“The sitter cancelled.”
“Oh, honey.”
“You and Dad deserve a life.”
“Theoisour life.Youare our life.”
“Thanks, Mom. For talking. For everything. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
After saying our goodbyes, I walk into the kitchen, cleaning some dishes I left stacked earlier today. I don’t feel tired at all, despite the fact it’s almost 1 AM. After the dishes, I grab my sketching pad, curling up on the couch, and idly sketching without letting myself think too much.
I’m halfway through a tall, dark silhouette cradling a baby in its arms when my phone buzzes.
Rafael(NOT Michael): You up? It’s Rafael.
I should ignore it. Listen to Mom’s advice and tell him to go to hell. But something in me shivers just staring at the words. I’m not going to melt like some heroine in a romcom or anything like that. But without him around – without the need to guard my true feelings – it’s impossible to deny the truth…
I ache for him.
Ava: Yea.
A moment later, he calls me. I bite my lip, my heart beating hard and fast in my chest. Despite everything, there’s one truth I’ve spent all night trying to ignore.
Rafael is hot. He was hot when he was Michael, and he’s hot now, I know his real name. Plus, there’s the emotional bomb of believing my child would never know his father, only to see him cradled gently in his big arms.
“Do you always call women this late?” I say, answering. “Perhaps you like it when they’re sleepy, and their defenses are down.”
“I don’t do anything with anyone,” he says, his voice husky.
“Another line,” I murmur.
“I haven’t fed you a single line,” he growls.
“Only that you think this zombie chick is even hotter after all that pregnancy weight…”
“Look, I sent one of my men to check on you. He came back with a death certificate, claiming you’d died in a car crash.”
“One of your men,” I repeat. “And I’m supposed to pretend I don’t understand what you mean by that?”
“I can’t get into any of that over the phone. And yeah, Ava, you’re hot as hell. You were hot before the pregnancy, and you’re hotter now. Call me a damn liar if you want, but if you could feel how I’m burning up right now, you’d know I was telling the truth.”
I move the phone away from my face, biting my lip to stop the moan I want to least lose from escaping me. It’s insane, but my body doesn’t feel anywhere near as confused as my head and heart.
“Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies…”
He laughs gruffly. “If you want answers, real answers, it needs to be in person. And I can give you proof about why I never came back. Hell, Ava, do you seriously think, after that night we shared, I’d just abandon you, never think about you again? I’ve thought about you every damn day.”
I chew the edge of my fingernail, then realize what I’m doing and stop myself. My inner thighs ache like they do when I wake from dreams of this beautiful stranger.
I squeeze my legs together, my underwear rubbing against my sex, threatening to make me delirious.
“Hmm,” I murmur.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Send a courier with the proof.”
