The only reason she noticed the thigh thing was because she was topsy-turvy, punch-drunk after yesterday. No other reason. She forbade any other reasons. The last thing she needed was to develop a crush on Jack’s thighs.
She caught the moment Jack saw her. His blue (oh so blue) eyes pierced her right in the solar plexus like a sword to any hope she had left for being an influencer.
He waved. Did a chin lift thing that made the pressure in her chest kick so high that even an hour of the Savasana pose wouldn’t remedy the damage.
April took a deep, mindful breath. It didn’t help.
As a general rule, before everything in her life turned upside down, she was a bloodhound for mindful calm. A woman who refused to acknowledge the stress of life.
Today, none of that mattered.
She gave Jack a little two-finger wave.
The edges of his lips twitched.
A guy who came to give her walking papers didn’t have lip twitches, did he? She was pretty sure that was a no. Then again, she clearly had no ability to understand anything at this phase of her life.
Harmony ran for the door.
April dropped the curtain, smoothed the hem of her top—a tan off-the-shoulder sweater that reminded her of that movieFlashdance—and headed for the door.
Harmony beat her there. She pulled open the door and stood smack-dab in the middle of the doorway.
Two things. First, Jack didn’t seem to know what to do about an eight-year-old in garish makeup guarding the doorway.
And second, Rohan ribbited his greeting, holding out his fist for a bump.
Oh dear heavens.
Jack had probably never fist-bumped a kid pretending to be a frog before, either.
After only a brief moment of reconciling the situation, he gave Rohan a very energetic first bump.
And that? Dammit all to hell-o, that melted April’s heart. The man was nice to her kid, and she was a sucker for anyone who was kind to Rohan and didn’t question his amphibious behavior.
Rohan ribbited in gratitude.
Lola hung onto April’s leg, clearly unsure of what this man was doing there. Or, perhaps she was simply hanging on to her mother in solidarity. Either way, Jack smiled at the little girl in a way that looked…frightened. Like she might tackle him and lick his eyebrows.
“Harmony, move out of the way,” April said, gently scooting her daughter to the side so Jack could come in. “Jack.” April held out her hand to him. “We finally meet in person.”
He took her hand in his. “Thanks for making the time. We need to do some immediate triage. Let’s get started, shall we?”
“Triage.” Right. Right. Right. “Let’s triage,” she said.Stop the bleeding. Cut her loose.
“Triage,” he repeated with a little bit of an amused grin. Probably because she’d repeated the word twice.
She blew out a breath.
So.
That voice. Jack’s voice.
Her breath caught right at her chest bone, and she had to work to release it.
His voice over a video call was a wondrous thing to behold.
In person? That voice was like pouring butter over a hot pan. It soothed and sizzled at the same time. So much so that she squirmed, unable to stop the involuntary movement of her body.
