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“Nate loves being surrounded by women,” Autumn pointed out. “Anyway, just be thankful we’re not all coming here. This way you get to cuddle with Skyler and watch whatever you’d like on the television.”
“And you don’t have to listen to girl talk all night,” Lydia teased. “That’s a double win.”
“I like girl talk.” Griff tapped her with his elbow. “You know that.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll fill you in on all the gossip when we’re back. Unless you’re asleep.”
They waved goodbye to Griff, and Lydia couldn’t help but smile at the difference between his giant body, and the tiny form of Skyler. She was snuggled against his chest, a contented smile lifting her chubby cheeks.
A glance at Autumn’s expression told Lydia she was as captivated with Griff as her daughter. Her bottom lip wobbled, as though she didn’t want to leave them.
“Come on,” Lydia said, sliding her arm through her sister’s. “We’ll only be gone a few hours. And you can message Griff while we’re gone.”
“I might not answer though,” Griff told them. “I’m kind of sleepy.”
“You’d better.” Autumn lifted a brow. “And I want photos, too.”
“The naked kind?” Griff waggled his eyebrows.
“Eeugh. Can you guys cut it out?” Lydia pleaded. Though her thoughts weren’t on Griff and Autumn at all. Instead, she was thinking about Jackson and the way his finger trailed along her hip last night. How his lips had felt warm and soft as they’d brushed against hers. She swallowed hard at the memory of the rush of blood to her skin as he curled his fingers around her hip, pulling her closer.
And then it had ended abruptly, with the arrival of his dad.
In just a few days, he’d come to dominate her thoughts, and she had no idea what to do about it. All she knew was that she wanted to know him. To feel him. To touch him.
And she also wanted to know who Hayley was.
Tonight, she was going to find out. All of Jackson’s friends – of the female variety – would be at Ally’s house for cocktails. They’d have to know about Hayley and Jackson, and why he kept blowing hot and cold.
“When I asked for photos, I mean of Skyler, you goof.” Autumn shook her head at Griff, and allowed Lydia to lead her to the waiting car.
Griff winked and blew her a kiss. Autumn blew him one right back.
“Come on, let’s go,” Lydia said, pulling open the door. It was time to kick back, have some fun, and maybe get some answers about Jackson.
“It’s seven o’clock,” Lisa pointed out. “You should go home.”
Jackson looked up from the screen, his eyes blinking as they adjusted to the darkening office. “Seven? Seriously? Last time I looked it was four.”
Lisa shook her head. “I’ve fed Eddie, but he needs a walk.” She leaned down to tickle Eddie’s chin. His tongue lolled out with pleasure. “And you need to get some fresh air. You’ve been in here for twelve hours.”
“What are you still doing here anyway?” Jackson asked her. “You finish at six, don’t you?”
Lisa nodded. “Usually. But I worked an extra hour tonight because I have an appointment tomorrow, remember?”
No, he didn’t. But he was always flexible with his staff’s hours. Two of his programmers were pathologically allergic to early mornings, so they didn’t start work until eleven. They usually finished at eight, but sometimes worked through the night like Jackson.
As long as they got the job done, he really didn’t care what hours they worked. He was the one who needed to be here during office hours, in case of problems with their clients.
Being in the office had one added bonus. He didn’t keep walking past the bathroom to remember that damn hot almost-kiss he and Lydia had shared last night.
Who was he kidding? He didn’t need to be there to remember it. Each slide of his finger and hitch of her breath was etched into his brain. That’s why he’d tried to bury himself in his work, so he didn’t keep wondering what would have happened if his dad hadn’t arrived.
His lips curled up as he remembered her parting words. That she wasn’t at all sorry about what happened. He wasn’t either. He was just sorry it had ended so abruptly.
Yeah, so why haven’t you called her?
Truth was, he’d thought about it all day. But he had this damn program to sort out before somebody figured out how to get through the hole in his client’s defenses. But now the job was almost done – ten minutes and he’d run some tests. After that?
