He put his hand over hers where she was twirling the material of her sleeve, stopping the repetitive motion with his touch. “Your ex doesn’t help with your son?”
“He does.” She took a breath, trying to figure out how to continue. Her relationship with her ex was complicated, to say the least. Trying to describe that to someone who hadn’t been there and hadn’t shared in the misery in a way that gave a fair depiction of theevents was almost impossible. The feel of his hand on hers warmed her, making her feel safe enough to open up even slightly about it.
“Marq is a good father now.” Making the qualification didn’t feel unfair considering the hell Marq had put her through. “He makes time for our son. He’s supportive of James’ interests. But back then, he was a different man. He was plagued with a lot of darkness that spilled over from his father’s toxic idea of what masculinity should be. Being a career military person didn’t help him develop a softer side either. Once our divorce was final, I guess it finally clicked that his toxicity had robbed him of everything he loved, and he finally sought help so he could heal. Getting to that point, however, he took our family through hell. It left me raw, like an exposed nerve.”
He slowly nodded his head, encouraging her to continue without pressuring her to do so.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for another relationship of that magnitude, Adam. It took so much out of me. Yet, I can’t deny that I’ve enjoyed the few times we’ve come in contact with each other. I don’t mean to sound confusing or fickle.”
He held up his hand to stop her. “There’s nothing fickle about that, Janae. It sounds like you’re understandably cautious. No one can fault you for that. I don’t need you to make any promises to me. I just want more moments like this where we get to just be in each other’s presence and learn more about each other. Does that feel doable to you?”
She freed her hand from his, and the slight motion deepened the fine lines on Adam’s brow. She moved her hand up and cupped his cheek, loving the bristle of his neatly trimmed beard beneath her thumb.
She leaned in, brushing her lips against his. The touch of her skin against his loosened something in her, sparking something unfamiliar in her. Yes, it was attraction. That was a given. Adam was a walking billboard for masculine sex appeal. This was somethingelse, though. Something elemental that she hadn’t had in a long time. It was comfort. After so much pain and anguish over the last two years, comfort felt like luxury. Without shame, she wanted as much of it as this man could give her.
She pulled away from him, smiling up into his inviting expression.
“Yes, Adam. I think that’s more than doable.”
Chapter 12
“Hello.”
“I told you she was alive, Vanessa.” Janae shook her head at the sound of Cree’s voice coming through the phone. How that woman managed to be so bouncy and energetic even through a phone line, Janae would never know.
“Of course I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well,” Vanessa responded in the calm practical tone Janae was certain came from her more than twenty years of being a practicing accountant. “We haven’t heard from you since last night, and you know if we waited too much longer to call you, Cree was likely to combust in excitement.”
Vanessa was right. Cree’s voice had way more pep than usual. It wasn’t safe for anyone around her to be near all that excitement.
“I’m safe, Cree. Now that you know that, you can go back to whatever it is you were doing before y’all called, and I can fix me a late brunch.”
“Brunch?” Cree repeated. “It’s so late in the day, you’d might as well call this early dinner. What’s got your clock all outta whack?”
Adam Henderson. His mouth, his hands, his… everything.
Those thoughts were the only answer to her friend’s query. Or,more specifically, spending the night with Adam doing nothing but talking, laughing, and commiserating until just before dawn.
Janae was sure her friends were looking for much juicier details. There were none. Much to her credit, Janae was glad there weren’t any. What she and Adam had shared last night, it was… special.
It wasveryspecial, and because of that, Janae had no intention of sharing any of the details even with her friends. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of anything that had or hadn’t happened between she and Adam last night. It wasn’t that she had a problem with spending time with Adam either, she didn’t. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the complete truth. It had taken quite a bit to get her to the point where she could allow such intimacy with Adam.
Past fears tried to encroach on the good feelings flowing through her right now. She pushed them back, shoving them in her mental closet, refusing to let them taint the wonderful memories she and Adam had just created. This was sweet and fun. It would never have a chance to become as toxic as her relationship with Marq because it was just fun and friendship.
Obviously, she was still processing it all if her intrusive thoughts were trying to ruin her morning-after euphoria. Until she had a handle on it, she knew she couldn’t allow anyone else’s thoughts and opinions to muddy the waters.
“James stayed at Marq’s last night so I could go to the reunion. Forgive me for taking time to enjoy a rare opportunity to indulge in a lazy morning.”
She smiled at her ability to speak the truth without giving away any of the important details. It was a skill she’d honed to perfection with all those years working in healthcare under her belt. It was especially useful when loved ones who weren’t entitled to the specific details of a patient’s healthcare information wanted to know what was going on.
Who knew it would be helpful against nosy friends too?
“You sure James being at your ex-husband’s place is the reasonyou slept in?” Janae could hear the smirk in Cree’s voice springing through the phone. “Or did it free you up to hang out with a certain tall and attractive man with sexy locs?”
If she wasn’t so busy remembering said sexy man with the beautiful locs, she would’ve told Cree to mind her business. But she couldn’t exactly blame the woman when she was guilty of the same thing herself, could she?
“You still there, Janae?”
