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Jeff was floored when he saw the look that came over his son’s face. Almost as if the boy was trying to peg her into a certain hole but couldn’t, Zach’s forehead wrinkled as he gave her an uncertain nod.
As she smiled and turned to leave, Zach looked torn, and that made Jeff feel torn as well. “Janet,” his son finally spoke and his simple, sincere words made Jeff’s heart catch. “Thanks.”
Her smile widened as if she’d been blessed by the Pope himself. “Sure thing, kiddo.”
With that, she turned to leave the room and Jeff made himself scarce before she found him loitering in the hallway.
With his feelings as fucked up as they’d ever been, he went to the garage and pulled down the foldaway steps that led to the attic. With the memory of Janet’s pure, undiluted care of his son ringing in his mind, an answering need exploded within him. He climbed the steps with purpose, to retrieve Zach’s baby bed for Hannah.
****
On Wednesday morning, Janet was cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast. Hannah sat in her highchair and Janet worried that she and Jeff were getting in way too deep. Taking care of Zach was a domestic chore that had turned out to be no chore at all.
And her hormones were seriously all over the place. The memory of Jeff telling her they should get married beat like a drum that wouldn’t let her forget his ultimate goal. And maybe it wasn’t love, of course it wasn’t love, but the connection was there and it was only growing more intense between them as the days went by. It didn’t escape her notice that Jeff was trying, trying to make her feel at home here, trying his best with Hannah.
The baby bed that had shown up in her room, with sheets and mattress included, almost blew her mind. It had undoubtedly been Zach’s as a baby, and that Jeff would now give it to Hannah as if she were the next in line was doing a serious number on everything feminine within her.
But it was worse that that.
The scents in the house were beginning to feel like home—her home, Hannah’s home. All of her senses suddenly felt elevated, making her feminine hormones come to life. Was it because Jeff had asked her to marry him? Was it because they were sleeping together? Was it because his son was beginning to feel like her own? Whatever it was, the scents in the house seemed to become more fragrant as the days passed by. The noises and creaks that she’d been unused to just a few weeks ago were beginning to soothe her at night.
But what really alarmed her and made her scared for her sanity was the simple joy she began experiencing as she performed even the smallest, most everyday chore. Her touch seemed to become more sensory, and it seemed to be directly related to the house and the furnishings. The longer she took care of the house, the more it felt like hers. Dusting was no longer a mundane chore; the wood underneath her cloth became a tactile experience that she let herself enjoy.
She hoped like hell that she was doing the right thing by staying here. If it was just her, she wouldn’t worry so much. But she had Hannah, and first and foremost, Hannah had to be her number one priority.
****
On Wednesday afternoon, Jeff began counting the days. This was the fifth day—without having Janet to himself and he was quietly going insane. He needed his son to get well and back to school. Not only for his kid, but for himself. Unfortunately, the doctor had been adamant. The crap that was going around was a bad strain, and Zach needed to stay home from school the entire week.
Jeff hadn’t been able to get his slow moving, shit for brains to figure out exactly what that had meant on Monday. But now, on Wednesday, as Hannah was down for a nap and once again, Janet was in Zach’s room, Jeff didn’t know why he’d been so slow on the uptake.
Of course she’d want to be with Zach while Hannah was asleep. Not only was it time for Zach to eat his lunch, but evidently, it was giving Janet some alone time to ‘spoil him.’ Jeff didn’t know how he felt about that, exactly.
He was trying like hell not to be jealous of the time she was giving to his kid, because that was just all kinds of fucked up, and besides, it wasn’t jealousy anyway—he was actually relieved she was taking such good care of his son.
What Jeff was feeling could more aptly be described as frustration; his frustration level was soaring as the days went by.
And now, as he stood just outside the bedroom door and saw Zach sitting at his desk eating his lunch while Janet stripped and changed his sheets, he was swamped with a feeling unlike anything he’d known in a long time—not since Zach had been small and had taken up damn near all of Bonnie’s time.
Jeff had been irritated and frustrated then, but he’d had to hide it and act like a mature human being—a father who knew his baby had certain ‘first’ rights to his mother.
And now, the feeling was the same but only worse and that petrified the shit out of him.
Back then, he’d known Bonnie was his and eventually, he’d get her back, he just had to be patient.
But now, he seemed to be even more irritated and frustrated, but not only that, he was worried he was going to fuck up and let his selfish feelings show. And if Janet got pissed at him for that—it could be bad as she was already worried about Zach becoming attached, hell, she might pack up and leave if he screwed up now.
So, damn, he felt like he was walking a tightrope and he didn’t know how to handle it.
****
By Thursday, it was obvious that his son was on the mend. At noon, when Jeff made his presence heard as he glanced inside his son’s room, two pair of eyes turned to face him. Zach had been flipping through channels with his remote as Janet walked from his son’s bathroom, carrying an armful of towels.
Jeff had no time to speak as Janet beat him to the punch. “Zach’s homeroom teacher called. She has the lessons he’s missed ready for him. Can you run to town and pick them up?”
Glancing at his son, Jeff asked, “You ready for that?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to get too far behind—it sucks when I’m behind.”
Jeff nodded his head. “All right, be back soon.”
With that, he used the opportunity to escape.
****
On Friday, Jeff made himself face what he’d been denying: He wouldn’t get to have Janet alone until noon on Monday, when Zach was back at school. His son was in the kitchen now, eating his lunch.
Jeff sat down at the table, a more prominent thought mixing with the shit that was already fighting for space in his head. Was Janet going to leave the next day to go to Parker’s? And if she did, how the hell could he keep it contained? The answer was simple; he wouldn’t be able to control himself. There was no fucking way. He could feel his muscles seize up at the mere thought. He knew it was utterly ridiculous to be so damn jealous but he couldn’t seem to help it.
He decided there was only one way to handle the problem: He had to be proactive. Finishing his iced tea, he stood up from the table, walked into his study, shut the door and picked up the phone.
****
Early the next morning, Jeff was in his office outside in the barn. He wasn’t hiding from Janet—goddamn, he wasn’t a pussy, of course he wasn’t hiding from her. The girl didn’t scare him.
But still, he was beginning to know her better, learn the ins and outs of her personality. And she wasn’t going to be happy with him when she found out what he’d done.
Just as he had the thought, he glanced out the window and saw her coming in the direction of the barn, marching, one foot in front of the other with dedicated purpose.
Fuck. The blowout was going to be bad. But he absolutely had to keep a lid on it because he didn’t have her signature on the dotted line yet. He needed that goddamn signature like he needed air to breathe and he needed it soon.
She didn’t have Hannah in tow, so he assumed the baby was probably in her playpen, where Zach could keep an eye on her for a few minutes.
Janet rounded the corner of his office and stood in the threshold, her arms akimbo, eyes spitting blue fire. “What the hell did you do?”
&
nbsp; He knew exactly what she was referring to, of course. There was no question that Jason Parker had phoned the house and spoken to her, just as he’d directed the other man to do. Just as Jeff had threatened that the other man had better do—phone her and tell her that her services weren’t needed anymore.
“What?” he asked, stalling the inevitable.
