“Oh.” She nodded. “I like that one. You’re good at this.”
“Good news.” He leaned in and pressed a light kiss to her mouth. “Your meeting’s over, and you’re on your way home.”
“I wonder what my meeting was about?” she asked, frowning.
“Probably that Abraham guy with the long last name.” Seemed good to him.
She let out a long breath that sounded like she released the pressure valve on the Tower of Terror. “Okay. My meeting’s over. We’ve got that sorted.”
“Let’s get dressed?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Would you and Fiona like to come over later for dinner?” He pulled away, moving from the bed to grab his boxers and his pants. “I’m thinking homemade chicken nuggets. Maybe a bottle of Pinot to go with them?”
“Oh wow. Yum.” Em was back to herself, which was good. “But I think we should keep the distance thing going.”
He’d thought that, too.
But after this romp? After she rode him into oblivion?
He didn’t want to anymore.
She finished getting dressed, and he finished getting dressed, and everyone was finally wearing clothes. He lent her a comb because he’d messed up her hair and she looked proper disheveled.
“I’ll go grab the girls so April can get Harmony to dance. I’ll walk Fiona back and you can slip on home. That’ll give you time to”—he gestured to her—“do whatever you need to do.”
“You’re good with plans, aren’t you?” She smiled, and it reached her eyes. Then she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
He hoped so. There was still a lot he had to work out.
They headed downstairs, and as he put his foot on the landing, he stepped into the prickly reality.
The reality of their girls, Harmony, and April all looking right up at them from his living room.
April’s eyes went extra wide. Same as he felt, really.
“Hey,” Em said from behind him, all happy and what-are-you-doing-here cheeky.
“We came back for my better shoes,” Annie said, eyeing Em carefully.
“I did my best,” April said, flinching a little.
“Why is Sketch here?” Fiona asked. “Why areyouhere?”
“Oh…” Em was floundering. “Uh…”
“Why are you back so early?” he asked, glancing around conspicuously.
Yeah, he was going to play possum and pretend he knew nothing about anything.
“It’s Wednesday,” Annie said, hand on her hip, her eyes little slits, and her head tilted to the side.
“It’s Wednesday. We got done early,” Fiona said doing a pretty solid impression of Annie’s expression. “We were just here. You didn’t say hi.”
Her child-approved bull dust detector pinged.
“Oh my gosh.” Em made a very unrealistic snap motion with her hand and her elbow. “Wouldn’t you know I got called into the office?” She licked at her lips. “And then I stubbed my toe.” She pointed to her perfectly fine toe. “And then…”
