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“Yeah?” he asked, entering her personal space again. He didn’t touch her this time, not physically, yet as he looked deep into her eyes, the effects of a caress rippled through her. “Then plan on making a lot of extra cookies, because you’re not going anywhere, and neither am I.”
“Except to work.” She tipped her head toward the wall clock. A safer exit from the conversation than addressing the expectation head on.
“Right. Guess I’d better get on that.” He warmed her lips with a sweet kiss, dropped a soft one on Sachi’s forehead, then turned and sprinted up the stairs, putting his athletic physique on display. Yum. If he’d been disappointed by her lack of verbal commitment, he didn’t show it.
She should be relieved. Standing in the hall without him, the clock ticking down the few remaining minutes he’d be around—literally—she felt anything but.
* * *
LEIGH
She’d been alonefour hours. Okay, four hours and twelve minutes, to be precise. In that time, she’d accomplished a lot. Scooped the litter box, returned the bombtastic kitchen to its preferred pristine state, scrubbed the bathroom, and caught up on the laundry. All the regular weekend tasks she hadn’t had time to do while caring for Sachi. Amazing what could be accomplished without a newborn in the mix.
Lennox and the puppy wouldn’t be home until tomorrow evening. Smokey had settled into his usual evening snoozing spot at the end of the couch. The house was serene. And the serenity was deafening.
A problem—if you could even call it that—easily fixed by television. Wine glass in one hand, she retrieved the remote from the spotless coffee table. A single click brought the screen to life, filling the silence with scripted dialogue while casting a bluish glow over the living room. Unnatural, but it’d do for a distraction.
The thought stopped her mid-sip of pinot gris. Since when did she need a distraction from a peaceful evening to herself? Clearly, she wasn’t meant to sit around and do nothing with this gift of solitary time. The universe was signaling her to get up and be busy. That’s all this was. Not wallowing in loneliness. She wasn’t lonely, she simply missed her daughter, as she always did when Lennox was away. This was normal empty-house syndrome. Nothing more.
The cat lifted his head enough to shoot her an annoyed stare as she sprang from the couch.
“Sorry to disturb you, your highness.” Not only did her sarcasm have no effect on the cranky kitty, the reference to royalty reminded her of the time she and Sam had referred to each other as Cinderella and Prince Charming. Not so long ago, yet it felt like a distant memory.
She tapped and scrolled through her phone until she reached the exchange. A great time, as they always had together. Even this weekend, when the bulk of their minutes had been consumed by baby activities, it’d still been great.
She sighed, pushing down the urge to shoot him a message so he’d send one back. Or better yet, call back. They could talk about anything or nothing, it didn’t matter, she loved hearing his voice. His laugh.
She sighed again, this time while putting her phone to sleep. No point in sending a message he wouldn’t get until later, after his evening client sessions ended. He wouldn’t have time to answer then either. He’d have to hurry to his sister’s house to put on his single-dad hat. He’d be lucky to get a couple of short chunks of sleep in before heading back to the gym for his early-morning appointments. His schedule for the next twenty-four hours didn’t include time for calling her. Or texting her. Neither did the rest of his upcoming week.
If she wanted to hear his voice, she’d have to go to Focus for a workout so she could eavesdrop on somebody else’s interaction with him. Not remotely personal contact. Definitely not the stuff of romantic relationships.
She’d known it would be like this. She just hadn’t realized how much she’d care, or how much she’d hate it.
Chapter 13
SAM
Sam finished updatinghis client’s progress, saved the file and logged out. Then remembered another new exercise they’d discussed for their next session. “Sugar,” he said, logging in for the third time.
“Sugar?” Brian grinned as he joined Sam behind the front counter. “That’s new.”
“Doing a little personal training on myself. Leigh suggested cutting out any words I wouldn’t want Sachi to repeat.”
“Leigh’s suggestion.” The big man’s ginger eyebrows rose. “I guess that means things are going well.”
Sam raised a finger to pause the conversation while he added the note to the file. Hopefully, that was everything. Regardless, he was closing the damn thing for the last time.
Changes have not been saved! Proceed anyway?Yes— No
“Shit,” he said, the instant his index finger hit theEnterbutton.
“I think you meant sugar.”
He shot a visual dart at his boss and best friend. “No, that time, I definitely meant shit.”
Chuckling, Brian clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve done that too, and I’m not running on a sleep deficit. Can I do anything to help?”
“No, you’ve done tons already, letting me flex my schedule all over the place while I scramble to find babysitting from one day to the next.”
