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When Grace came over with her man and hugged Sky, I decided we should go. I was feeling things that weren’t necessarily new when it came to Skylar, but the force of my emotions were something new and confusing, and it felt wrong.
Sucking the last drop from my glass, I signal the flight attendant for another drink.
She’ll never bemySkylar.
It can’t happen.
I need to forget about her, too.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Skylar
The weekend started out great.
I was riding high after our show Thursday night. I even caved in and went out dancing with my friends at some new club downtown. I skipped the martinis this time, though. I didn’t need the liquid courage and I was practically walking on air after killing it with Misha in our duet.
When I first saw Olivia and Leo in the crowd, I was beyond shocked. I never breathed a word of it to Olivia, knowing she’d hound her dad about coming. And I would never in a million years have invited Leo. I was so damn nervous before the show that it took me no less than five attempts to fasten my bra before I was successful. The thought of him watching me up there would have totally messed with my focus.
So it was a good thing I didn’t spot them until the curtain call. And then I was glad he came, not to mention a little bit emotional about it. It was a sweet thing to do for his little girl, but maybe it meant more. Things had changed between us since our road trip to my hometown. It was subtle—and who knows, maybe I was totally imagining it—but he was looking at me differently, studying me in a way that gave me a ridiculous sense of hope.
I’ve given up on pretending that I don’t want him. I dream about him, I want him, I love him.
And it’s not because he’s hot, or that he’s intelligent, or that he’s got his act together and he’s kind. It’s all of those things and so much more. When I see the way he interacts with Olivia, I can’t imagine there’s a man on the planet more caring and devoted than he is. I want to know what it feels like to have the love of a man like Leo Hale.
I was still riding high on Friday afternoon when I picked up a very excited Olivia from school and then raced back to the house to meet Sienna and Garth. Once they heard Leo was leaving Friday morning, they asked if they could tack an extra night onto their trip. Two nights? Sure. Piece of cake.
Not.
James is beyond adorable and I love, love, love him—don’t get me wrong—but he doesnotwillingly take a bottle, as promised, and he doesn’t sleep anywherecloseto four hours straight, as those two con artists led me to believe.
Last night was rough. James was up half the night and thenfinallywent down for a snooze at six a.m. but Olivia woke up half an hour later, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to play with the baby. I put on a cartoon, begged her not to wake him and then nodded off with her on my lap, figuring that if she made a move I’d wake up. And it worked, I think.
I had big plans for Saturday, now that the weather finally got the memo that it was late April, but alas, we never made it out of the house. Between changing diapers, entertaining Olivia, and cleaning spit up off the couch, my clothes and the carpet because he didnotlike the baby formula or the breast milk Sienna pumped in advance—let’s just say I was dragging ass by noon.
By six o’clock I was back in my pajama shorts, wearing my one and only clean shirt while the rest of my clothes were in the washing machine. Me and Olivia had chocolate chip cookies for dinner, washed down with orange juice, and the poor thing was wiped out and in bed by eight-thirty after dancing and singing her little head off all day in an effort to entertain a very cranky James.
I’m not expecting anyone, so I should be mildly alarmed when I hear the front door open a few hours later, but I’ve just got no gas left in the tank.
I turn to see Leo surveying the disaster that was once his clean house. There are toys all over the living room, the sink is filled with dishes, and I probably look like I just went nine rounds with Rhonda Rousey.
“Hi,” I whisper from the couch.
“Hey.” He looks like he’s trying not to smile. “Rough night?”
“Not too bad.”
“Yeah?” He lets out a soft laugh. “Is he colicky or something?”
“He never was before. It’s like he won’t take the bottle from me for some reason.”
“And he usually takes one no problem?”
“I’ve seen Garth feed him a bottle and he guzzles it right down. Grandy, that’s Garth’s mother…her too. He’s just been so fussy. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
He pulls his collar away from his neck like he’s overheated or something. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that your sister is breast feeding him?”
I nod and then follow the path Leo’s eyes are taking. James is squirming around again, his mouth making an eager attempt to get at my boob. Great. I’m too tired to do anything but throw my head back in exhaustion.
