Page 57 of Everlasting Love

“Uh, that’s my bedroom.” He glances between his door and mine and his brows furrow slightly.

“So … we’re neighbors,” he says slowly as if he’s only now realizing that we’re going to be in close proximity to each other.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I tuck my hands in my pockets to stop myself from reaching forward to smooth out that crease between his dark brows. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to unpack. Meet you downstairs for dinner.”

“Thanks. I’ll be down in a minute. I only have the basics to unpack tonight.” I smile warmly at him and then make my way to the stairs. “Oh, and Vi.”

I freeze at the rumble of his voice. The one I’ve imagined whispering dirty words in my ear. “Yeah?” My voice is breathy and the single word comes out on a rasp.

“Thanks for offering me a place to stay.”

I glance at him over my shoulder and give him a simple nod. “You’re welcome.” I quickly leave before I plaster myself against his body and beg him to stay permanently.

When I enter the kitchen, I catch Jas peeking over her shoulder as she takes a bite of one of the peas she picked from the garden. I chuckle to myself as I walk over and ruffle her hair. “I saw that,” I whisper lightheartedly close to her ear and she responds with a giggle.

“Sorry, Mommy.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. You can eat as many peas as you like, we can always pick more.” I kiss the top of her head and grab the silverware from the drawer to set the table for four.

Four.

Shane Sutton will be sitting at our dining table, enjoying a meal with us. I mean I’ve shared meals with Shane before, but they were for social gatherings, they weren’t …intimatelike this. I feel like he’s going to see and experience aspects of my family life that are personal. And yeah, I know I want him but he’s given no indication that he’s remotely interested in anything personal with me. This is about us providing a place for him to stay.

Mom turns to Jas. “Jas, can you please tell Shane dinner is almost ready?”

“Okay,” my daughter sings and skips out of the kitchen.

“Don’t forget, I leave for the sustainability conference in the morning and will be out of town for a week.”

I wave her off. “I remember.”

Jas skips back into the kitchen, her tiny hand wrapped around Shane’s fingers as she leads him into the kitchen, and if that image doesn’t sum up her relationship with the stoic man, I don’t know what else does.

Mom places the casserole on the table and then points to her usual seat at the head. “Shane. You can sit here.”

He smiles at her, then pulls out each of the chairs at the table for us before taking his own. “Thanks, Mrs. Phillips. This smells delicious.”

“Rose,” Mom says in her firm Mom voice, and Shane looks chastised.

“I helped make the salad,” Jas proudly announces.

He looks at her with wide eyes. “You never told me you were a chef.”

Jas giggles. “I’m too little to be a chef, silly.”

Mom points to the dish in the middle of the table. “Help yourself.”

“Thank you.” He dishes up for each of us before serving himself, and we all dig in.

We’re all quiet for a few moments as we take the first bites of creamy chicken breast, baked potatoes, and fresh salad. “Thank you again for opening your home to me.”

“You’re welcome. It actually works out perfectly because I’ll be away for a week and Vi was going to have to shorten her days to accommodate taking Jas to and from school. With you here, it will make things easier.”

Shane is already nodding his head in agreement as I’m shaking mine in the negative. “It’s okay. I’ve already made the arrangements for next week. I can take my daughter to and from school.”

Shane wipes his mouth with a napkin, and as I watch him drag it across his lips, I find I’m jealous of a piece of tissue paper. “I was planning on taking Jasmine to and from school as part of this arrangement, so there’s no need for you to change your schedule, Blue.”

I understand he wants to contribute while he’s here because Mom won’t accept any payment, but he doesn’t need to do my job. I also don’t trust the other moms not to pounce on him the second they get the opportunity. There’s no way he would have considered the hungry moms at school, and I don’t want to subject him to all of that estrogen. I’ve heard some of the single moms talking about the things they get up to on the weekends with random hookups when their kids are with their fathers. Red tinges the edge of my vision when I think about one of them touching Shane or turning up at his apartment only wearing his jacket.

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