“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Jack, I have the spare room. You’ve done my laundry and cleaned my floors, and you made a really good effort at watching my kids. Giving you a place to sleep is the least I can do to say thank you.” She looked up at him then with her big brown eyes, and the world seemed to click into place in a way he’d never felt before.
He wasn’t sure at all what to do with that. Wasn’t sure he wanted to know what to do with it.
So he simply said, “If it’s not a pain, I’d appreciate the bed.”
She nodded. “Not a pain.”
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat because the moment seemed heavier than all the others that had come before. More important.
“No, Jack. Thankyou.” She totally broke the moment and chucked him on the shoulder in an incredibly odd gesture. But the move was so April that he couldn’t help but let the feeling of her touching him sink right down into his soul.
And by the time Jack had flopped face first onto the mattress in April’s guest bedroom, he didn’t move for a solid thirty minutes.
Kitty dropped off his bag, so when he finally pulled his ass from the bed, he changed into his lounge pants and white cotton T-shirt that served as his pajamas. He spent some time replying to email, answering messages, and checking in with his team about the other projects. But he was…distracted. So he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
The house was quiet. The type of quiet that a person could sink into. The kind of quiet that took over from the busy pace at which he usually lived his life.
Very unlike the constant movement that went on when the kids were awake.
April’s door was open and she was mid–yoga practice, moving through a series of poses that totally mesmerized him. Forced him to stay in place instead of heading to his toothbrush.
An enormous bed filled most of her room. But she also had an open space along the far wall where she moved through her poses. He would’ve suggested she put a cozy armchair there. An armchair she could drape herself over while he stood behind and—
He gulped away that thought.
Inappropriate.
There was no armchair. There was only a black yoga mat she’d unrolled next to three salt lamps under the window. The walls in this room, like the rest of the house, were purple.
She moved through the sun salutation. From mountain pose to Chaturanga and back to plank.
That he knew all about the poses said a lot more than he was ready to admit. A lot more about everything, but mostly April.
She was…
She was a distraction from what he should be doing.
But he didn’t care. Her seamless movements mesmerized him to such a degree that he stood rooted in place, unable to bring his feet to move. The beauty of the motion her body made was stark against the purple curtains. They matched the walls.
She seemed to sense his presence, because her gaze snagged against his, but she didn’t stop. She moved into a push-up before hovering for a beat. Then she dropped to the mat in one swift motion, raising her chest like a goddess at the bow of a ship.
He should’ve looked away.
He should’ve gone to brush his teeth.
But he couldn’t bring himself to move.
She finished the series of poses on her feet, hands like a prayer at her chest.
“Everything okay?” she asked, her voice even. Not even a hint of anxiousness.
He nodded. “I’m good. Just saw you and…”
And what? Decided to watch you because I couldn’tnot?
“You got so much done, I finally had a moment to myself that didn’t involve laundry.” Her hair tied back in a low ponytail, Lola’s letter blocks scattered around the landing, and here they were alone in the middle of the night. “I’m really thankful for it all.” The feeling that this was exactly where he was supposed to be flowed through him. Andthatleft him suddenly feeling very out of place.
