Page 41 of Christmas with the Baby Daddy

“Oh, crap,” Blake said as she ran out in her robe. “She must have seen the clothes!”

Keeping a pillow over my junk in case Sara or George could see inside the house, I hurried out with Blake to retrieve it all. She gathered most of it and shoved the armful at me.

Backpedaling to her bedroom, I let her shut the door so I could dress.

Then she opened it again. “I’ll keep them distracted in the front. Sneak out the back door and drive further to the path that goes to Jenny’s.”

I nodded, then opened and closed my mouth. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve said, what I could even think other than,shit, I need to get out of here.

But then she opened the door again, pulled my head low for a quick, hard kiss, and closed the door again.

I smiled, staring at the wood panel.

That kiss didn’t feel likegoodbyeas much as it seemed likesee you later.

I wasn’t sure how to react to sleeping with her again. Running away to return to my troop was no longer an option. And if it was, I doubted I’d be strong enough to walk away from her so easily again.

I couldn’t wait for when I could see her next.

In bed or not.

17

BLAKE

George entered through the front door, frowning at Sara as she came in behind him.

“I told you we left that drawing at your house.”

She made eye contact with me in a knowing way. “Yep. You were right.” Then she quit her expression and smiled at him as he looked up at her.

“Mama!” George turned and ran to me, launching into my arms like he always did for big hugs. I dreaded the day he’d be too big for it and would plow me over. He was a short kiddo now, but if any of Zach’s genes had any say in it, he’d be a big footballer size of a teenager.

“Morning, honey. Did you have a good sleepover?”

He nodded, smiling wide with the easy, carefree way he had when he was in a safe place like at home. Those grins weren’t as common at school, though. His dimples, another thing he’d inherited from his sexy daddy, were clear to see with how genuinely happy he was as he gazed up at me. “Yeah! Sleepovers at Sara’s are the best!”

“How much candy did he have?” I jokingly asked my best friend.

George didn’t seem confused why I was just getting out of bed now. Nor did he ask me about the clothes lying all over the floor. I always scolded him about his messy habit of leaving things around, so if he’d spotted my things lying on the floor, he would’ve called me out on it. Sara must’ve gotten him out before he could see the evidence of my late-night guest being here.

Sara smiled at me. “Eh, not too much.”

“Because I can get more candy at the festival,” he reminded us both. “When can we go?”

“It doesn’t start ’til dinnertime, honey.”

He sighed.

“I’m going to run some errands and I’ll be back to take you two,” Sara said, looking at me.

“I can’t wait to go to the hot cocoa booth,” he exclaimed.

“Yeah. I am looking forward to getting some hot cocoa and catching up,” Sara told me with an expectant expression.

Yes, yes. You’re chomping at the bit for the juicy details of what happened here last night.I’d tell her. She was the only person who knew who Zach was to me. I could trust her to keep this news a secret too.

I turned to get dressed, and as I did, I sighed at the sight of my rumpled bed. It was hard to believe that I’d slept with Zach again. It seemed so farfetched, a fantasy I could visit when I was lonely or horny. Or even when I was simply missing how well we’d come together in the face of such sadness and grief.

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