She took the bag from him, surprised at how light it was. Didn’t matter. She’d cleaned out the toddler clothes at Target, too.
“Let’s go, princess. I believe there’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with your name on it. I say we have lunch on the rooftop, huh?” She prattled on as she walked up the stairs, turning back once, expecting to see Dusty already behind the wheel, whipping out to get Morgan help.
But he hadn’t moved from the spot, staring up at her with raw affection and admiration in his eyes. Her heart tumbled a little at the sight.
“And that, my little friend, was worth the price of admission,” Tessa whispered. “Which is free for you. Here we go.”
As she opened the door to her apartment, she lowered Olive to the floor. For the very first time, they held each other’s gaze.
Olive’s eyes were red from crying, and shadowed with uncertainty and a distant pain that Tessa wanted to wipe away with every ounce of strength she had.
“Well, welcome home, Olive Oyl.”
The little girl took a step back, shuddered on a breath, and then stood stone still. She was dead silent for ten, fifteen, twenty seconds and…oh.
A wet spot formed in the front of her pajama pants and dribbled to the floor.
Apparently, Morgan had forgotten to put a diaper on her daughter.
Tessa set the suitcase down and let out a sigh. “Why don’t we start with a warm bath, fresh clothes, and then we’ll get that sandwich.”
Olive looked down at the puddle around her untied shoes.
“And you’ll be thrilled to see I bought a pair of light-up sneakers, because every girl should have those.” She took her hand and led her toward the bathroom as the reality of what she’d agreed to settled in.
This wasn’t a month of babysitting.
This was a lifeline for a drowning child.
Even a regular Tuesday night at Boshamps felt like having dinner on a vacation postcard—salt in the air, string lights everywhere, the harbor water catching the last streaks of sunset like it was showing off.
Boats idled and eased past in the distance, kids ran around on the outdoor deck, and somewhere nearby a band was warming up for a set that would drift over the hum of conversation.
Lacey took it all in from the outside table on the second level where she sat kitty-corner from her boyfriend. She sipped a strawberry daiquiri, waiting for the cloud of contentment that always settled over her when she was with Roman Matteo.
Because contentment went hand in hand with love, which was all she could feel when she looked into his lion-gold eyes. He’d changed her life so dramatically, she could hardly believe that three months ago, she’d never heard of the man.
Then she’d done some digging, found out his name, and curiosity led her to contact the son that Tessa had secretly given up for adoption. Before she knew what was happening, Lacey had agreed to a scheme to “pretend” to be dating Roman so that he could meet his birth mother without betraying her past.
Only it waspretendfor about ten minutes before Lacey had fallen flat out, head over heels, and desperately in love.
Roman, it seemed, came along for that same fall, the two of them embarking on a summer romance that had yet to have a downside.
Well, until the summer ended with his inevitable departure. That side would be…down.
Roman’s life as a second-string wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars had been on hold during the off-season. But that life was about to start again very, very soon.
How could she stand not seeing this amazing man every day?
Tonight, he looked unfairly spectacular. He wore a light cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up, forearms tanned and strong. Dark blond hair that looked sun-lightened at the tips grazed the collar. And when those eyes—amber, warm, unmistakably like Tessa’s—tracked her closely and constantly? It was a heady high she loved.
The server brought a spinach and artichoke dip with the warm tortilla chips that Lacey also loved. Then, when they were alone again, Roman smiled over the dip at her.
“You wore that dress to torture me, didn’t you?”
She scooped up some dip on a chip, holding her hand under it as she brought it to her mouth. “And to test my skills to not spill on pale pink.”
“Well, I love it. I’ll think about you wearing pink every minute of training.”
