Alyssa laughed. They had this argument all the time.
Whenever he showed up on her doorstep, he arrived with food. He came over and either dished up takeout or cooked up a feast. It had become a tradition he had started long before they'd become lovers and now, after an early morning run, Jack made the most delicious omelets with fresh veggies and some kind of meat.
The other day he'd served her smoked salmon and poached eggs on a bed of spinach and sliced mushrooms cooked in a butter sauce so delicious she'd licked her plate when she'd finished. Today he'd brought bacon. She had seen it when she'd helped put the food away before they'd headed out for their ten miles of torture.
Smiling, she slipped on her robe and busied herself with towel drying the excess water from her hair then brushed out the tangles. It was longer than usual, a little past her shoulder blades, but no matter the length, the amount of it always meant tangles which was why she generally kept it short, only long enough to corral in a tail to keep it out of the way.
Except today she wanted to leave it down which meant she needed to dry it. Fumbling around under the sink for the hairdryer she rarely used, she shoved aside the thoughts swirling in her head about her and Jack as easily as she shoved aside boxes of tampons and condoms.
She frowned at the condoms.
That was another concern.
She'd agreed to forego them after they'd both been tested because a couple of times they'd forgotten. They'd been safe, she was on birth control and she didn't miss that shot for nothing and nobody. Made sure she was at least a week early on getting it too. There was no way she was going to be a single mom. Not after she'd witnessed firsthand the way raising a child on her own had destroyed her mother and made Alyssa's younger years a living hell.
Now there were some unpleasant thoughts.
Shoving all the crap in her brain out she snatched up the hairdryer and plugged it in. "I'm not going back there. Never going back there," she muttered as she flicked on the dryer and got to work.
She was almost done when Jack returned and stood in the bathroom doorway; much to her regret he'd dressed. Although, in low slung, cut-off above the knee sweatpants and a tight t-shirt, he still made desire spike in spite of their recent fuck. If it wasn't for the look on his face she might have initiated round two.
His gaze held equal amounts confusion, curiosity, and...disappointment?
What the fuck? Turning off the dryer so she could hear him, she asked, "Did you need something?"
"I didn't realize you had a kid."
"What?" Alyssa lowered the hairdryer to the counter. "A kid?"
"Yeah, you never mentioned it."
"I never mentioned it because I don't have one, Flyboy. What the hell makes you think I have a kid?"
"The one that looks like you."
"The one that looks like me?"
"Yeah. The one at the door."
"The one at the door?"
"Yes. The kid at the door. Teenager. Maybe. A girl." Jack glanced over his shoulder as though he expected someone to be right behind him.
Shaking her head, her mind swirling with confusion, she said, "Jack, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't have any children and if I did, you'd know about it. You've been in my house often enough. A kid isn't exactly something you can hide and why the hell would I?"
He frowned. "Sister then."
Alyssa matched his frown with one of her own. "I don't have a sister, either."
Shrugging, he leaned against the doorframe. "She's gotta be related somehow. She looks like a younger, paler version of you. My first thought was daughter, but she could be your sister."
Daughter... Sister... She had no idea what Jack was talking about and the longer this conversation went on, the more confusing it got. "Look, Jack, I'm an only child and..."
Oh, fuck no!
Shoving passed Jack, Alyssa raced for the front door.
God damn it. She'd promised. She'd fucking promised!
