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I poured shampoo in my hair and scrubbed furiously. I couldn’t believe I allowed myself to get off to his image. I didn’t need a man like that invading my thoughts. Besides, I was sort of seeing Pete.
We hadn’t actually gone on a date or anything, but it was implied that he wanted to. I knew that, and yet, Jack was still there, lingering in the back of my mind. Why did I have to think about him now when I was so close to leaving this all behind?
It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like I was actually going to sleep with Jack. He was my neighbor and nothing more. Besides, getting off to a pretty face didn’t mean anything. It was no different than fantasizing about a character on a TV show.
I rinsed my hair and shut the water off, grabbing the towel from the back of the door. Wrapping it around myself, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Pink cheeks and a sated look on my face…this was so bad. How was I going to face him after just imagining his fingers on me?
I’d just have to dress in the most comfortable clothes I had. I nodded to myself just as the doorbell rang.
He was here.
16
JACK
It tookway too fucking long for her to answer the door. I was beginning to think she was hiding from me. It wasn’t like I wanted to spend the night in the company of a four-year-old, but he looked so damn sad. And when I looked at Skylar, I just didn’t know how to turn the kid away. She looked like she was having a bad day—not that having me around would make it better.
I was beginning to think this was a bad idea, and turned to leave when she finally answered the door. Water dripped from her hair down her shoulders and the bulky sweatshirt that was covering over half her body. She was swimming in the damn thing. I quirked my eyebrow at the flannel pajama pants she wore. It was still summer. I didn’t understand the getup.
“Sorry, I was getting cleaned up.”
“No problem.” My eyes wandered back to the water dripping down her neck, and a sudden urge to drag her inside and push her up against the wall as I tasted her surged through me. “Uh…I can go. I just wanted to drop off the pizza.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said in a rush. “I’m sure Parker won’t stop talking about this for the next week.”
She opened the door wider and I reluctantly walked inside. Herhouse was just as clean as when I snuck in here before. I kicked off my boots, not wanting to get dirt on her floors.
“Oh, you can just…set them over here,” she said, rushing over to the table.
I followed her over, setting them down. My eyes involuntarily trailed over her body. She thought she was hiding from me, but I found her undeniably sexy. This look was doing nothing to dissuade my body from enjoying the sight.
This was a terrible idea. I needed to get out of here. “You know, I should probably just head home. I’ve got?—”
“Jack!” Parker yelled, running out of his room.
I was prepared for him this time, bracing myself as he crashed into my legs. I’d never had a kid show so much excitement over seeing me. It was a little odd when I dealt with terrorists and drug dealers all the time. I couldn’t imagine what this kid saw in me.
“Did you bring me cheese pizza?”
“Yeah.”
Man, I was killing this conversation thing. I was fine with adults or even women that I only wanted to sleep with. But this kid and his mom were an entirely new beast that I didn’t know how to deal with.
“I’ll get some plates,” Skylar said, hurrying over to the cabinets.
“You can sit by me,” Parker said, taking my hand in his.
The unnatural feeling of a kid not only wanting to spend time with me, but also holding my hand freaked me out. I did my best to hide it, but I was panicking inside. What if this kid started thinking…things? Like, I would replace his dad or something. I might not be the son of an arms dealer, but I wasn’t much better. This kid needed a stable role model in his life like the cop.
We sat down at the table, Skylar and I both feeling the awkwardness of the situation. I don’t know what Rae was thinking. It was a terrible idea to spend time with these two. I didn’t fit in with them.
“Thank you for bringing my car by today.”
“Yeah, it was no problem.” I picked up a slice and set it on my plate. “Your boss looked pissed.”
“She’s got it out for me.”
“Why?”
