“I seen your place. You’re doing all right.”
“I have...” A child to provide for.No, don’t say that, don’t remind him of Aidan.“Expenses.”
“New security system.”
“How did you hear about that?”
“New air conditioner, too.”
“The insurance paid for that,” she said, hating the defensive note that crept into her voice.
“Maybe you need more insurance.”
Her heart pushed into her throat. The old, remembered helplessness rose, threatening to choke her. “What are you talking about?”
“Just saying. It’s cheaper to pay for things up front than worry about what could go wrong down the road.”
“You stay away from us,” she said, as if he’d ever listened to her.
“Or what? You’ll call the cops?” He laughed softly. “Janey, Janey. You really gonna lock up your baby’s daddy? How you going to explain that to Aidan?”
“I won’t have to explain anything. He doesn’t know... He doesn’t need to know anything about you.”
“He’ll learn,” Travis said. “If I stick around. You think about that.”
The connection cut off.
“Travis?Travis!”
No answer.
She leaned against the Dumpster, folding her arms over her waist like a woman protecting her stomach. He’d always known what buttons to push.
He’ll learn... You think about that.
She wouldn’t think of anything else now.
Ten
LAUREN WAS ANexpert on morning afters. The trick was to manage expectations from the start.
She generally provided couch crashers and other overnight guests with a toothbrush (disposable), coffee (optional), and sometimes her phone number (assuming either party had a repeat performance in mind). But spending the night was not like checking into a bed-and-breakfast. When she slept over at a guy’s place, she had learned not to overstay her welcome. No leisurely checkouts, no experimenting with bath products, no hanging around waiting for an invitation to return.
Hit it and quit it, as one memorable guy-in-a-band explained crudely the next morning.
So she was a long way from confusing sex with commitment.
But Jack confused her.
He kissed her good morning, for starters. And then, while she was still weak with lust and wrecked from lack of sleep, before she had a chance to worry about morning breath or think about the places she was sore, he used his mouth and hands to arouse her, making her sigh and reach for him, making her arch and moan. Filling her, possessing her, body and heart, while the soft pearl light slipped through the windows.
After which, she’d slept. Peacefully. Without nightmares.
When she opened her eyes again, Jack was looming over her, showered and fresh and in uniform.
Heat flooded from her breasts to her hairline. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her naked before. He was now intimately familiar with every square inch of her body. But he’d never seen her with pillow creases and beard burn and hair that looked like she’d brushed it with a whisk.
He, of course, looked amazing, closely shaved, completely in control.
