Page 52 of The Layover

I held onto my growl of frustration until she was gone, then let the sound slide out. “This isn’t right.”

“She’s not going to stick around indefinitely.” Raul didn’t look at me. “She’s not a mother, and she’s not a wife. What do you want for dinner.” He was already walking toward the kitchen.

I followed, no longer trying to leash my reactions. “Were you in the same room as me just now? Did you see the way Eloise was acting?” She barely got that excited about spending the day at Nonna’s, and Raul’s mother spoiled her more than we did.

Raul pulled the cut of beef we’d bought on the way home from the bag, and set the paper-wrapped meat on the counter. “Carly’s good at what she does. I expect at everything she does, including babysitting. That doesn’t change what I just said.”

“She’s not Isabella.” Why did I need to say that? Because that had to be one of Raul’s hesitations—he didn’t want to go through that again. Not that I blamed him.

“She’s not.” As he talked, he rolled up his sleeves, then grabbed a series of spices from the rack. “Not in either direction. You know what Carly is, though? Going back to The States in a month or two.”

“Aren’t you having fun with her?” How was I the only one who felt that connection?

Raul sprinkled liberal helpings of seasoning on the meat, but didn’t rub it in yet. “I’m having a blast, but that doesn’t change anything either.”

Fuck. He was right, and I didn’t have anything to say that would change the fact that Carly didn’t live here. That she couldn’t be a long-term part of our lives if she went back to her own.

Raul wiped his hands clean and closed the distance between us. He pulled my arms around his waist and then wrapped his around mine. He pressed our foreheads together. “I want the same thing you do,” he said softly. “I want an additional someone in my life. In yours. In Eloise’s. But it’s not her.” Did his voice crack on the her?

I wouldn’t call him on that. I wouldn’t ruin this moment.

Instead, I helped him make dinner. We listened to Eloise give us more detail about her day with Carly. I tried to ignore the ache at the joy on her face. Was it a mistake to introduce Carly to our daughter?

God I hated that thought, but that didn’t mean I was wrong to ask the question.

As the night wound down, we got Eloise ready for bed, tucked her in, read her a story, and gave her good night kisses.

Then we headed to our own room.

“Should I ask what’s on your mind, or do I already know?” Raul asked, when the door was closed behind us.

I might as well say it out loud. “Was it a mistake to introduce Carly to Eloise?”

“We introduce a lot of our friends—”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

Raul scrubbed his face. “I do.”

There was no denying that Eloise was already smitten with Carly.

“We can’t have Carly over anymore.” Raul managed to say the words without emotion. “For Eloise’s sake and yours.”

I hated the idea, and I hated that he was right.

Raul cupped my face between his palms and pressed his forehead to mine. “You think I don’t get it, but I do. If you think Carly’s not drawing me in every time she’s around, you’re wrong.”

The confession caught me off-guard, but I felt the realness of it.

He tilted his head to press his mouth to mine. Softly. Sweetly. “But we still have each other. We will always have each other.”

“We will.”

Raul trailed his fingers along my jaw, down my neck and chest, to my waist. With practiced efficiency, he had my belt and trousers undone with barely more than a flick of his wrist.

He slid his body down mine, taking my clothing with him. When he wrapped a loose hand around my semi-hard shaft, I groaned in appreciation at his touch. And when he took me in his mouth, I was fully erect.

I wanted to sink back against the nearest wall, or on to the bed, and relish everything about his touch. “This isn’t a solution. Orgasms aren’t going to solve anything.” Damn me and my brain.

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