Page 36 of Fierce-Michael

“He already stopped crying,” Electra said. “He probably would have been fine if you wanted him to stay.”

He looked at Kelly sitting next to him. She didn’t seem upset. If anything, she had some sympathy in her eyes over what was happening. He hoped it wasn’t for him but rather for his son.

“Is it worth finding out?” he asked.

“No,” Electra said. “I told him to stop crying a few times, but he wouldn’t.”

“Telling him to stop isn’t going to make it happen,” he said. “Can you put a cartoon on for him? Ask him what his favorite is or let him pick. That will distract him.”

“I should have thought of that,” Electra said. There was wonder in her voice as if she didn’t know why she didn’t do that.

“Just do it and I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and then turned to Kelly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said, her hand reaching for his. “If that call didn’t come in, I might have broken a rule I made for myself.”

“Not what I want to hear,” he said. He was already sexually frustrated just being around her. He hadn’t had sex in over six months, if not longer and the thoughts of her were making it harder for any self-relief to do much good.

“We’ll get another shot,” she said.

“We will,” he said. “Because next week I’m going to see if my parents will take him for a night. This would have never happened with them.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not,” he said. “It’s just more of the same. This stuff happens more than it should.”

Kelly stood up and he did the same. “You can make it up to me.”

“I plan on it,” he said.

She walked to the mudroom and got her jacket. “You just let me know what works for you. If I have to wait until next weekend, that is fine.”

“Tuesday. Ty should be at Electra’s for a few hours. I leave work to bring him there.”

“How long is he there for again?” she asked.

They were climbing in his SUV, but then he turned and went back into the house. She wasn’t sure why and he came back out with the desserts they’d bought. “Here. You have them. I don’t need Ty asking me where I got them.”

She took the caramel apple and fried Oreos. “Not that I need them, but they won’t go to waste. I expect you to show me how to lift weights sometime too. I’m going to need it with just today’s food intake alone.”

“You’ve got a deal,” he said, pulling out and driving her back home.

He got out and walked her to the security door, gave her one more scorching kiss, and promised to be in touch sometime tomorrow.

“I’ll be thinking of you and this kiss tonight in bed,” she said. “And I may or may not go to sleep frustrated or relaxed. I’ll let you guess.”

“I’ll be frustrated,” he said. “Just letting you know now.”

She laughed and leaned up to kiss him one more time. Then he got back in his SUV and drove to Electra’s.

Ty was at the door when he knocked. He was in his pajamas with sneakers on his feet, his backpack on too.

“He’s ready,” Electra said.

“Where is his jacket? It’s not that warm out.”

“Oh,” Electra said. “It’s in his backpack. I didn’t think he’d need it for that short of a walk.”

Electra pulled it out of the backpack. It was a wrinkled mess since a jacket wasn’t meant to be stuffed in there like that.

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