Page 13 of Essence of his Soul

“Where’s Tyler?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

“Out like a light. After his bath, the little man was done for the night.”

I blinked, caught off guard. “You bathed him?”

Mark flashed that signature smile of his, the one that could melt ice in the dead of winter. “You look surprised. I’ve got a bunch of younger cousins. Back in the day, I was the go-to babysitter in the neighborhood.”

“You?” I raised an eyebrow, skepticism creeping in. The image of a pretty boy like Mark running around babysitting didn’t fit.

He chuckled. “Believe it. While my boys were sweating it out, flipping burgers at Mickey D’s, I was at the park with the neighborhood kids whose moms had to work. At a buck fifty an hour per kid, I was making more than them, and I got to chill and have fun. Easy money.”

I shook my head, unable to stop the smile spreading across my face. “You’re something else, you know that?”

He leaned back, his confidence smooth, not cocky. “Yeah, I am.”

A heavy silence settled between us, thick with everything we weren’t saying, yet it spoke louder than words. The air was buzzing with that same tension we’d always had.

“Thanks for the flowers,” I said, looking at him through my lashes, trying to break the silence.

His grin widened, sending a familiar flip through my stomach. “You’re welcome.”

I glanced at the clock on the mantle and groaned. “Oh no, it’s almost nine! How could I have slept that long?”

“You needed it,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m a mother. We don’t have the luxury of being tired. I’ve got clothes to dry, a kitchen to clean, and I still need to shower before I can even think about going to bed.”

I moved to get up, but Mark gently touched my arm, holding me in place.

“The clothes are already dried and folded, and I spent the lastthirty minutes cleaning the kitchen.”

I stared at him, completely caught off guard by his unexpected kindness. “You did all that?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You deserved a break.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, genuinely touched.

“You’re welcome,” he said, his voice soft as he reached out, his fingers brushing against my cheek. His touch was so gentle it made my breath catch. I felt heat rising inside me, and in that moment, I knew I was in trouble. Deep trouble.

Mark leaned in a little closer, his voice low and full of suggestion. “Now, we can retreat to the shower if you'd like. That way, we’ll have plenty of time to lay under the sheets and... talk.”

I gasped, my eyes widening. “Are you serious?”

He barely reacted, just a tiny twitch at the corner of his lips, but the fire in his eyes said everything.

“No, Casanova,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “I like sleeping alone.”

Mark angled his head and winked, his voice playful. “No, you don’t.”

He wasn’t wrong. At least, not back when we were together, sharing my bed. The thought of those nights, the way he knew exactly how to touch me, stirred something deep between my thighs.

I cleared my throat, needing to pull myself together. “That was a long time ago. Before Tyler.”

“We were good together,” he said, his voice soft, almost coaxing. “I know it can only get better.”

I swallowed, suddenly at a loss for words. Every time I looked directly into Mark's eyes, I saw that mixture of desire and impatience. He wasn’t playing around.

“...And that way, Tyler can wake up to see his mama and daddy together, the way it should be.”

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