Page 60 of Reckless

“No worries.” She blows out a deep breath. “I feel pretty responsible for what happened, so it’s the least I coulddo.”

It takes me a second to absorb what she’s saying. “You can’t beserious.”

“I was the reason you were out there this morning.” Her slender hands twist in her lap. “Then I had to open my big mouth and ask about making the kids breakfast when I should’ve kept quiet.” Groaning, she turns and buries her face in the comforter, mumbling something about herunderwear.

Smiling, I rub her back. “You’re a sweetheart, you know that? And there’s nothing about last night or this morning that you should be embarrassed about. I’m the one who tracked you down at that bar and force-fed you carbs until you were putty in my hands. What can I say? I’m hard to resist when I break out the bigguns.”

When she peeks over at me, I lift my arms andflex.

Her shoulders shake with laughter, and she rolls over onto her side. “Pretty confident there, aren’t ya,stud?”

How is it that she can look this beautiful in sweats and a t-shirt? “Just messing withyou.”

Those big hazel eyes study me, and she gives me a shy smile. “I sorta like when you mess withme.”

Not sure why everything is so easy with this woman. I’d have never guessed this was the case when we firstmet.

Damn. That makes this evenharder.

I look away, needing to keep my wits about me, and Tori makes it difficult to concentrate. Not to mention the sexual frustration that’s had me almost crawling out of my skin since wemet.

“So, I, uh… need to ask afavor.”

When I glance back at her, she’s nodding. “Ofcourse.”

Swallowing, I motion toward her. “Listen. I had a great time with lastnight.”

God, I hatethis.

The smile on her facefades.

“But?” she asks, her voice barely awhisper.

“But Allison leveled me with some pretty serious shit out there today. Like threatening to petition for custody of the kids when I know damn well she doesn’t wantthem.”

“Are you serious?” She sits up, her face reflecting the riot of emotions I’mfeeling.

“Yeah. She wants me to fireyou.”

“I’m not surprised.” Tori’s shoulders slump. “I understand needing to make your kids a priority, and if that means you need to find another nanny, I promise I won’t take itpersonally.”

I reach for her and pull her to my side. “I’m not firing you, babe. I told Allison she’d need a court order to make me do that, so unless you really did get arrested for snorting coke off a hooker’s tits back in the day, I think we’re okay in thatregard.”

She chuckles and leans into me. “So…then?”

“So until I can see what Allison’s gonna do, what she’s gonna level at me on Tuesday at the courthouse and the fallout of what happened today, I think we should put what’s going on between us on the back burner. I need to talk to my attorney and figure out how to deal with her demands in a way that won’t set her off. I can’t have her freaking out in front of the kidsagain.”

Tori shocks me once more, wrapping her arms around my waist in a tight hug. “Whatever you need. I know Mila and Cody come first, as theyshould.”

I kiss the top of her head, hating that I probably shouldn’t even do that, but holding her is heaven, and the comfort of having her in my arms is overwhelming. “I’m so sorry,” I mumble in her hair. “I want you to know I really like you. I like being with you. Hangingout.”

Those words feel sorely inadequate, though I’m not sure how to phrase what this woman makes mefeel.

“I like you too, Ethan.” Her chest rises in another heavy sigh. “But Iunderstand.”

That’s good, because I’m not sure Ido.

27

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