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Autumn stays quiet a moment and I wonder if she fell asleep. Until she gently fists my shirt. “Yes.” She lifts her head and rests her chin on my chest. “We love being here.”
I sweep a few wayward strands from her brow and tuck them behind her ear. Then lean up to kiss her. We lie in the bed until the alarm buzzes. For the rest of the day, we take it easy. We order Chinese takeout and laugh over fortune cookies, and another helping of cake and ice cream while watchingThe Secret Life of Pets.
When Clementine falls asleep, I extend my hand to Autumn. “Come sit out back with me for a bit.” She takes my hand as I lead her to the patio.
I light the fire bowl before sitting on the lounger and nestling Autumn between my legs. We stare at the flames and weave our fingers together. I close my eyes and breathe in her cherry vanilla scent, letting it center and soothe me as I muster up the courage to tell her about yesterday.
Inhale. Hold it. And exhale. I do this a few times. “Autumn,” I say softly. “I need to tell you something, but don’t want you to freak out.”
As the words leave my lips, she locks up. Not moving for ten rapid beats. Then she breathes again and twists to look at me. “What is it?”
I swallow, trying to dampen the sudden dryness in my throat. “Leo stopped by the garage yesterday.”
She sits up straighter and spins to face me full-on. “What?” she exclaims, eyes wide with fear. “Why? What did he want? How did he know where you work?”
All questions I wanted answers to as well. Honestly, I think he was looking to start a physical altercation with me to make Autumn appear bad in the court’s eyes. Too bad for him, I am not a dumbass.
I relay everything that happened. How Leo flaunted his tail feathers and acted possessive. How I kept my cool but put him in his place. And how Dad stood in my peripheral the entire time and had my back. When I finish, Autumn shakes her head. Not because she doesn’t believe me, but more as if she doesn’t understand his sudden interest.
“Just let your attorney know as soon as possible. Sometimes, little things add up in the end.”
We stay out by the fire a while longer, enjoy the quiet as our minds run wild. When I extinguish the flame, I guide us back in the house and to the bedroom. As soon as we step over the threshold, I pull Autumn into my arms.
“In here, we don’t talk about anything but you and me and, occasionally, that little girl in the other room.” I trace along Autumn’s jaw and tip her chin up. “Okay?”
She nods. “Yes.” Pressing up on her toes, she leans in and kisses me. On her next breath, she says, “Let’s go to bed.” And I let Autumn guide me to the bed as we peel away our clothes.
FIFTEEN
AUTUMN
Jonas snores softly beneath me. His chest rises and falls in a slow, rhythmic pattern under my cheek. Palm over his heart, I fan out my fingers, tempted to draw patterns into his skin with my fingertips. But I lie unmoving, eyes closed, mind unable to shut down.
New questions run wild in my head. Questions asking what Leo aims to accomplish with his relentlessness. What is his endgame in this scenario? What is he out to accomplish? I just don’t get it. If he would have stepped back into the picture within the first two years, I might have understood the desire to be a part of Clementine’s life easier.
But too much time has passed. Too many circumstances in both our lives have changed. For someone who ditched me—us—without a backward glance, Leo’s newfound persistence worries me. His pursuit of sole custody of Clementine is tied up with something. Something just out of my reach. And it twists my insides in a nauseating pretzel.
Ineedto learn what’s behind his motivation and soon. I need the truth behind his sudden desire to be a father. Not just for the sake of knowing, but because Clementine’s well-being hangs in the balance.
Curling farther into Jonas’s side, I work to match my breathing pattern to his. Inhaling his unique scent, my body relaxes more. And before long, I dream about Jonas at my side until we are old and gray.
* * *
What’s better than a great night of sleep? Waking up with Jonas’s lips on my skin. God, if every day starts like this, I will never leave this bed.
After he ignites every inch of my skin and liquifies each molecule in me—three times—we stumble out of bed and dress. My legs are noodles walking on gelatin as we exit the bedroom and I slap a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.
Clementine lays curled in a semi-fetal position with Spartan as a partial pillow. But it won’t be long before she wakes.
Jonas and I step into the bathroom, brush our teeth, and groom enough to not look as if we have spent the last hour trying to yank each other’s hair out. I skip putting on makeup and twist my hair into a topknot.
Stepping up behind me, Jonas locks eyes with me in the mirror over the vanity. His hands secure on my hips, lips grazing the shell of my ear. “I love waking up with you in the morning. Seeing you like this.” He kisses the spot below my ear, grinds his hips against my low back, then locks his gaze with mine again. “Natural and perfect and more stunning than ever.”
I spin around, tip my head back, and lace my fingers at the nape of his neck. “You trying to flatter me, Mr. Thompson?”
His intense, addictive hazels lock me in place and I stop breathing. Heart thrashing against my ribcage. Limbs tingling as heat courses through my veins and sparks new life. Jonas drops his chin an inch, his lips so close I practically taste the peppermint on his tongue. He traces the tip of his nose along the ridge of mine and I stutter an exhale.
“How can I not?” he whispers against my lips. “Hope you let me flatter and compliment and kiss you every day.”
