Page 44 of More Than Friends

But Jude with a baby? That’s a lethal combination that even I’m struggling to be immune to.

TWENTY-SIX

CHARLOTTE

“I’m waitingfor you to tell meI told you soor something close to that.” Jude briefly looks over at me before focusing his attention back on the road.

I stare at his profile for a minute, trying to figure out what he’s talking about. “What?” I keep my voice quiet in an attempt not to disturb Ava.

He hooks a thumb over his shoulder as a corner of his lip rises in a smirk. “Ava’s fast asleep. You were right about a drive doing the trick.”

I look at the screen on Jude’s dash. There’s a camera on Ava’s seat that allows us to watch her from the front seat. At the store, I just wanted to get a mirror for the back, but when Jude saw the camera, he insisted we go this route instead. I’ll admit that it’s nice not to have to look over my shoulder to check on her. “Something about the movement of the car does it every time,” I note, smiling as I stare at the image of Ava on the screen. Her little cheeks puff out in the most adorable way as she peacefully sleeps.

“How long should I drive for?” Jude asks as he comes to a stop at a red light.

I shrug before looking over at him, finding him already staring at me. “I’m in no rush to get home yet. Maybe we drive around long enough to let her get into a deep sleep. We’ll have a better shot at successfully transferring her to her bed when we get back to the house.”

Jude doesn’t answer. All he does is glance at the light before looking back at me. The quiet makes me nervous. Maybe he doesn’t want to spend the extra time together. He did try to get me to stay home in the first place.

“Or we can just go back to the house if you don’t want to keep driving. She’s asleep, and I bet if we?—”

“I want to keep driving.” His words come out confident and leave no room for argument.

My mouth snaps shut at his directness. He keeps his voice low, so the words are raspy, making goosebumps pop up on my skin, even though I’m not cold.

“Okay,” I manage to get out, wondering if being alone with him in the car was the best idea.

It seemed innocent at the time I offered it. I really did just want to help. Driving worked all the time with my nieces and nephews. But there’s something about being in the dark car, with him with only the moonlight and the occasional streetlamp to illuminate the space, that makes this feel far more intimate than I imagined. I’ve spent so much time alone with Jude, and I didn’t use to think twice about it.

But now that we’ve kissed and now that I’m getting to know him on a deeper level, it’s different. I’m not able to keep him at arm’s length. Before, he was my charming friend whom I enjoyed spending time with. I was attracted to him, but I knew better. Because I knew better, I was able to keep up walls with him. Now, those walls seem paper-thin. Watching him step so effortlessly into the role of being a dad has opened up something inside me that’s getting harder to fight.

I’ve always been attracted to Jude Kensington. It’s just that I knew better than to act on it. I didn’t want things to get messy because I knew he was never the commitment type. Now, I wonder if I had it all wrong. It seems like maybe he could be the commitment type if he just met the right girl, and I can’t help but catch myself wondering if that girl could be me.

“What are we going to talk about, then?” He steps on the gas and leans back in his seat, and I’m suddenly aware of just how big he is. Even in the roomy SUV, his elbow bumps against mine as he rests it against the center console between us. I don’t know exactly how tall he is…it’s got to be over six feet. I’ve alwaysknownhe was tall, but it feels more pronounced right now with his broad shoulders and how far his seat is pushed back to account for his long legs. His elbow used to bump against mine in the car, and I’d joke about him staying on his side. Now, when his skin grazes mine, I don’t mind it. I don’t want to tease him about touching me because I don’t want him to stop.

“Char?”

I jump at hearing the nickname he uses for me. I hadn’t realized I was spaced out until he tore me from my thoughts of him. “Um,” I begin, tucking my hair behind my ear as I try to think about what he was saying before I got lost in thought. “You pick,” I finally get out.

“Tell me your secrets.”

My head whips in his direction. “My secrets?”

Jude smiles, and why does his smile now make my chest tighten? He’s given me that same smirk countless times in the year we’ve been friends. I used to easily pretend it had no effect on me. Now I’m fumbling for words when he aims that smile in my direction.

“Yeah. We need to pass the time, and spilling secrets seems like the perfect way to do it.”

I shake my head. “I’m not giving you my secrets.” I don’t even know what secrets I have kept from him. Up until recently, I had no problem telling him everything that came to my mind. He’s my friend. Now, the only secret that I can think of is that it’s getting harder and harder to keep him in the friend zone.

But then again, nothing about our friendship has been typical lately.

He turns onto another street and slows down slightly as we drive through a neighborhood. “I’m scared of clowns,” he admits, taking me completely by surprise.

“You’re scared of clowns?” I repeat the question slowly as I process exactly what he said.

He nods before briefly glancing over at me. “Yep.Big-time.”

“That doesn’t count as a secret. Isn’t everyone afraid of clowns?”