by Isabel North
Which was crazy.
Kate sat up, sneezed, and flopped back against Jenny. “Is it over?” She frowned at the television and then stared at Derek blankly.
Derek smiled at her. “You fell asleep,” he said.
Kate relaxed. “Oh.”
“Come on, Kate,” Jenny rubbed her upper arms. “Bedtime.”
Grumbling, Kate slithered off the couch and stood on unsteady legs. “Someone should probably carry me,” she said, eyeing Derek.
Derek quirked a brow at Jenny and once she’d nodded, hiding her smile, he scooped Kate up. “Lead the way,” he said to Jenny.
Kate dangled dramatically in his arms, enjoying Derek’s attention as he carried her out of the living room.
Upstairs, Jenny and Kate had a brief argument over whether or not Kate needed to brush her teeth and wash her face again since she’d already done both two hours ago when she came home and threw up.
Derek solved the argument by strolling past Kate’s room and walking her into the bathroom. He flipped the toilet seat down and sat Kate on it.
Her daughter was exhausted but, true to form, was determined to get what she wanted. Squinting at Derek through eyes that were doing their best to close, she informed him, “You have to come and watch the rest of the film next week, because you need to know how it ends. I can’t tell you because it would spoil it. So you should come over again.”
“How about I set it up with your mom?” Derek said, deep voice amused.
She nodded, then jumped up and clumsily hugged him.
Taken by surprise, Derek steadied himself against the sink and curled an arm around her narrow shoulders with a soft laugh. “Hurry and get to bed,” he said.
“Okay.” Kate thumped back down onto the closed toilet seat and took the toothbrush Jenny held out to her. “Night, Derek,” she said through a foaming mouthful of toothpaste.
“Night, sweetheart.” Derek winked at Jenny and left her to finish settling Kate.
Once Kate was tucked into bed and already snoring, Jenny headed back downstairs, still trying to wrestle her emotions under control.
It was just pizza and a movie. It felt easy and natural? Big deal. Derek was a laid-back guy. Everything felt easy and natural around him. Of course it felt like he’d been part of their lives forever.
Everyone probably felt like that around Derek.
Jenny came to a sudden stop in the kitchen.
He’d tidied up. Their dirty plates were in the dishwasher. He’d taken the trash out. He’d turned off the television and the lights.
She checked the front door.
Locked.
From the inside.
He’d tidied up, shut the house down, and gone to bed.
Jenny stormed upstairs and flung herself into the bedroom. He’d better not be lying there naked. If he was stretched out on her bed like a feast of muscles and tattoos, flaunting that piercing she could not stop thinking about, then she was going to let him have it.
A piece of her mind.
Not sex.
She wasn’t going to jump on him.
But if he thought he could go ahead and—
Jenny shut the door behind her and flattened herself to the wood, staring across the room.
He wasn’t naked.
Oh.
This was a good thing. It was great.
She wasn’t disappointed at all.
“Why do you look like you want to kill me?” Derek asked. He’d kicked off his boots and lounged against her pillows, ankles crossed and arms behind his head, making his biceps bulge against the sleeves of his T-shirt.
Jenny rearranged her face. “I was expecting you to be naked.”
“Happy to oblige.” He sat up, a hand going between his shoulder blades to pull his T-shirt off. “I figured you’d find it weird with Kate here. My mistake.”
“No! Keep your clothes on. I was angry for the presumption of you getting naked.”
“But I’m not. No need for anger. Turn that frown upside down.”
Jenny strode across the room and put a knee to the bed. “Still a bit of presumption going on, don’t you think?”
Derek caught her around the hips and lifted her over him. “Called trying my luck.”
“Hmm. You can’t stay the night, Derek.”
“Yes, I can. I will.”
Jenny gazed down into his dark blue eyes. “We’re not having sex.”
“Not tonight,” he agreed. “Pretty much worked that one out the moment I saw Kate was here rather than with Elle.”
“Then why did you stay?”
He studied her, long enough that she began to fidget. His hands went to her waist and he gripped her firmly. His thumbs stroked along the bottom of her ribs. “I want to spend the night with you. I want you to fall asleep knowing I’m here. Feeling me here. And when you wake up, I want you to smile at me, say my name, and kiss me.” His hands tightened and he arched her toward him. “Can you give me that, Jen?”
“Sure.” Her voice came out in a croak, and she scowled. Derek took a deep breath, his body relaxing under her. “But—”
“But I’ve got to be gone before Kate gets up.” His eyes closed in a slow blink. “Dirty little secret. I remember.”
“I don’t want you to be a secret, Derek, I—”
“I know.” He tipped her off him none-too-gently and she landed with an oof. “Now, get naked,” he told her.
Jenny rolled off the bed. “I’m not getting naked. No sex tonight.”
“I can’t even look?”
“No!”
“I promise not to touch.”
“Right.” Jenny whipped the T-shirt she slept in from under the pillow, and stalked for the door.
Derek propped himself on his elbows, watching her go. “You don’t trust me?”
Jenny snorted. “Of course I trust you, Derek. You’ve never been the problem. I don’t trust me.”
His low laugh followed her out the door.
When she came back from the bathroom, face washed and moisturized, teeth brushed, she slid beneath the covers while Derek went for his turn.
He shut her bedroom door with a quiet click and walked to the bed, stood looking down at her.
Was she doing the right thing, letting him stay? Kate wouldn’t know. Jenny gazed up at him.
The corner of his mouth hitched in a smile as he reached out and brushed his knuckles down her cheek, along her jaw. “Tell me to go,” he invited her.
That cinched it. She shook her head, threw back the covers, and scooted over.
Derek didn’t need any further encouragement. He shucked his jeans and his shirt, kept his boxer briefs on, and slipped into bed beside her. Before Jenny had time to stiffen up and start fretting about him feeling her squishy bits through her thin T-shirt and panties, he pulled her into his arms and tugged the covers over them.
“Jenny,” he breathed into her hair.
She trembled, her face tucked into his throat. “Yes?”
“Before we can go to sleep, I have two very important questions for you.”
Oh God, what? “Yes?”
“First the obvious question…are you the big spoon, or the little spoon?”
“The big spoon. Roll over.” He didn’t move. She squeezed his ass. “Over you go.”
Derek was silent for a beat. “I’m the big spoon.”
What a colossal surprise. “Shall we flip for it?”
“Good idea.” He flipped her, and she muffled her shriek in the pillow.
Jenny fitted herself into the curve of his long, hot body. He tangled his legs with hers and wrapped an arm around her waist. He kissed her neck; soft, light kisses that made her sigh.
“What was the second question?” she asked.
“Hmm?” He took her earlobe between his teeth and licked it.
“Ah!” Jenny kicked back involuntarily. “Sorry. Ticklish.”
Derek laughed against her. “Noted.”
“The second question?”
/> “Are you aware that it’s not much past nine p.m.?”
“Early bed. Welcome to the life of a parent.” She traced a fingertip up and down the forearm he’d banded around her. “Is it too early?”
She hadn’t even considered the time. She was exhausted after working at the community center all week. For Jenny, this was heaven. Derek probably hadn’t been to bed this early on a Friday night since…since he was Kate’s age. “You can go downstairs and watch television if you like. You can still stay.”
“I don’t want to watch television.”
“Um. I’ve got a Kindle. Did you want to read?”
Bad idea. If he said yes, he’d see what sort of books she had loaded onto her Kindle. And then he’d get all excited.
He might even read out loud to her.
And then she’d get all excited.
“Forget that,” she said. My battery is dead. Reading the Kindle is out.”
“Jen. Relax. I don’t want to do anything other than be here, holding you.”
“You’re not bored?”
He slid a muscled thigh between hers and pressed his hips into her. “Does this feel like boredom to you?”
Nope. It felt like an enormous erection, nestled in her butt.
Shit. Now she was wide awake.
He kissed the side of her head. “Sleep well, baby.”
Hah. As if she’d be able to sleep with him and his erection behind her, all smooth skin and heat. No problem. She’d catch up on sleep tomorrow. For now, she’d lie here and soak in the unfamiliar sensation of being held through the night.
She didn’t want to miss a second of it.
Derek’s breathing slowed and his weight settled into her back.
This, Jenny thought, might be her very favorite sleeping position ever.
No, she thought when she woke the next morning, this position was her favorite.
She’d climbed on top of him during the night. Derek was sprawled beneath her, Jenny was plastered against him from head to toe, and he had one large possessive hand resting on her ass.
Her head came up and she met his sleepy gaze. “Morning,” he said, his blue eyes dark.
Jenny shivered. “I love your voice,” she said without thinking.
“Mmm.”
She loved his growl, too. “Morning.” She propped her chin on her hand.
Derek brushed a thumb back and forth over her lips, watching as if fascinated. “Say my name,” he said, voice deep and husky.
“Derek Michael Tate.”
His chest shifted and he gave a surprised laugh. “You know my middle name?”
“Derek Michael Tate,” she said in a passable imitation of his mother. “Stop pulling Jenny’s hair!”
Derek stared at her. “Congratulations. You have discovered the solution to morning wood. Please never, ever imitate my mother again when we’re in bed. Or ever.”
Jenny giggled.
Derek’s grip on her tightened and he hauled her up his body until they were nose to nose. “Kiss me good morning.”
Jenny laid a soft kiss on his smiling mouth, and he made that rumbling mmm noise again, the one that sent shivers through her. And a minor spasm.
Derek sat up, taking her with him. He cupped her face and, expression intent, he kissed her lips, her forehead, then he lifted her off him. “Gotta go,” he said, moving to where he’d left his jeans and T-shirt folded on her dresser.
Jenny drew her knees to her chest and managed not to make a noise of pure want as she took in his broad back and the utter male poetry that was his flexing ass as he strode across the room. He grinned wide when he turned and caught her at it. She wrinkled her nose at him, then sighed.
She was hopeless.
She walked him down to the door and Derek kissed her again as they stood on the porch in the cool damp of the dawn. He pushed his bike down the driveway and down the road from the house before starting it and riding away.
Jenny leaned against the doorjamb, the air winding around her, stealing the warmth of their night together, and watched him go.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
For what may be the first time in her short life, Kate slept late, and Jenny left her to it. Knowing her daughter’s resilience, she’d be up and bubbling with energy soon enough, so Jenny decided to take advantage of the unusual peace and quiet.
At least, that had been the plan.
Instead, she found herself sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea cooling in front of her as she gazed out into her backyard, mind occupied with thoughts of Derek.
For God’s sake. She was smiling again.
Sitting there, smiling. Like a besotted idiot. A firm knock came at the door and she jumped up so eagerly that the chair nearly fell over.
Real cool, Jenny. She fast-walked to the door.
She’d be astonished if it was Derek. What possible reason could he have for coming back so soon? She took a second to straighten her face and stop smiling, damn it.
Then she opened the door, and she had no trouble whatsoever not smiling. “Dean,” she said blankly.
“Hello, Jenny.”
Dean ducked his head and leaned toward her. As he did, Jenny leaned her upper body back, putting out a hand, palm against his chest, to stop him.
Dean straightened with a laugh. “Awkward. I was just going to kiss your cheek. Muscle memory. I didn’t think.”
Jenny stared at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
She frowned.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Honey.”
“Ugh. Come in. But you don’t get to call me honey anymore, remember?”
“Yep. Sorry. Again.”
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked over her shoulder as they went to the kitchen. “Apologies?”
“Thought you weren’t interested in my apologies?”
“I’m not.”
“Then, no. I’m not here for apologies. I wanted to catch up with the mother of my child. Is that so strange?”
He was standing close beside her as she filled the coffeemaker. Too close. His heat pressed against the bare skin of her arms, the scent of his familiar cologne battled with the aroma of freshly-ground coffee, and she didn’t like it. It felt wrong.
“Go sit down,” she snapped at him. “And yes, it’s strange. Last time I checked, we weren’t exactly on catch-up terms.”
Dean scraped a chair over the floor as he pulled it out from the table. He sat, stretching out his long legs, angled toward her as she made the coffee. “We’re not enemies, either. Are we?”
Jenny finished preparing his coffee without answering and took it, along with her refreshed cup of tea, to the table.
“You remember how I like it.” Dean smiled over the rim of his cup.
Dean Hansen was a good-looking man, and he knew it. His golden brown hair was in an expensive cut and, even on a Saturday, styled. His body was toned. His smile was killer. He’d never ruin his perfect skin with tattoos, or his well-groomed eyebrows with a piercing.
Or his dick.
Jenny choked on the thought, her tea went down the wrong pipe, and she coughed until her face turned red. She breathed in through her nose until she’d gotten it under control, and blotted her tearing eyes.
Dean’s smile turned quizzical. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Good.” Dean lifted his cup and took another meditative sip of coffee. The expensive watch on his wrist caught the light.
Jenny blinked, and it hit her. The Dean sitting before her looked like the Dean she’d married, not the Dean she’d divorced. That Dean had been a mess. The stress of his debts and the divorce had left them both a mess, if she was honest. But Dean seemed to have bounced right the hell back.
Jenny’s hackles went up. Not with jealousy—she was doing just fine, thank you very much—but with suspicion. “Why are you here? As in, why are we catching up no
w?”
Dean ran a hand through the side of his hair and clasped the back of his neck. “I don’t know. It seemed like the right time. I’m doing good. I wanted to check that you were, too. You and Kate. Where is my daughter, by the way? Not still in bed? It’s after ten.”
Jenny’s brows rose. “We’re doing fine. Both of us. And yes, Kate is still in bed, since she managed to catch a cold from a classmate and was sick all day yesterday.” She waited a beat. “Kate started kindergarten.”
Dean nodded. “Is she enjoying it?”
“You care?”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I care. I never stopped caring. Caring was never an issue.”
Jenny knew that. He cared about Kate, heck, he cared about Jenny. The problem was, he hadn’t cared enough.
They’d had this argument over and over again. Jenny had held that if he’d cared enough, he’d have stopped gambling before they lost the house, and everything in it. Dean had maintained that the reason he’d gambled more than he should have was because he cared so much.
They’d never managed to agree on it.
The only things they’d agreed on was that their marriage was over, and that Dean wouldn’t fight for shared custody of Kate.
He hadn’t been in a position to fight for anything at the time. He’d been broke, hounded by creditors, and his brilliant solution had been to leave.
“Can I see Kate?” he asked.
“I don’t want to wake her.”
Dean’s face tightened.
“Seriously, she was throwing up and everything yesterday. You can see her if she gets up before you go, but I’d rather not disturb her.”
“Of course.”
“I’ve never kept her away from you, Dean.” Even though she could have.
Jenny had worked hard to find some compassion for Dean. She’d had to dig deep, but she’d managed to conjure some up. For Kate’s sake. He was her father. She had a right to know him, to see him, if that was what she wanted.
Jenny had worked even harder to make sure that Kate would never need Dean.
As far as Jenny was concerned, it was punishment enough that he’d lost his family and had only seen Kate twice since the divorce.