Page 68 of His Best Friend's Baby

“Hello, Jesse.”

He almost dropped his bowl at the sound of Julia’s husky purr coming from the shadows in the corner of the porch.

Her face was lost in the dark, but her bare legs were stretched out, her toes curled over the railing. The streetlight hit her skin and those mile-long legs, turning them to gold dust.

“I thought you’d be asleep, I’ll go back—” He moved to retreat into the safety of inside, away from those legs and her husky voice.

“Stay.” Her soft voice floated from the darkness. “Please.”

“Ah.” His military mind summed up the dangers in a nanosecond—her legs, the dark, the living breathing heat that existed between them. This was a suicide mission if ever there had been one.

“Please, Jesse. Stay out here with me.”

He nodded. “Sure.” I’m a goner. He balanced the jug and the bowl on the railing next to her delicate toes. He noticed the chipped red nail polish, so girlish and at the same time so womanly that he nearly fell to his knees. “I’ll go grab a chair.”

He ducked back in the house. “Such an idiot,” he muttered the obvious, grabbed a cracked vinyl chair from the kitchen and carried it outside.

Eucalyptus and the trumpet vine growing at the corner of the house turned the air sweet and spicy. He tried not to watch as Julia recrossed her legs at the ankle.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, settling down with his dinner.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Night sounds filled the silence between them—bugs, a far-off screen door slamming, Wain huffing and shifting. Jesse realized the dog was curled up by Julia. Her hand reached out of the darkness that shrouded her body and she absently stroked his ears.

“Don’t spoil my guard dog,” he said, joking to crack the tension.

“Some guard dog.” He heard the affection in her voice and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, we do what we can.”

“I thought you might be hungry….” She pointed at the bowl in his lap. “It’s sort of a poor man’s chili. You don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it.”

“It’s great, trust me. Better than whatever I would have put together.” He took a bite and his taste buds applauded.

The rocker creaked under her and neither of them said anything. The awkwardness built and built until he could feel the pressure crowd his ears.

“When I called Amanda I talked to Rachel. She invited me to come to dinner with you tomorrow. She said she’s been inviting you every week and you never show.”

“I’m busy.” The idea of Sunday dinner with Julia and Ben, his sister, Mac and Amanda as if they were a normal family, absolutely robbed him of thought. Made him stupid.

“Sure you are,” she scoffed. “Anyway, I’m going. I never turn down a free meal, but I wasn’t sure if you could make it.”

“Probably not,” he said.

“Why are you so angry with your sister?”

“I’m not angry,” he said. He drank the last of the juice and set the plastic jug down at his feet.

“She said you were angry.”

“Why are you talking to my sister?” he snapped.

“She’s nice. Her daughter is babysitting my son, I’m living with her brother.” She shrugged. “Seems like I should talk to her.”

“Well, there’s no reason to talk about me.”

“She wants to talk about you,” she said softly. “Incessantly.”

“That’s her problem.” He looked up at the roof wishing he could sit with his dinner in silence. “I’m sorry.” He sighed.

“Me, too. I don’t mean to pry into your business with your sister. She was just asking me so many questions about you.”

He laughed humorlessly. “I imagine.” He was about to tell her, give her all the maps to traverse the giant rift between him and his sister. Then Julia would see that some things couldn’t be fixed or forgiven. Not that she’d understand. She’d forgiven Mitch, for crying out loud, a man who’d cheated and lied. His sister’s betrayals seemed minor in comparison. She’d just left him behind when he’d needed her most.

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