Sure, he was an attractive guy. And yeah, over the years I’d noticed men could be pretty too, but I guess maybe I’d been so in love with my wife that it didn’t register.
What I really wanted to know was why the hell it was registering now.
I adjusted my hat, wishing I could erase from my memory the feel of his hands on my thighs. As I was attempting to re-compartmentalize the whole thing, a long arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I nearly startled out of my skin.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
It was Emery, Woody’s husband and Stevie’s dad. I wasn’t sure when we’d become the type of friends who hugged each other, but I didn’t hate it. Actually, it reminded me how long it’d been since I’d had any sort of real physical contact outside of my visits with Skylar.
Speaking of, where did he get off to?
That’s none of your business, Kit.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to let her work for you,” Emery said, reminding me we were in the middle of a conversation. He looked to Stevie with a warm smile. “It means a lot to me.”
“The pleasure is all mine. I love being able to mentor her, and she’s a great kid,” I responded, and meant it. “She’s so good with Reed.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, his chest puffing up. “And I’m sorry he couldn’t come tonight.”
I sighed.Me too.
“New people are hard for him,” I said instead. Chewing at my lip, trying to think of a way to arrange for my son to be around these folks, I offered, “It might work better for y’all to come over to my place for dinner.”
“Sweet. Stevie says your chef is awesome.”
I raised my brows, fake affronted. “I’ll have you know I make a killer steak all on my own.”
“Killer steaks it is.”
I closed one eye. “I feel like I walked into that.”
“No take backs,” he warned, patting my shoulder before stalking over to Woody. They touched foreheads before giving into a deep, searching kiss.
Jealousy curdled in my stomach, and I caught Rowdy standing on his tiptoes to kiss Kess, who casually cupped his ass, pulling him in closer. Not able to handle another second of this lovey-dovey bull, I exited the kitchen and found the hallway to the bathroom.
As I went for the handle, the door opened and . . . damn. Skylar stood there, even more gorgeous close up.
“Um, hey Sky.” I said, shuffling my feet.
“You know, you don’t have to feel so awkward around me,” he said, amusement playing on his glossy lips.
I scratched the back of my head, avoiding eye contact like my life depended on it. “You sure about that?”
He laughed, then leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, his sweet, ambery scent filling my nose. “We’re good, cowboy. And thank you for wearing the brace tonight. I didn’t wanna have to ruin Stevie’s birthday with an act of violence.”
“Well,” I said, a wry grin tilting my lips, “I’d hate to be the cause of any party ruination.”
Skylar looked behind me, as if to make sure we were alone, then fluffed his hair with shaky fingers.
“You okay?” I asked, his lack of confidence bothering me to my core.
“Oh, yeah.” He bit at his bottom lip and it almost looked like he was holding back tears. “I, uh. I retired from my old position. Thought you’d like to know.”
I blinked a few times, not quite . . . oh.
Oh.
“You’re not a . . .”
