“You look good,” he finally says, his tone surprisingly sincere. So sincere that I find myself meeting his gaze to double-check that I’m hearing him correctly. “I mean it,” he adds quietly and, dammit, there’s an unexpected tenderness in his dark eyes, too. “You look relaxed.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat and pick through my french fries. “It’s quiet up there. And it’s been forever since I’ve taken a vacation, so…”
“Is that what this is? A vacation?”
“Lane…”
He holds up his hands. “I’m just asking. We haven’t talked since you left, so I’m kind of in the dark here.”
He isn’t that clueless. But there are a few things we probably need to talk about sooner rather than later. Like the bills and getting the rest of our belongings from the house. I just don’t want to have that conversation in front of Jett.
“We’re staying for awhile. I don’t know how long yet.” Maybe forever. “I’ll call you Saturday when we can talk without little ears.”
“Okay.” His smile is gentle and I want to believe that the man sitting here now will be the one who answers the phone this weekend. But I’ve been burned too many times before by his moody manipulation, so I don’t dare hold my breath.
“Look, it’s a rainbow!” Jett holds up a chicken nugget he’s nibbled into an arch, and Lane laughs.
“I don’t know. I think it might be a bowl. Turn it upside down.”
Jett giggles and they spend the next half hour making shapes out of their nuggets and letters out of their fries. It’s sweet and endearing, but it’s the first time they’ve ever done it. And that’s telling. Embarrassing, too.
But now I know. And now I have the opportunity to give my son something better. What he deserved to have all along. Thirty days a month, not just four.
“Time for us to get going, sweet pea. Before that rain starts coming down.”
“Going back by Daddy?” he asks, and I nod. “Yay!” He hops down from the chair and rushes to Lane for a hug, his little arms squeezing tight. “I love you,” he says with a precious, scrunched-up face.
Lane glances up and the sadness in his eyes catches me off guard. “I love you guys, too,” he rasps, dipping his head to kiss Jett’s hair. “Maybe we can visit again soon.”
“Okay!” Jett is all smiles and, while I should feel relieved that he’s handling this so well, there’s an unexpected ache in my chest, too.
I hate that Lane is hurting, but I can’t help but think about all the times Jesse was in his shoes. Forced to say goodbye, knowing it would be weeks before he and Jett would see each other again.
Jesse, who loves our little boy more than he loves anything else in this world.
I already knew what I wanted, but, in this very moment, I am more certain than I have been in my entire life.
I fell in love with Jesse, the cute boy up north.
But it’s Jesse, the father, who owns my heart.
And it’s time I told him exactly that.
Chapter 25
JESSE
“You’re kidding me. You did all of this in a single day?”
Hayden smiles up from my office chair with a bright smile. “Yep. Was easy, actually. Mostly, because I’d started adding information last week, just in case you wanted to go digital at some point.”
“I’ve wanted to automate forever, but Greta wasn’t a fan. You seriously did this all during the daylight? You weren’t pulling any late nights behind my back?”
She laughs sweetly. “I didn’t need to. I promise you, it wasn’t that difficult.”
“I could kiss you right now.”
“Yeah?” She pushes out the chair and slides her arms around my waist. “What’s holding you back?”
“Babe, I’m filthy.” Literally full of dirt and hydraulic fluid.
“I don’t care. I haven’t kissed you in a whole day.” She toes up, presses the simplest of kisses to my lips, and I’m hard in junior high record time.
“Fuck,” I groan against her mouth, my hands cupping her denim-covered ass and squeezing tight. “After all that talk about sleepovers on Tuesday night, it’s all I’ve been able to think about.”
“Really?” She sucks my bottom lip between her teeth and my hips jerk against hers.
“See what you do to me?” I growl. “I was at a funeral yesterday, babe. A friggin’ funeral and all I could think about was getting you in bed again. It’s a damn wonder I didn’t drill a fucking hole in Bob’s casket when I helped carry him out.”
She bursts out laughing, her tits jiggling against my chest. “You’d better go to confession on Sunday for that one.”
“Screw church. I want to spend Sunday morning—”
“Screw church? Better not let Ma hear you say that.”
Hayden gasps and I groan at the sound of Jinx’s voice behind us.
“Don’t you fucking knock?” I growl.
“This is a place of business and not the kind you can pay for by the hour, if you know what I mean.”
I’m going to kill him. And I have plenty of equipment to dig the friggin’ hole I’ll bury his punk ass in, too.
Peeling myself away from Hayden, I turn and adjust my dick without shame. “What do you want? Shouldn’t you be working?”
“I am working, asshole.” He holds up a stack of time sheets for the lawn crew. “Wasn’t sure if you still wanted these through the slot out back or what, now that Greta’s gone.”
“Oh. Right.” I lift my ball cap and scratch a hand over my hair as Hayden pipes up.
“I’ll take those!” She diverts around me to grab the sheets from Jinx. When she spins back toward me, his eyes drop to her ass and then promptly swing up to mine as he smirks.
“You little fucker,” I mutter, and he laughs.
“So, I hear you’re in town for a while,” he says to Hayden. “I was at your neighbor’s earlier and noticed your lawn could use some work. You want me to take care of it for you?”
Her eyes light up and she presses her hands together in front of her mouth like she’s praying. “Oh, my gosh, yes! I was going to break out the mower this weekend, but—”
“I’ll do it,” I snap, because I know damn well she’ll invite him in for something to drink or maybe even lunch afterward, and I’ll have to listen to him gloat about it for the rest of my fucking life.
He grins again. “You sure, bro? I mean, you’re kinda busy and, let’s be honest, we both know I’m better at trimming hedges than you are.”
“I don’t have hedges,” Hayden says, a cute little line in her brow.
“Not those kind of hedges, babe.”
“Oh. Oh.”
Jinx laughs again, throwing a wink toward Hayden. “If he fails to perform, you’ve got my number.”
Fails to perform? What the fuck.
He spins on the heels of his boots and strolls off before the rest of his statement clicks.
“You have his number?”