken on that role when he'd gotten Olivia pregnant, and he'd renewed the commitment the moment Faith had been put in his arms.

And as much as he wanted Elena--and, oh Christ, he wanted her--he'd sworn never to put Faith in that position again. Never to even risk it.

Elena had known that going into this affair. He had, too.

And he should never have let either of them fall as deep as they had.