“That’s exactly what I wanted for her.”
“I happen to know the store has everything in stock and delivers.” She picked a pen from a jar and wrote down the store name, number, and the furniture set name for him. “Call them in the morning. You can probably have the set delivered by afternoon tomorrow.”
“Name something you wish someone would do for you.”
“What?” She had no idea what he meant.
“Anything. You’ve done so much for me, I want to do something nice for you.”
“You gave me flowers. They’re downstairs and still lovely. I like looking at them while I work all day.”
One side of Jon’s mouth drew back.
She loved that he wanted to thank her, but it really wasn’t necessary. “You don’t owe me anything. Most nights I’m here alone. Tonight, I had a nice dinner with you and Emmy and enjoyed the company and getting to know you better. That’s enough, Jon.” She truly meant it.
“When can I see you again?”
“I work most of the weekend and have a family dinner Sunday night, so probably next week.”
Disappointment made him frown. “That’s too long to wait, but I guess that’s the way it goes.”
“Dinner’s a bit harder to get in since I work the later shifts. If you want to meet me for breakfast on—”
“Monday. After I drop Emmy at school.”
She liked his enthusiasm. “Sounds great.”
“I’ll pick you up here. At eight thirty?”
“Works for me.”
Jon glanced down at the papers on the desk, then touched them. “These are the plans for your expansion.”
“Like I said, we’re growing, but at a pace we can still maintain the quality of our product and Adria and I can manage the whole of the operation.”
“I think what you’ve built so far is brilliant.”
She appreciated the praise. They’d worked really hard and grown quickly the past couple months. Now they needed to maintain what they had, give Adria a chance to get through her pregnancy and the early stages of motherhood, then decide how aggressively they wanted to move forward with further expansion.
“Thanks. We’re proud of Almost Homemade and the products we deliver.”
Jon held up the sticky note with the furniture store information. “Thank you. Mind if I call you before our next date just so I can hear your voice?”
Her cheeks warmed with a blush she couldn’t help. “I’d like that.”
Jon went to get Emmy. She found a shopping bag to put Emmy’s dirty clothes and her hair detangler in to take home. She met Jon by the door and handed him the bag. She rubbed her hand up and down Emmy’s back as Jon held her against his chest, her little head on his shoulder. “I hope I get to see you again soon,” she whispered to a very sleepy Emmy.
“Thank you for dinner.” Emmy’s eyes sank closed once again.
“I’ll walk you out and lock up behind you.”
Jon went out ahead of her and down the stairs carrying Emmy like she didn’t weigh a thing. The downstairs kitchen lights were out except for the security light by the back door. Jon headed toward it.
“I’ll unlock the front door for you.”
“The lot was full when I got here, so I parked on the side of the building.”
She never went out there anymore if she could help it. Sometimes when she did, the panic set in and she couldn’t fight the nightmare.
“Trinity, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Here, let me get the door for you.” She unlocked it and let Jon out, then followed him to his car, wholly aware of the darkness surrounding them, but fighting her memories of Clint sneaking up behind her and bashing her in the head before he wrestled her into the trunk of his car and kidnapped and terrorized her.
He’s dead, she reminded herself, and focused on Jon. His steady presence helped calm her.
He unlocked the car, but she opened the passenger door so he could set Emmy in her booster seat and buckle her in. Jon gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead and dropped her bag of stuff on the floorboard at her feet. Trinity tried to focus on him and the sweet way he treated his little girl. He closed the door, took Trinity’s hand, and led her to the back of the car. He didn’t seem to feel her tremble.
“This was probably the best date I’ve ever had.”
She chuckled. “I’m sorry you’ve had so many bad dates then if a simple dinner tops your list.”
“It was the company that made my night.” With that, he slowly leaned down, giving her time to back out if she wanted to, though she seemed immobilized by his yearning gaze and her own anticipation. He finally kissed her softly. His warm lips remained over hers, tempting her into something deeper, but she liked the buzz of electricity and lingered in the moment.
Jon leaned back just an inch and stared into her eyes. “After getting burned by my ex, I feel like I should be a hell of a lot more cautious. But the truth is I’ve wanted to do that since the night at the hospital when I shouldn’t have been thinking about it at all. But I just couldn’t help myself.” His boldness matched her own when she’d invited him to stay for dinner.
So she went with it. “You should kiss me again.” She didn’t wait for him but met him in the middle and wrapped her arms around his neck. His tongue touched her lips and she opened to him. The slide of his tongue against hers, the very taste of him, sparked a flash of desperate need that had them locked together, bodies pressed tight to one another. She didn’t think she’d ever been kissed like this. Nothing had ever felt this right and tempting and sexy and all-encompassing at once.
“Daddy?” Emmy’s soft voice was the only thing that could tear them from each other.
Jon jolted back and stared into the back of the car. “Damn. That was totally worth the risk.” He cupped her face in one hand and brushed his thumb against her cheek. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” He rushed over to the driver’s door, opened it, and ducked his head inside. “I’m right here, sweetheart. Go back to sleep while I drive us home.”
He turned back to Trinity and took her in with one hot dip of his gaze down her body and back up to her face. “You look so good in that dress.” The look he gave her said he’d rather see her out of it.
She smiled because her heart felt lighter than it had in a long time because of his sweet words and that sexy as hell look he gave her that said a lot about how much he wanted her. It felt so good to be wanted like that by him. “Monday. Breakfast.”
“Forever from now, but I can’t wait.”
She waved, then walked back to the sidewalk so he could pull out. He gave her another long look before he drove away, leaving her standing in the dark in the place that frightened her most. She rushed inside and locked the door as quickly as possible.
She leaned against it, convinced her rushing heart had way more to do with the good memory he’d given her of that amazing kiss. One she’d hold on to until she saw him again.
Chapter Eight
Jon knocked on Steph’s door for the third time. He checked his watch. Nine fifteen. He told her he’d pick her up at nine, but of course she wasn’t up and ready to go. He stared down at Emmy, who looked up at him with a why-did-we-bother expression on her face.