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Chris laughed, nodding his head. “It does cling.”
“Thank you for bringing theboysby,” Annie said, winking. “With the emphasis on boys. You guys will be my stepsons. Remember that.”
“Ah! The wicked stepmother,” Ben said drolly.
“Stepsister is more like it,” Joel said.
“You’re impossible, Joel.” Chris leaned over to kiss Annie. “I’ll call you later.”
The boys called out goodbye, Joel’s behavior ignored, and walked to the car.
“Alrighty,” Annie said, thinking,you’d better not forget.“With my luck, you’ll be too busy and I’ll get an apology text instead of a call.”
“Annie, if you’d let me, I’d sleep here tonight.”
Annie looked at Chris sidelong. Was she ready for makeup sex? Reaching up with her finger, she gently traced a line with her fingernail from the end of the sleeve of his T-shirt, slowly down the length of his arm to his palm.
“You want to sleep here tonight?” she whispered.
“I want to make it up to you for being a jerk,” he said. “I got the meaning of your look. I didn’t have the nerve to tell you the boys living here was permanent.”
“I guess sleeping here is a good start to an apology.”
He swallowed, grinning, nodding his head. “Do you want me to?” he asked.
“What do you think?”
“I’ll send you a text when I leave. I hope my guests will be ready to go by ten.”
“Ten it is.”
He stopped at the door and turned to her again. “Just an FYI, we ran into Val in Spencers, and I told him I knew about the rape accusation. It might have put an end to my relationship with him.”
“Oh, wow, Chris. I’m sorry. What a thing to have to deal with on top of everything else.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Anyway, later.”
She stood at the door, watching them leave, Chris’s eyes on her the entire time. Maybe the shake-up in their relationship would be good for them. The situation between her and Joel, maybe not so much.
That night, after dinner and Stevie’s bath and bedtime, Annie treated herself to a bubble bath and candles, something she had enjoyed in the past but hadn’t taken the time for since becoming a mother. Afterward, she sat on the couch with a book and after a few minutes of reading, she fell asleep.
Around eleven, her phone beeped, waking her. It was Chris.
“Hi, everyone just left. Is it too late to come over?”
“Not at all. I’ll see you soon.”
She straightened up the living room and went back to her bedroom to change the sheets. Just as she finished brushing her teeth, she heard his car pull into the driveway.
“Wow, you’re waiting at the door for me,” he said, smiling. “And wearing a sexy nighty. You know I love that one on you.”
It was off the shoulder and she pulled it down a little lower. “Do you like this?” she asked. “I’ll buy more of them.”
“I love it!” He pushed her inside, closing the door behind him. “Take me to your bedroom, please. I’m about ready to explode.”
“Wow, I guess I’m pretty lucky,” she said, smiling up at him. “You waited for me.”
“I saw you and that’s all it took. I want you, Annie.”
