“I would’ve if he’d been upset, but he just wanted to play.”
Anxiety and mom-guilt mixed with irritation.She rubbed her eyes.“I can’t believe I slept through him calling me.”
“He called you once.I woke, went to him.That’s it.Want some coffee?”
This was so…so not how she lived her life.Her child waking up alone while she was in a man’s bed.
“Libby?”
“Hmmm?”
“You okay?”Dan was looking at her, his soft brown eyes concerned and caring.That was obviously the second time he’d asked her, and she hadn’t replied.
“I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her forehead.“I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
Probably because it wasn’t her bed in the first place.
She grabbed the dishcloth from the sink and wiped the table.
“I’ll clear up.”Dan placed his hand on hers.“Have a coffee.Go back to bed if you want.”
“I’m not used to this.”She sat on the chair next to Karim, who was running his car back and forth on the table, oblivious to her mixed emotions.
“I’m here to help you,” Dan said.“We’re helping each other, remember?”
Libby glanced at him.There was no smirk or quirk of his lips.This time, he wasn’t talking about sex.He was reminding her of his offer to help with childcare and housekeeping while they worked together, but still, after another night in his bed, something unsettled her.
A cup of much-needed coffee appeared in front of her.
Dammit.He was too good to be true.
Why couldn’t he still be cranky?Why couldn’t he be an ass?Why couldn’t she see him as just a piece of eye candy?A booty call.
“Happy Christmas.”Dan slid something flat and rectangular, wrapped in a brown paper bag, across the table to her.“And this one’s for you, kid.”He handed one to Karim.
Libby’s heart went splat.
That unsettled feeling morphed into something more.Much more.
Something that felt like love.Oh no.
“You shouldn’t have gotten us presents,” she managed, her throat tight and burning.
“Why not?You gave me one.Twelve, to be precise.”This time, his lips did quirk, like he’d been remembering how they’d been using her gift.
“Thank you.”Libby picked up her present and tapped Karim’s.“Isn’t this so exciting?Let’s open them, sweet cheeks.”
They ripped the paper off.Inside were notebooks.Karim’s had a bright-yellow monkey on the front, and Libby’s had a dazzling blue bird.“These are awesome and just what we needed, aren’t they, honey?What do we say to Dan?”She encouraged Karim to say thank you.Excited, her baby stood on his chair and jumped around.“Hey, honey, careful.”The table jolted, she reached for him, and Dan’s phone came alive.
The screen he’d been looking at glared between them.
It was Isabella, looking stunning in a flowy white dress.
“Has she—”
“It’s nothing.”Dan switched the screen off.“Are you still okay to spend the day on the beach?Mum and Malek said they’d come along too.”
“Of course.”Libby ignored the quick change of subject.And how Dan wouldn’t look her in the eye.What was he hiding?That he’d been looking at Isabella’s social media?But heck, Libby had been doing that all along, too.It was important that they knew what Isabella was posting.Dan was still very much linked to his ex—publicly and privately.Libby opened her mouth to tell him that, but thinking of Isabella and Dan having had that private link stole the words from her throat.
