Page 44 of State of Grace

“Duly noted.” She winked at Alexis and resisted the urge to kiss her. Instead, she sidestepped Alexis and gently laid Harper down in her bed before tucking in the sheets around her. Considering it was her first time tucking in a kid, Blake thought she did a pretty good job. Blake leaned down and kissed her soft cheek before trading spots with Alexis, who did the same before they left the room.

Blake followed Alexis back into the living room, where she sat on the couch, pulling her legs up under her and propped her head up in her hand. Alexis was tired; she could see it in her eyes, but she was fighting sleep to stay awake for her, and Blake wanted to honor that the only way she knew how. Hesitating for a moment, Blake finally gave in and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

“You were great with her tonight.”

“Who, Sophia?” Blake joked as Alexis laughed, and it turned into a yawn.

“Harper.”

“She’s a great kid.”

“Yeah.”

“And has one hell of a mother.”

“Eh, she’s alright.” Alexis’s sad smile pulled at Blake’s heart.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Mmm.” As she leaned her head onto the couch, Alexis’s sleepy eyes studied her.

“Is Michelle Harper’s…” she let her words fall away when Alexis sat up and shook her head. Blake had wanted to know more about Michelle since Isla had mentioned her name, and she’d hoped to bring her up with Harper might help Alexis open up.

“No, absolutely not.” Alexis crossed her arms over her stomach and pulled them in close. “Harper’s all mine. Well, unless you count Sophia, because sometimes I question which one of us gave birth to her because those two are so much alike.”

“They seem really connected.”

“They are.”

“I love that.”

“Me too.” Yawning again, Alexis lowered her eyes as a sad smile formed on her lips. “And on that note, I wanted to apologize about last night.” She tilted her headto one side. “I may have overreacted.”

“Why?” Blake shifted her position so she could see Alexis better. “I mean, you knew that I liked you when I kissed you. Why was it such a big deal for me to say it?”

“Because hearing you say it confirmed it.” Alexis popped her knuckles. “With the kiss, I could chalk it up to a fleeting moment.”

“It wasn’t.” She firmly shook her head. “It’s not.”

“When you said it out loud, it all became real, and that scares me. But it was wrong of me to freak out on you like I did. You didn’t deserve that and I am sorry.”

Blake let the silence settle between them for a moment as she tried to think of what to say. The last thing she wanted to do was push Alexis. If anything, she realized that wasn’t something Alexis responded to. Scooting over to the seat between them, Blake covered Alexis’s hands with her own and waited for her eyes to meet hers once more.

“Do you like me, too?”

“You know I do.” Alexis’s voice was soft, low.

“Then what’s the problem? Can’t we see where this goes?”

“I have Harper.”

“I know.”

“And I don’t want people flittering in and out of her life.”

“We don’t have to tell Harper anything right now. I can just be Mommy’s new friend.”

“But what happens when you leave?” Alexis pulled one hand free from Blake’s grasp only to place it right back on top of Blake’s hand. “What happens when you get the call to go back for the show, or a movie, or whatever else they may want you to do? What then? Where would that leave,” her eyes searched Blake’s, “us?”

---