Page 38 of Eligible Best Friend

“You don’t?”

Her incredulous look says enough, but she still speaks around her bite of sandwich. “Why would I?”

“We’re hanging out.”

“I can help her out, too. Seriously, I don’t mind. Sundays off work are pretty mellow.” She takes a bite, crunching through her sandwich. She offered to help Mom just like that.

I don’t sense any hidden agenda. Because it’s Lia and she likes my mom and she likes lending a hand. Last month, she helped Mitch’s wife hang curtains because Mitch worked the weekend.

That’s what friends do.

She leaves her food alone and studies me. “Unless you don’t want to fool your mom any more than we need to.”

That’s my out. As much as I like her offer, that’s the problem. I like it too much. We’re sleeping together. Mom likes her and the feeling’s mutual. This could get too jumbled in my brain.

Yet the words to turn her down aren’t forming on my tongue.

My phone vibrates with a message.

Can you take Jayden again this afternoon?

I’m saved for a moment. “Excuse me for a sec.”

Lia waves me off and keeps eating.

I don’t leave the table, but I push my tray a little farther away. Of course I want to take Jayden again. I haven’t called Mom yet. Unless…

Can I take him with me to Mom’s?

I hold my breath, waiting for her reply. Restricting Mom’s visits with Jayden has always been a major control point for Cass, a way to punctuate how betrayed she felt when I put Mom’s needs before our relationship.

Her message is quicker than I expected. That’s fine. Can you pick him up?

What made Cass turn this corner? Whether it’s single motherhood or that she thinks I’ve cleaned up my game, I don’t care at the moment. I finally get to not only have my son, but my mom gets to be a grandma. I grin up at Lia. “Do you mind if Jayden’s with us?”

“You get him again?” She sits back, stunned. “And she’s letting you take him to your mom’s?”

“If it’s okay with you.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I bailed on you last night.”

“For good reason.” Her gaze sharpens. “Do you want your own time with him? I don’t want to interfere with your mom’s afternoon. I know it doesn’t happen often.”

Weathering other women with my son is a new experience. Even if Cass hadn’t played her custody games with me, I would’ve been cautious about who I let around my kid and who he got attached to. I didn’t think twice about Lia being around him. She’s the furthest thing from a bad influence. Yet she hasn’t claimed to want to stay in Fargo or even in North Dakota.

Last night and this morning is starting to look more like a mistake than expected.

No. This is the line I’m not crossing. To everyone else, we’re dating, but no matter how mind-blowing sex with her is, Lia has made it clear in the past that her sojourn in Fargo is just a stop on the way to something else. I will stay here and do what I need to do. And I need to stay on my side of the line to keep our situation from getting complicated.

So why is the first thing out of my lips an invitation for more?

“Join us. You won’t interfere with me and Mom. Besides, I think there’s a reason Cass is suddenly so willing to share parental duties, and it started when I told her we were dating. You’ll only help me get more time with Jayden.” Yes, Jayden. That’s why we’re doing this. I need to keep reminding myself of the reason we agreed to pretend to date in the first place.

She pauses with a chip halfway to her mouth, then rests it on her plate. “I’m happy for you, and of course I’d love to hang out with Jayden and Maggie. But Ford, we shouldn’t need to do this to get Cass to act like a decent human being.”

“If it’s what I gotta do, I don’t mind.”

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