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“Why? Because you think I sleep around?”
“Well, you’re a handsome man who has needs.” She lowers her gaze, unable to look at me. “Part of the food chain.”
“You’re making me sound like a piece of meat.”
She manages to chuckle softly. “I’m sure many women want the great Andrew Evans-Baker in their bed.”
“Yeah, but when it’s not the one you want, then it doesn’t matter, right?”
Her smile wavers, and with a quick glance, she clears her throat. I’ve made her uncomfortable, but dammit, the truth needed to be said. All the women I’ve slept with have meant nothing. There were moments of lust, a quick fuck to clear my mind, which always did circles back to the original source of my problems. The woman sitting beside me.
I’ve spent hours imagining her naked, in my bed, picturing just how perfect she would feel. Each one of those times led me to jerking off, the only relief. But it’s been a while since I’d done that, realizing the only one who suffered was me.
“So, Benedict understands we’re family,” I mention to shift the tension. “Therefore, he’ll have no issues if I take you out for the day, maybe show you what I’m working on?”
“Uh, sure,” she hesitates, fiddling with the skirt of her dress. “When are you thinking?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I’m not sure Eliza can watch Bentley.”
“Bring him along. We can take him to the park and feed ducks.”
She rolls her eyes, then furrows her brows. “You know how I feel about lakeside animals.”
Some things never change.
But fuck, how I missed it all.
“Maybe it’s time to face your fears,” I muse at the same time Bentley crawls over to me and pulls himself up using my legs. “We’ll have fun, won’t we, little dude?”
Beside me, Jessa’s lips curve upward, and her shoulders finally relax.
“I know just the place we can visit.”
Ten
Jessa
The day is relatively warm with a slight breeze in the air.
I’m sitting on the grass with Bentley in his stroller at Greenwich Park. He keeps himself busy with a toy attached to the handle, a squishy caterpillar making a crunching sound he enjoys.
I welcome the momentary break, especially since last night he woke up three times crying. His appetite has resumed, so I didn’t think it was his teeth again, but his tossing and turning ultimately led to him waking.
Eliza doesn’t spend the nights at our house, despite Benedict insisting she occupy the room beside Bentley’s. I’m not going to change my mind, even though I’m utterly exhausted and can use the help. It’s times like these I wish Benedict would just offer instead of me nagging and a fight erupting between us.
This is what happened at precisely four o’clock in the morning before he left for a flight to Milan.
“A spot near the lake. Is this really, Jessa?”
Andy is standing beside me, carrying a tray of coffees like he could read my mind. Wearing a black tee, jeans, and sneakers, this is the old Andy I remember. So casually sexy, and the guy doesn’t even know it. His body has changed, much more muscular than I remember, but quickly, I glance elsewhere so not to be caught.
He rattles the toy in front of Bentley, making him giggle before Bentley finds the cracker he dropped earlier and places it in his mouth.
“There are no swans, I checked. Ducks, I can handle.”
“You know ducks can attack,” Andy chastises while sitting beside me on the grass.
