Page 33 of Lost Times

His hand shifted to my back, tracing circles as he spoke. “I should probably head home soon. I don’t have clothes to change into, and we have work tomorrow.”

The urge to argue lunged to the surface, my grip on him tightening instinctively even as I knew our cuddle time was going to be far shorter lived than I wanted.

Before I could let him go though, he continued. “Icouldgo home and get a change of clothes, then come back…if you wanted?”

The hesitance there grated against me and I nodded, soothing it. “Of course…but will that cause problems with you tomorrow with work?” I hated reminding him of that while we were still curled together like this, but he only smiled.

“No, I leave earlier than you do, so it doesn’t change anything.”

Then he frowned. “Though that means I’ll be leaving before you get up. Do you want me to wake you or not?”

The hesitance was creeping in again, and I kissed his chest. “I’ll probably wake up automatically. I’ve always been a light sleeper so…” I trailed off, and he nodded.

“Alright.” Getting out of bed with palpable reluctance, he grabbed his pants. “I’ll head home and grab an extra set of work clothes as well.” He dressed, my eyes following every movement, and before he could leave, I got up and kissed his cheek.

“I should probably have asked earlier how affectionate you’re comfortable with me being, because as you can see, I’ve always been heavier with it.” I said, heat climbing my cheeks. He smiled, returning the kiss a tad more hesitantly than I did.

“I like it, though don’t take offense if I freeze when you do it unexpectedly. I’m not used to touching out of the blue, but I definitely don’t mind.”

I’d remember that.

He smiled one last time, then left, the soft shutting of the front door announcing his departure.

Waves of happiness hit and I flopped back onto the bed, all but swimming in it. I’d ached to see this side of him that morning where I had to leave him, and actually getting to have this was heady.

And if how he was talking before was any indication, I’d get to have it often. Waking up with him would be a vast improvement to the empty bed I was used to dealing with.

Before I could contemplate getting up, my phone rang, dragging me back to the present. Rifling through my clothes until I found it, I caught Naomi’s name and smiled.

Answering, I listened to her usual greeting.

“Hey! How is everything with you?”

For half a second I thought about not telling her, but I discarded the thought as quickly as it came. Naomi had always been in my corner, and I wanted to celebrate this with her.

“Well, considering I’m naked in bed after being ravished by my boss…I’d say I’m doing well.”

A beat passed, then she choked. “Wow, woman! Last we talked you were dead set against this happening. What changed?”

I still hadn’t told her about Ludwig being Jasmine’s father and there was no better time than now. Settling into the sheets, I started.

“First off, there’s something I didn’t tell you before about Ludwig. He’s the man I had the one-night stand with that produced Jasmine.”

I caught her inward suck of breath and raced on. “I didn’t tell you because I was still reeling from it all; then of course he found out and wanted to be involved in her life.”

She cut in with a grunt. “As he should.”

I hummed, continuing before she could get us sidetracked. “And today things kind of…escalated. At first, I didn’t want things to go anywhere because of what could happen. I mean, he’s still my bossandwhat if we break up later down the line? It would make this whole co-parenting thing awkward…”

Speaking the doubts out loud was bringing them back again, and Naomi must have sensed that because she jumped in seamlessly.

“Just keep stuff professional at work, not a hardship for you since you prefer it that way anyway. As for the latter, you’d have the same issue with anyone you dated, Thalia.”

I paused, taken aback by that. “I would?” I asked, and she continued.

“Yeah. Jasmine would probably have gotten attached to them, and then when you broke up, you still would have had to deal with being around each other because of her. Are you happy?”

I nodded, forgetting for a minute that she couldn’t see, then I answered verbally. “Yes, but-.”

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