If I played my cards right, maybe I could convince her to stay in bed all day with me. If she were feeling as wrecked as I was from yesterday—a full day of walking around the park, chasing after kids, and the…creative useof the plane restroom—she might actually go for it. Honestly, though, I’d be fine just staring at her all day.
Before I could lose myself completely in that thought, a loud laugh from downstairs echoed through the house. The kids were wide awake and already full of energy. It was enough to wake Jules up, her eyes fluttering open to meetmine. She smiled. That sleepy, natural smile made something in my chest tighten.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice thick and soft.
“Good morning,” I replied, matching her tone.
I turned toward her, closing the space between us, and kissed her. It started tender, like testing the waters. But then it deepened, as that invisible string pulled us closer. I moved on top of her, and my hands trailed over her waist, feeling her skin still hot from sleep. The kiss grew hungrier, like we’d both forgotten how exhausted we were.
Then the doorbell rang.
At first, we ignored it, too caught up in each other. Until?—
“MOM!!” Liam’s voice echoed from downstairs, snapping us out of the moment like a bucket of cold water.
Our kiss broke, but I didn’t move far. I stayed close as we both caught our breath.
“Maybe Carol will step in…” I whispered. The house would have to be burning down for me to move. I shifted between her legs, pressing our hips closer, rubbing my hardness against her. She gasped, and every damn hair on my body stood on end.
Please, Carol. Be the hero.
But then, louder and more insistent, came the inevitable:
“MOOOOOM!!”
I groaned, flopping back onto the bed with a defeated sigh.
“So close,” I muttered under my breath, staring at the ceiling. Jules quickly sat up, grabbed her clothes, and got dressed. The urgency in Liam’s voice snapped her fully back to reality. I dragged myself upright, my body heavy with reluctance, and reached for my pants.
You wanted a taste of being a parent, Chris. Here it is.
I threw on my pants and bottom shirt, but didn’t bother buttoning it. I wasn’t in the mood to look put together. Trailing after Jules, I followed her downstairs. When we reached the front door, I froze. Liam stood there, holding the door open, while Carol lingered nearby. And on the other side? Vanessa.
Of course.
“She freaked me out, so I didn’t let her in,” Liam said. I had to bite back a laugh. He’d probably sensed something off about Vanessa and decided,Nope. Not today.
Carol pulled Liam away before the situation escalated.
“Let’s go, you little unfiltered genius,” she said, chuckling as she led him toward the stairs.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, my voice sharper than I’d intended, while we made our way down the rest of the stairs and to the door.
Unfazed, Vanessa folded her arms and gave me her usual cool, condescending look.
“You weren’t answering your phone.”
“I’m busy,” I shot back, not even trying to mask my irritation. I told her to forget I existed for the weekend. What part of that was unclear?
Her eyes flicked between Jules and me, pausing on how my hand rested on her waist, how her body naturally leaned into mine. She took her sweet time lingering on our slightly disheveled clothes to make her point clear. Then came the smirk.
“Clearly,” she said.
“How did you know where to find me?”
Vanessa didn’t answer right away. Instead, she dramatically flicked her thumb to unlock her phone, opened an app, and held it up for me to see. The blurry photo on the screen hit me like a punch to the gut. The image, snapped from a distance, was still sharp enough to be damning. Jules, her long copper hair cascading down her back, her handssplayed across my chest. I was glasses-free, face tilted into hers, both my hands gripping her hips tightly. We were locked in a kiss that looked too intense to be anything casual.
Fuuuuuck.
