“He’ll sleep in my bed.” Ryan’s head jerks around to me. “And I’ll sleep on the couch,” I add hastily.
“Heck no,” Ryan says. “I’m not kicking you out of your own bed. I’ll take the couch.”
I press my lips together. He won’t want me to remind him how difficult and uncomfortable that might be for him. Damn SEALreminds me of Hudson when he insisted I take Mom’s house, even though it was left to the both of us.
“It’s got the best view of the garden,” Ryan adds.
“I like the garden,” Noah says sagely.
Ryan goes tense and jerks his wrist. “Someone’s here.”
He opens his laptop, and images from the camera feed appear on the screen. I peer over his shoulder at the images of the front yard from four different angles. Coming up the drive is the pizza delivery boy holding a pizza box.
“Marcus isn’t hiding in the bushes to tackle him, is he?”
Ryan’s lips quirk up. “At least we know it works.”
An hour later, the pizza has been devoured, and Ryan is clearing up the kitchen while I get Noah in the bath. He’s unusually squirmy this evening, caught up in the excitement of having Ryan staying in the house.
“I want see Ryan,” he whines as he wiggles in my arms.
“Me, too, buddy.” I mutter, as I give up trying to brush his teeth for the full two minutes.
As soon as I release Noah from the bathroom, he runs down the hall to find Ryan.
“Will you put me to bed?” He tugs on his trouser leg and looks up at him with wide eyes.
Ryan’s expression softens, and he leans down toward Noah. As they stare at each other with the same dark eyes, my heart melts a little.
“Sure. If that’s okay with your mom.”
If only he knew how okay that is with me. Seeing the two of them together does things to my insides that I can’t explain.
“We’ll do it together,” I say.
My chest fills with warmth as Noah takes Ryan by the hand and leads him down the hall. Ryan limps with every step, but he follows his son with wide-eyed wonder into his bedroom.
I tuck Noah into bed and make sure he’s got his favorite snuggly toy. The whole time, Ryan observes as if I’m going to test him on how to do it later, and I can’t help but smile at him.
Afterward, Noah picks Ryan to choose a book to read, and he settles next to Noah on the bed. I lean on the door frame and watch them together, letting Ryan take the lead now.
Soft light from the bedside lamp casts a warm glow over their faces. Ryan does funny voices for the animal characters, making Noah giggle. My chest squeezes, and I rub it with my fist. For so long, it’s been just the two of us. Hudson has been great, a caring uncle, but now there’s a new possibility for Noah. A chance to have a father.
I’m waiting at the kitchen table when Ryan turns out Noah’s light and comes down the hall. He takes a seat next to me and winces.
“Does it hurt?”
“Like hell.” He stretches the leg out in front of him. “But it got me here to you.”
His gaze finds mine, and the air sizzles between us. It’s the first time we’ve been alone since the kiss this morning, and the chemistry is as charged as it was then.
“Thank you for being here.” He could be in his room at the retreat resting his leg, but he’s here instead.
He reaches a hand across the table. “I wish I’d been here sooner.”
There’s regret in his expression. And I feel it too. I told myself Noah and I were good on our own for two and a half years. But now I know what I’ve been missing. If Ryan were around, maybe the pregnancy, the shock of birth, the long nights, and the toddler tantrums might all have been easier. But it’s not just about Noah. Perhaps the long nights in the house alone, going to bed alone, and waking up alone might have been easier, too.
“Me too.”
