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He reaches over to grip my thigh, his fingertips slipping into the warmth between them. “You want to help me release some of it?”
His sudden honeyed voice and touch causes heat to flood my core. Something tells me Shane would be fuck-me-against-the-wall aggressive tonight. “If only I could.” If Cody weren’t here, we’d already be tangled in bedsheets.
But Cody is here, and he is Shane’s priority, a reality that makes Shane even more attractive. I’ve heard of these men—these dedicated, loving fathers with their shit together. This is my first time seeing one up close and personal, though.
With a heavy sigh, Shane’s focus shifts to his bay window. A light blinks in the darkened room. I’m guessing Cody has parked himself to play his games. If he’s not spying on his father and teacher, that is. “I should go in and talk to him. He always gets rattled when he sees his mom like that.”
“Any idea what the fight was about?” Not that I care. I’m just curious. And Travis’s comment when he saw me in the truck makes me a little wary.
“No, but I’ll get it out of Cody soon enough. It’s usually money. That, or me.”
“You? They fight about you?”
He shrugs. “They used to, anyway. Travis would accuse her of caring too much about what’s going on in my life.”
“He might not be wrong.” Shane is her son’s father, though. What’s happening in Shane’s life affects Cody. But that only further lends itself to my theory that, even after all these years, Penelope still harbors feelings for her high school sweetheart.
“Maybe it was about Melissa again. They’ve been fighting a lot about her lately too. She likes to stick her nose in where it doesn’t belong. Travis hates her guts.”
“He definitely seemed pissed off.”
“And fed up,” Shane agrees. His expression is a mixture of annoyance and worry. “He may not be my favorite person, but she’s been more reasonable since they hooked up. Tolerable. So, for everyone’s sake, I hope they can work their shit out.”
I check my watch. It’s almost 9:00 p.m. What to do with my weekend, now that it has unexpectedly freed up? “So, I guess I’ll see you … Monday?” I struggle to hide the disappointment from my tone.
Shane chews his lip, his face pensive as he studies his bay window again. “Or you could just come in and hang out with us. Throw a movie in or something.”
“With you and Cody?”
“Yeah,” he says on a heavy exhale. “He’s probably going to hear about us from Penelope anyway. I’d rather he heard it from me instead of the negative spin she’ll put on it.”
I try to gauge Shane’s tone. Is that reluctance I hear? Is he feeling forced?
“I’m not sure damage control is a good reason for us to introduce our relationship to your son,” I say slowly, unable to hide the twinge of hurt that comes with this.
“That’s not what I mean.” He turns to face me. Sincerity shines in his eyes. “I’ve actually been thinking a lot lately about telling him. It’s time he knows how important you are to me.” He reaches for my hand and pulls my knuckles to his lips for a tender kiss.
My heart hammers. There have been plenty of whispers exchanged in the heat of the moment, expressions of how much pleasure we bring to each other, but we have yet to have a serious, clothed conversation about commitment.
“How important am I to you?” I hear myself ask. Shane said he wouldn’t introduce a woman into his son’s life unless he was serious about her. Has his perspective changed?
Or is this his way of making his feelings known to me?
He chuckles softly. God, how I love that sound. “You want me to say it out loud?”
My heart beats like a steady, thunderous drum. Yes.
His Adam’s apple bobs. “Important enough that my son should get used to you being in his life because I see you being in it for a long time.” He hesitates, his brow tightening. “Unless you’re not feeling the same way, in which case you should probably tell me now—”
“I feel the same way.” A rush of adrenaline surges through me as a new path ahead comes into clearer focus. One where I’m becoming a stepmother to an eleven-year-old boy. Not just a boy. Shane’s son, with Penelope Rhodes, the woman who terrorized me for years because of our parents’ mistake. Never would I have foreseen this for myself, that day in June when I took a casual drive along Hickory Street. Never would I have wished it. It’s funny, how drastically perspectives can change when your heart gets involved.
“So, that’s a yes to tonight?” he asks.
I picture myself standing in front of the class, with Cody staring back at me from his desk with eyes that match his father’s, only innocent. Will he tell his classmates that his dad is banging the teacher? Will my relationship with Cody’s father become the topic of teasing and gossip among my students?
