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“No worries. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we’re here. Sort of. I mean, we’re in the driveway.”
He hesitated. It didn’t seem right to leave the three of them sitting in her car while Thanksgiving turkey was served. “We’re just about to eat. Want to come in? They’ll be okay for a few.”
“No, I don’t want to leave them. I have the heat on.”
She wore a navy blue pea coat that he knew she reserved for special occasions, but it wasn’t the warmest one she owned. The temperature had dropped to about twenty degrees. Was she warm enough? Was that a shiver? Where was her hat? She’d probably left it in the car. Jenna disliked hats because they wreaked havoc on her fine hair.
“Have you eaten?”
“Oh yes. Gorged is a better word. Thank God for stretchy waistbands.”
He didn’t want to picture her waistband. He wished she wouldn’t mention things of a physical nature like that. But she had no idea that it affected him. He never let on that it did.
“Let me get a plate of food and I’ll come sit with you until they wake up.”
She cocked her head, considering. Scanning him with that moonlight gaze. “That’s not necessary. I can hang out by myself. I don’t want to break my Wordle streak.”
“Well, would you mind? It just doesn’t feel right, being Thanksgiving and all.”
After more thought, she nodded. “They probably won’t sleep too long, anyway. You know Bean. He’ll be up and ready for more trouble in no time. He’s really excited to see Danny and Teddy. They both are.”
The Cooper cousins. Billy loved it. No one could say he didn’t provide his boys with high-quality cousins. “I’ll be right out.”
“Okay. No rush.”
“What are you talking about? Wordle takes you about ten seconds.”
“My average is actually five seconds,” she corrected. “If only Wordle was a sport.”
“You’d be a superstar.”
“Yup, you could retire and I could support the family.”
He gave her a smile that came right from the bottom of his heart. Of all the things he appreciated about their post-divorce life, he loved the fact that she still called them a “family” the most.
Two
She was a fool. Jenny knew better than to sit in a cozy dark car with her ex-husband, with their kids napping in the backseat. It was a complete violation of one of Jenna’s Rules for a Happy Divorce, which weren’t copyrighted but should be.
Do not allow yourself to feel attraction to your ex.
That was very hard to do when you were putting yourself in the exact same situation that had gotten them married in the first place. Teenagers in dark cars with raging hormones and lack of experience with protection, yup, she remembered that feeling all too well.
But she and Billy hadn’t had much chance to talk since the season had ended, so she resigned herself to some alone-time with her ex. She should be used to this after three years. But maybe she’d never really get used to it.
He was Billy Cooper, after all. She watched him emerge from Thomas’ farmhouse, his tall form backlit by the warm light from the kitchen, and sighed. Things would be so much freaking easier if she’d married someone less sexually potent. Every long and easy stride screamed both confidence and fun. Just the same as it ever was.
Block it out. Don’t let him get under your skin. You got this. You have to.
But he’s so damn sexy in his dress-for-dinner clothes. Those black pants hugging his thighs. That sweater clinging to his muscles like a coat of paint.
She could handle everyday Billy without blinking an eye. But Thanksgiving Billy was a whole different story.
She scrambled for Plan B. Another helpful technique was to remember all the things about their relationship that didn’t work, but she didn’t like to fall back on that one because it left her feeling peevish and grumpy. But a girl had to do what a girl had to do.
When he opened the car door, she whispered, fairly sharply, “Don’t spill anything, I just cleaned the car.”
“Really?”
