Page 39 of Single Dad's Second Chance

14

MIA

Jason would always be my Achilles’ tendon. That sweet boy had mattered to me from the moment I met him. I couldn’t explain it. Maybe he was a projection of the kind of child I wished I could have of my own. He invoked maternal instincts in me, and I would never give up a chance to make him feel safe and happy.

Riding in Henry’s car again, for the second time within the hour, I felt each bump and dip in the road. Those vibrations somehow funneled to me, emphasizing the delicious soreness and tenderness I felt from coming.

He’d only fingered me. It was just foreplay, really, but he’d known precisely how to make me shatter and come so quickly.

“I…” I furrowed my brow, unsure how to sum up and convey what was on my mind.

I wanted to apologize that we’d been cut short. To express my disappointment that our fun was interrupted. To tell him that I didn’t know what we were doing either, but I was enjoying it while it lasted.

“Hmm?” He glanced at me, concern etched in the lines on his rugged face.

“I, um, hope he’s okay.” It felt like a lie. I was worried about Jason, but I wondered if I was using this as a deflection point, a diversion for speaking about the much bigger elephant riding along with us. This elephant of us both acting on our attraction when we shouldn’t have.

“I think it’s a bug. He was playing at James’s house, and I heard that he had something similar. A twenty-four hour thing, I bet.”

He wasn’t dismissing it. He was too logical to be in denial. Henry was always so practical and pragmatic.

Except when it comes to me.

We arrived quickly, and as soon as he parked in the garage to his building, we hustled inside. We didn’t have another chance to talk—about anything. And I was deprived from analyzing and second-guessing and fretting about how much things had changed between me and my boss tonight.

Laura opened the door to let us into his penthouse apartment. She looked stressed, but not overly so. “I think he’s just falling asleep now.”

“Poor thing,” I said as I set my purse on the table.

“Thanks for calling,” Henry told her. “I’m going to go check on him.”

As soon as he was gone, Laura yawned. “Picnic days always feel so long. Even without a puking boy at night.”

“I bet.”

“Pfft.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re used to these late nights.” Then she frowned. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be at the club dancing tonight?” She looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice, careful that Henry wouldn’t overhear. He was already down the hall in Jason’s room, though, so it was just the two of us.

“No. I asked for the night off.” It felt strange to do that, what with the need to make money. “Last year, I didn’t, and I was so damn tired doing a double. The picnic, then dancing.”

“I don’t know how you can do it.” She gathered her knitting bag and water bottle to walk over to her place down the hall. “I pray you don’t have to keep holding down two jobs like this forever.”

Me too.She wasn’t loaded, but after her divorce, she was set with the apartment in this building and a hefty alimony. Before that, though, she worked fulltime to simply be away from her ex-husband she fell out of love with.

“I’m going to head home,” she said.

“Have a good night’s sleep,” I told her. We hugged, and I sighed once she left.

Henry returned to me in the kitchen, where I tidied up a bit. I didn’t have to, but I wantedsomethingto do.

“He’s asleep.”

I smiled. “Good. Rest will help him.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess we were a little rash in hurrying you over here. He asked for you, but he’s out now.”

I shrugged. “No worries.” If that boy ever thought he wanted me to comfort him, I wouldn’t hesitate to be present for him.

“I feel bad, though. All that urgency to check on him and he’s sleeping soundly now.”

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