Page 93 of An Unexpected Love

Judging by the look Carrie gave him, she didn’t share his enthusiasm. “That wouldn’t work because she’d need a date. Chaperones at our school dances are always couples.”

“I’ll go with her,” Jason said casually. As soon as he made the suggestion, he wanted to jerk it back. Him dancing? The last dance he’d attended had been his sister’s engagement party. He’d rented a tuxedo and been miserable most of the night. Before then, his only other experience on the dance floor had been as a high-school junior. He didn’t know how to dance then and he hadn’t learned since.

“You’d do that?” Carrie asked, her voice rising. For the first time since she’d entered his home, her eyes sparkled with hope.

“Ah…” Oh, what the heck, he’d do it if it would help the kid. “Sure,” he answered. “I’d volunteer to be a chaperone.”

Carrie let out a cry of glee and raced across the room to throw her arms around his neck.

“Your mother might not be willing—”

“She will,” Carrie said confidently. “Mom’s crazy about you.”

“Yes, but will she be crazy about the idea of Brad’s dad driving you there and the two of us taking you home?”

Carrie mulled that over for a moment. “Of course she will,” she said, revealing no doubt. “Why shouldn’t she be? It’s a wonderful compromise. We’ll both be satisfied…. I mean, this plan isn’t perfect—no one wants their mother chaperoning a school dance—but it’ll work because Mom’s going to agree when she knows you suggested it.”

* * *

Jason was suffering from second thoughts when he rang Charlotte’s doorbell an hour later. Carrie had devised a plan for approaching Charlotte with his idea. At the appropriate point, he was to suggest the two of them chaperone the dance and make it sound like a spur-of-the-moment idea.

He was rather proud of his compromise—not the part about chaperoning the dance, but the shared-driving idea. By the time Carrie had left his apartment, he feltlike an expert. Raising children wasn’t so difficult if you applied a bit of common sense.

Now, though, he wasn’t entirely sure he should get involved. The dance was an issue between Charlotte and Carrie, and his instincts told him he was trespassing.

It would’ve been different if Charlotte had come to him for advice, but she hadn’t and he doubted she would. There wasn’t any reason for her to, at least not with regard to Carrie. Charlotte was the one with parenting experience, not him.

Despite his second thoughts over his role in this drama, he’d agreed to help Carrie—even though his instincts now told him he was going to regret this.

Carrie answered the doorbell and smiled brightly when she saw him.

Charlotte looked pleased to see him, too, but she also looked like she’d rather not be. Jason was learning to read her quite well, and that skill was coming in handy.

“Hello, Jason,” she said softly.

“Hi. I stopped by to see how Higgins is doing.” A weak excuse, and one she was bound to see through in the next couple of minutes.

The black dog trotted toward him, his tail wagging slowly. Jason squatted beside him and affectionately rubbed his ears. “How do you like your new home, fellow?” he asked.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Carrie called out from the kitchen. Her voice was enthusiastic. The kid wasn’t any better at disguising her emotions than her mother was.

“Please.” Jason glanced up at Charlotte. He didn’t know what was going on with her lately. She’d been avoiding him—that much he understood—but he waswilling to give her the space she needed. For now. He was a patient man. She was attracted to him, fighting it as hard as she could, but her resistance wasn’t strong enough to defeat him.

For the first time in his life, Jason had met a woman who needed him. Unfortunately she was too self-sufficient and proud to admit it. Charlotte Weston brought out all his protective urges. And his intuition told him he’d begun to bring out qualities in her—a sensual confidence and an ability to laugh, have fun—that she’d been repressing for years.

The woman was a puzzle, but slowly, surely, he was putting together the various pieces she revealed. Once he had the whole picture, he’d be able to scale those defensive walls of hers.

He strongly suspected Charlotte’s problems revolved around her ex-husband and her marriage. She’d been badly hurt, and gaining her trust and her love would require time and patience. Where Charlotte was concerned, Jason had an abundant supply of both. Carrie brought him a cup of coffee, and Jason pulled out a kitchen chair, then nonchalantly sat down. Carrie did the same. Higgins ambled over and settled at his feet.

Charlotte glanced at the two of them and frowned. “Is something going on here that I should know about?”

The kid couldn’t have been more obvious, Jason mused again. “Carrie came to me earlier this afternoon,” he announced, deciding honesty was the best policy, after all. The way he figured, if they were forthright aboutwhatthey’d discussed, then Charlotte might be willing to forgive them for discussing it behind her back.

“Jason,” Carrie muttered a warning under her breath.

“Carrie came to you?” Charlotte demanded. “About what?”

“The dance,” Carrie admitted sheepishly.

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