She made a mental note to keep that in mind, shoving the intrusive dreams of tempting Irishmen back to the dungeon of herunconscious.
“Thanks, Mrs. Oliveira,” she muttered, straightening up when the elderly neighbor came to her frontdoor.
“My pleasure. They’re easy kids to look after. Dani finished her homework in record time, so she decided to go ahead and teach Felipe what she had learned in schooltoday.”
Moira grinned. “That’s my girl.” She kissed her daughter’scheek.
“I’ve got an A in spellingtoday.”
“Good job, I’m proud of you. Now, go grab your things, so we can go home, and Mrs. Oliveira can have peace and quiet again. Felipe, help yoursister.”
“Would you like to come in and have some coffee?” Mrs. Oliveiraoffered.
“Thank you, but we should go. Have you heard back from thedoctors?”
The sweet lady had received a troubling diagnosis a few months earlier. The doctors suspected cancer, so they ran more tests to determine itsstage.
“They’ve confirmed it’s a stage one tumor, so treatment will be non-invasive, and the prognosis isfavorable.”
Relief seeped through Moira’s voice. “So glad to hear that. It would be hard going through more aggressive treatment living away from yourfamily.”
Since Mr. Oliveira passed away, the neighbor’s family had been reduced to a daughter who lived more than ten hours away in SãoPaulo.
“You can say thatagain.”
When her kids returned carrying their backpacks, Moira thanked the lady again. “Thanks.Goodnight.”
At home, she cooked pizza, and they gobbled it down with soda as they watched cartoons on TV. Around eight, she put the little rascals inbed.
“Why do I need to go to bed? I’m not sleepy,” slurred Felipe as he dragged his feet along the corridor to hisroom.
She smiled. “Yeah, I can see that. It’s a school night, buddy. We all sleep early on school nights,right?”
“Right,” Danielle agreed, lacing her fingers through hermom’s.
Moira waited for her daughter to get under the covers, pulled them up, and kissed her smooth cheek. “Goodnight, angel. Sleeptight.”
She walked Felipe to his room, hoisted him onto bed, and tucked him in. When she leaned to kiss him goodnight, his soft snore made hersmile.
With the kids sound asleep, she locked the doors, turned off the lights, and got in the shower. As the warm jets embraced her, washing the worries of the day away, she couldn’t keep the memory of Aidan’s face at bay anymore. And it invaded her mind with a strength that surprisedher.
She never believed in lust at first sight. She certainly didn’t believe in love at first sight. Yet, she couldn’t ignore the emotions that took her senses bystorm.
She knew Aidan was attracted to her as well. If she gave him half a chance, he would grabit.
Then,what?
After they had a couple of moments of bliss, some sweaty rounds under the covers, what would happen? There was no future for them, she reminded her stubborn heart as she got out of the shower and toweled dry herself. Any relationship she had with a man would mean putting her kids in contact with said boyfriend. What if they got attached and the relationship failed? Dani and Felipe had already been abandoned once. She wouldn’t put her children through that hellagain.
Still, Aidan’s smile haunted her as she pulled her oversized t-shirt down her body and climbed into bed. Following her doctor’s advice, she didn’t wear panties to sleep a couple of nights aweek.
Sleep didn’t come, and images of Aidan tempted her. It would be so easy to forget conventions for a couple of hours and jump his bones. She didn’t doubt she’d enjoy that. But, after all was over, what would shedo?
She rolled over her stomach and buried her head under thepillow.
Useless. The X-rated images became more vivid as she shut her eyestight.
“Shit.”
