He pulls me to him and places his lips on my forehead. “Good. But I never doubted.” His hands hold my hips.
“I did.” My reply is spoken to his chest.
“You should learn to trust your intuition.”
“Yeah, well, my intuition thought Mike was the hottest thing I'd ever come across. And look how that turned out.”
I feel a chuckle shaking his body. “I don't think that was your intuition talking.”
“You may be right,” I admit. “It must have been my lizard brain.”
“Hey, now you’re underestimating lizards.” His lips are somewhere near my ear. “Your intuition chose me,” he croons.
He’s fishing. It’s cute. Anders Anderson III is looking for affirmation. I let him have it. “Everything chose you.”
“I'll call you tonight,” he whispers, his lips caressing my ear. “After Effie is asleep.”
“Effie!” I wrench myself out of his grip. “I’m going to be late.” Again.
I dash out of his office without stopping for the kiss he was working up to. When I get to her childcare, Effie has her ‘you’re trying my patience’ face on.
She holds her tongue until we are home. Then she says, “We need to talk about dinner tomorrow.”
“What about it?”
“If Anders is to be my new stepdad…”
I interrupt that thought. “Nothing is fixed. It might not work out.”
“Exactly,” she emphasises. “Particularly if you cook for him.”
I object. “There’s nothing wrong with my cooking!”
“Do you remember the shepherd's pie?” Her mouth twists. The lid had come off the salt as I was making it. It was inedible. “And the homemade birthday cake?” I’d forgotten the sugar.
The curse of a child with a good memory. “What do you suggest?”
“Don’t try anything fancy. Stick to something you’re good at, like macaroni cheese. We want him to come back.” I really don’t think it’s my cooking that will keep Anders coming back but she’s too young to know that.
“Macaroni cheese, it is,” I agree.
Anders doesn't call until ten o'clock, long after Effie is asleep. When he does, I recognise his surroundings. “Are you still at work?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Steve's crew will be coming online soon. And I want a word with them before I go home.” The engineers at Cerium Malaysia are running double shifts. So are we, in a last intense sprint for the finish. Anders won’t stop working until long after I’m asleep.
“Do you remember last night?” He grins at me, and it's lascivious. Even his dimple appears to be winking.
Oh yes. Boy, do I remember last night. I can already feel the heat pooling at the thought of what I did to him.
“When you rode me hard and your breasts bounced each time you drove down.” His voice is lower, almost a growl. “That’s now my favourite memory.”
My lips curl at the praise.
“You have the most fabulous breasts. I wish I could see them now.”
And suddenly, I’m feeling brave. I unbutton the front of my pyjamas, pushing the cotton to the side, giving him full view.
He moans. “Touch them for me,” he says.
