Monday:
If I do not get to touch Gwen soon, things might just get ugly. I’m having dirty thoughts about that Nina chick on Sprout. She can roll her Rs. That’s all I’m saying.
Tuesday:
Henry Hugglemonster is The Shit.
Brady has been less interested in piano. He enjoys helping me cook dinner, though. And he’s getting better at playing catch in the yard . . . still not interested in joining a team.
Bree has no interest whatsoever in doing ballet. Maybe she’s the one I should target to learn piano. And voice?
We got Gwen to play hide-and-seek. Brady fell asleep in a crawl space, and we ended up having to call the neighborhood watch to find him. Gwen was not impressed.
Wednesday:
Lost my shirt again at the table thanks to some rogue spaghetti sauce from Brady.
Thursday:
Can’t stop myself from dancing to those damn Choo Choo Soul songs. But Brady believes vegetables give him super powers now, so we’ll let it slide.
Chapter 27
It Won’t Be Long
The week before school was insane. No one knew how to drive, how to shop, or how to use their damn brains. I’d never seen two mothers fighting over a pair of safety scissors or last pack of eight-count Crayola markers before. And I’d never seen a kid pitch a fit over a pencil box. Or a Spongebob folder.
Bree maneuvered her way through the crowds easily enough, grabbing the items she could reach. She carried herself with such maturity, and I envied her, even though it made me sad. Brady watched with wide-eyed wonder as we perused the aisles and picked out his supplies, excited and anxious for his first day of kindergarten.
Gwen skidded around the corner and waved a pack of pencils above her head. “I got the last pack, Bree! Pink glitter!”
Bree smiled and took them from Gwen. “Thanks! These are my favorite.”
We got the majority of their items and paid before loading up the car. Gwen pulled her list from her pocket and scanned what was left.
“We just need to get some new clothes and we’re done,” she said with relief.
I snickered. “Yeah, because that’s the easy part, right?”
Four hours later, Brady and I were on the carousel at the mall, waiting on Bree to pick out a damn pair of shoes. Gwen headed toward us and, once the ride was complete, I helped Brady down and we grabbed his bags.
“She’s just like her mother—so indecisive and a little fashion diva.” Gwen sighed and ruffled Brady’s hair. “I should have taken this one instead.”
“Yep. Ten or fifteen Garanimals and he’ll be set until his next growth spurt.”
Bree rushed up behind Gwen, a huge smile on her face. I extended my hand, and she took it, skipping all the way to the car.
I pulled up in front of Debra’s house and unbuckled my seat belt.
“Is it okay if I walk them in alone?” I asked.
Gwen nodded, though her brow furrowed.
As I approached the door, I straightened my shoulders and braced myself.
“Hey, Debra.”
The children glanced at me suspiciously, waiting for some sort of bomb to drop, no doubt.
“Hi, Andrew. Where’s Gwen?” She looked over my shoulder and spotted her daughter in the car. She gave a small wave when they made eye contact.
“I asked her to stay in the car because I didn’t want her to know I was asking this.”
Debra’s forehead creased and her mouth turned down into a frown. “Ask what?”
I placed a hand on each child’s shoulder and gave my most charming smile. “Would you be available to watch Brady and Bree on Gwen’s birthday?” I squeezed the kids’ shoulders.
“Sure. You can drop them off here after school. It’s not my weekend, but they can stay the night.” Her face held a look of suspicion, but I ignored it.
“Thanks.” I bent and gave each of the kids a kiss on the head, then pushed them toward the open door. “We’ll be back in a few hours after we meet with your teachers, okay?” They both nodded, and I hurried to the car.
Gwen and I were quiet on the way to the school, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Nothing was ever uncomfortable between us anymore. The attraction was always there. We were used to it. The challenge was not acting on it.
At the school we separated, and Gwen met with Brady’s teacher while I met with Bree’s. Miss Tate was a pretty blonde with a high-pitched giggle and a sweet demeanor. She welcomed me into the room and gestured that I should sit in one of the tiny chairs that made me look like a frog with my knees shoved into my chest.
She scanned her papers and cocked her head to the side. “You’re Andrew. You live with Gwen Stone, and you take care of the Pope kids.”
I leaned forward uncomfortably in the ultra-small seat and narrowed my eyes. “How do you know all of that?”
She sat down next to me and smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m Ainslie Tate. I went to school with Bryan and Anna. And Gwen.” She looked down at her left hand. “My fiancé, Thomas, and I just had dinner with Gwen recently.”
Ta-Ta Thomas?
“Thomas,” I repeated with a nod.
“Yeah, Thomas. So you’re the spider guy, right?”
I bit my lip and nodded.
She laughed. “Gwen’s lucky to have a man around the house brave enough to handle a brown recluse.” She winked then waved her hand in a circle. “Anyway, I’m totally prepared to have Bree in class. She’s going to love it. I hear she’s smart, and that usually means she’ll get bored easily. Maybe I can get her to be a class monitor or something.”
“I was thinking maybe you could veer her toward doing music. Like chorus or piano.”
Ainslie sighed. “I would love to, but we don’t have a music teacher.”
“That’s a shame.”
She stood and crossed over to her desk to retrieve a packet. She handed it over and patted me on the back. “Take a look at what we have to offer for after-school programs. Bree needs to stay active or else she’ll start to withdraw.”
I stood and shook her hand, thanking her for her time and the information. “If there’s anything else she needs or that I can do, just let me know.”
Ainslie walked me to the hallway. “Off the record, because I’m kind of nosy, I’m going to just come out and say it. You’re perfect for each other. I don’t know what you’re waiting for,” she said, and then her face flushed bright pink.
Little did she know, I wasn’t planning on waiting any longer.
Chapter 28
Birthday
I had no idea it would be so hard to watch Brady and Bree get on the bus to go to school. All I knew was how proud I was of Bree for making sure they sat together. I knew Brady would be safe with her watching over him.
Gwen stared at me while I watched them leave.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I felt pitiful standing at the door with my hands shoved into my pockets. I looked around feeling lost and then shrugged and made that pfft sound I always did. “What the hell am I supposed to do all day now?”
It was a legitimate question. What did a nanny do while the kids were at school all day?
“I guess you’ll have to get a hobby.” She patted my arm as she walked to her car.
There were a few things I could think of doing.
I suppose my abundance of extra time was what led me to plan such an elaborate birthday party for Gwen in the hopes maybe she’d see it as more of an olive branch than the lame apology I’d given her for being so evil to Thomas.
When her birthday came, I was beyond ready. I just hoped it would work.
The plan was for Cece to pretend her car was broken down and ask Gwen to drive her to Xander’s bar then invite her inside to pick up his keys.
I waited inside, listening as they crossed the threshold of the door, giggling together. When Cece pulled back the curtains, Gwen’s feet faltered, and she gasped.
Cece smiled, and I did, too, because it was the firs
t thing we’d worked on as a team and it had actually been successful.
I locked eyes with Gwen from across the room and held out a chair for her at a table for two, adorned with candles and pristine wineglasses. I smiled as she approached.
“What is all this?” she asked, pointing toward the table and candles.
“I wanted to give you a birthday dinner. Away from the house. Is that okay with you?” I winked.
She took her seat, and I pushed in her chair then sat in the empty seat next to her and filled her glass with wine.
“So I take it you bought my sister’s story about her car breaking down?” I asked.
Gwen glared at Cece for tricking her. My sister just shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen, where Xander was plating the dinner I’d prepared.
Gwen nervously pulled her skirt over her knees. “If I’d known you were going to do this, I’d have changed into something nicer.”
“You look beautiful.” I couldn’t stop staring at her face, illuminated by the candles, how her hair was shiny and her lips were bare after being at work all day.
I jumped up from my chair. “I cooked dinner for us. The kids are staying with Debra tonight, but we only have the bar until nine for our little private party. So we should get started.”
I went to retrieve our plates from the kitchen and set them down on the table with all the grace I could muster with the anxious feeling in my chest.
“Cece and Xander are in the kitchen since they helped me plan everything, but they have explicit instructions not to interrupt us.” I raised my wineglass and tipped it toward her. “Happy birthday, Gwen.”
“You didn’t have to do all this, you know.”
“I did. And I have cake for dessert, but it will be served at home.” I raised an eyebrow.
She crossed her legs and ducked her head to cut into her beef Wellington. I was pretty sure she didn’t do it on purpose, but she moaned. The familiarity of it made me pause.
“Does that mean you like it? Because it sounds like you really like it.”
She cut off another piece and placed it on her tongue. She chewed and gave me a knowing smile before she swallowed. “I have to admit it’s the best meat I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
I choked on my bite and shoved my napkin to my mouth, turning away to pound the food from my windpipe.
“You okay?” she asked with wide, innocent eyes.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
She was baiting me but I wasn’t taking it tonight. Once I regained my composure, we fell into easy conversation. I caught her staring at me a few times, the sparkle in her eyes apparent even in the dim lighting. We talked about the kids and school. How much Bree loved her teacher, and what a bad influence Brady’s new friend Keegan was on our child, even though the things Brady did at home were too funny to reprimand him for.
“They’re going to be quite a handful in a few years,” Gwen said, then looked down at her plate.
“We’ll see about that,” I said with a chuckle. I was going to kick all of Bree’s boyfriends’ asses when they came to the door. I’d probably escort her to prom and stand in the shadows to make sure they danced a foot apart.
The silence was heavy until I looked up at her. My hands shook a little, and I knew. All she had to do was say the words and we’d have a chance.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and I gave her a tentative smile.
She dropped her gaze, and my hands clenched while I fought back the urge to say what was on my mind. But I didn’t want to play games anymore. I was done with that.
She pressed her lips together and placed her elbows on the table, staring at the candle’s flames. “Dee?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”
“Have you . . .” She looked up at me and sucked in a deep breath. “Have you been ruining my dates on purpose? I know it seems a little out of left field to ask, but Tess has this theory that you’ve been trying to interfere. I told her she was insane, but I can’t stop thinking she might be right.” She finally looked at me head-on.
I held her gaze. “If I have been, would you blame me?”
She shook her head.
“Ask me to go, Gwen, and I will. Ask me to leave you alone, and I’ll walk out of here right now.” I leaned toward her and ghosted my lips across her cheek, and she jumped.
Her eyes closed, and she bit her lip in frustration. “That’s the problem. I couldn’t ask that of you even if I wanted to. That night I went to dinner with Thomas, he told me something I haven’t been able to get out of my head. He said no man in his right mind would stay and watch someone else’s children if he didn’t care. That if things between us weren’t real, you’d have left a long time ago.”
My heart twitched, and I bit my tongue to keep from saying something stupid. Like I love you. Or Marry me and have my babies.
She turned in the chair, her entire body angled to face me, then tilted her chin up and squinted to see deeper into my eyes. She scooted forward to perch on the edge of her chair, and I slid forward, too, and pulled her legs in between my knees.
“Is that true?” she asked. “Because hearing you took the job because you wanted to get your inheritance—or because you only wanted to sleep with me—makes me sick to my stomach. But you stayed, so now I’m just confused.”
“Yeah. Of course it’s true. I could have left a long time ago, but I didn’t, right? I’m not here to prove anything to anyone. And I once told you that I don’t say things I don’t mean. You’ve already heard I don’t stick around when I don’t need to.”
“I’ve been pushing you away because I didn’t want the kids to get hurt if something happened. You know that.”
“I do know that. It’s practically beating a dead horse at this point. So I’ll say it again—we’re on the same page.”
“But, also, it’s because of something else. I think I was afraid of getting close to you because every man I’ve ever loved . . . isn’t here anymore. And maybe I’m a curse. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“That’s a terrible thing to think about yourself. We have a chance, you know. We do.”
“I want to believe you.” She nodded, took my hand, and guided it to the top of her thigh. We both stopped breathing for a second. My palm rested above her knee, and I followed suit with my other hand until I was gripping both her thighs and leaning toward her, our faces just inches apart. She placed a warm palm on my cheek and ran her thumb across the deep, dark circles under my eyes, a look of concern clouding her features before she lifted her face to mine and pulled my mouth to hers.
Our lips met, slow and deliberate, testing what we were feeling. The frantic kisses from before were mere blips on my radar, the memories of them so fuzzy they almost didn’t matter. Not compared to this. I pulled her closer, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I gripped her hips, angling her body toward me so there would be no doubt in her mind about how much I wanted this. How much I wanted her.
She broke the kiss and sat back to look at me, a blush on her cheeks and neck. I lifted my hands to her hair, wrapped my fingers in the strands, and pulled her face to mine again, kissing her deeper, tasting her and wanting more with each pass of her tongue across mine.
“Andrew,” she sighed against my lips.
“Don’t say it’s over.” If she said it I would lose my mind. “I’m telling the truth.”
“Thank you,” she murmured before kissing me again, breathing hard against my mouth. “Thank you, thank you, thank you . . . for this. Tonight. Everything.”
I shifted away to press my forehead to hers, then took a shaky breath and stared into her eyes. There was an explosion of applause and catcalls from the kitchen as we pulled apart.
Xander placed his hands over his mouth like a megaphone. “Get a room!”
Gwen cradled her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as I pulled her up from the chair.
“What do you think? Sho
uld we get a room?” I asked.
She nodded and straightened her shoulders. “I can think of somewhere we can go.”
We walked out into the balmy night air and she laid a palm against my chest. “My car is here.” Her hands were shaking as she lifted the keys, so I took them and drove us back to the house, one hand on the wheel and the other on her the entire way.
When we exited the car, I kissed the hell out of her, loving every curve of her lips and the feel of her tongue while it worked against mine in circles. I couldn’t stop touching, running my fingers across the zipper on the back of her dress and through the curls in her hair. Every inch of me needed to touch her.
I pressed my hands against her back just enough to keep our bodies connected. I was throbbing against her, my hips shifting into her of their own accord. I wanted her. Tonight. I wanted to be hers and to make her mine.
I scooped her up and carried her into the house and up the stairs. My lips were relentless against her neck and jaw, working their way over each and every sweet inch of skin they could find.
“What time are the kids supposed to be home?” She pulled on the front of my shirt to shove her hands under it and slide them along my skin.
I kissed my way up the side of her neck. “I told you. They’re spending the night with your mom.”
I set her feet on the ground, and she swiped her hand down the front of my belt and over the zipper of my pants. “Then what are we waiting for?”
We raced up the stairs. I caught her hand at the landing to spin her and shove her against the wall. My hands were up her skirt and clawing at her panties, my fingers sliding under the elastic and kneading her ass cheeks. I ground myself into her, and she moaned into my mouth while my fingers dug against her skin.
“I want to be inside you,” I said, rolling my hips and lifting her thigh to anchor my hard-on against her. She pushed back against me and led us to her room, where I wasted no time unzipping her dress and pushing it down over her hips until it hit the floor. I walked her backward until her ass hit the vanity, and I lifted her onto it and stepped between her thighs.