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He went still.
“Five more seconds,” she whispered, chest heaving. Even if it was five seconds, she wanted to spend them kissing him with his fingers inside her. “And the boys always knock.”
“Joel’s not really my daddy yet. It’s just his secret name that I call him.”Small hands tapped on the door. “Mama? Joel? Auntie Sydney’s here.”
Joel hesitated, then gently moved her aside and slid off the bed. He didn’t say a word as he walked into the bathroom, tousling his hair with his fingers.
Ayesha stared at the closed bathroom door.
This was a new development.
She tossed her legs over the side of the bed and thought about going to Joel’s closet to find something of his to wear over her nightgown. However, after a reaction like that, she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t rip it off for wearing it in front of Sydney.
Instead, she smoothed the fabric, let the cotton dress fall back to just above her knees, and opened the door. Theo rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her legs.
“Good morning, Mama. Did you sleep good?”
“I sleptverygood, my love.” She played with his curls, kissed the top of his head, and then looked up. “Good morning, Sydney.”
Sydney scanned her face, a woman who was an expert in whatjust finished making out with Joel Lattimorelooked like.
“I didn’t expect to find you and the boys here,” Sydney said. “I’m sorry about barging in like this.”
“We live here now,” Theo said, beaming.
Sydney glanced over Ayesha’s shoulder. “Oh. And Joel’s in there?”
“He’s in the bathroom.” Ayesha held Theo’s hands while he positioned his feet on top of hers, and she carefully stepped forward, Theo’s weight shortening her strides. “Theo, how about we eat downstairs instead of breakfast in bed this time? Is that okay with you and Josiah, you think?”
He nodded. “It’s okay, Mama.”
Ayesha headed toward the stairs, thoughts racing. By the time she took a seat at the breakfast table, she felt like she’d had several minor heart attacks.
Josiah brought a tray of French toast, hard-boiled eggs, grapes, cubed cheese, breakfast sausage, and her and Joel’s favorite coffee to the table.
“Here you go, Ma.” He hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Bon appétit.”
She smiled up at him. “What did I do to deserve such a beautiful gesture?”
“We just wanted to do something nice for you and Joel.” He glanced at the stairs. “Where is he, anyway? Uncle Julien’s gonna be here soon to take me to school, and I want to make sure I see him before I leave. I didn’t come up earlier because…you know.”
She reached for a grape. “What’s ‘you know’?”
“Come on, Ma. You know. You and Joel were alone? In his room?”
“I’m not sure what you think that means.”
“Don’t make me say it.”
“Now, I kind of have to make you say it.”
“I notice how you guys look at each other,” he said. “You’re crushing on each other pretty hard. Theo wouldn’t notice because he’s little, but I’m older, so I noticed.”
“Which means?”
“Kissing,Ma,” he whispered. “You and Joel were…kissing.”
She grabbed another grape, glad her eleven-year-old didn’t know more than he needed to at his age. “How would you know that’s what a closed door means?” she asked. “Have youkissedalready?”
