Safeguarding Kelly(17)
Author: Zoe Dawson

 

“I’ll get Kiko and be right back.”

 

He stood in the foyer as Kim closed the door and said, “I’ll go help her.”

 

He slipped his hand into the pockets of his trousers and waited. Kim materialized with Kiko, then set her down in the hall.

 

“Where’s her bunny?”

 

“It should be in her bag.”

 

“It’s not.”

 

Kim disappeared around the corner and he and Kiko stared at each other. She was all flushed and rumpled from sleep, her gray almond eyes were the same as her mom’s. Her hair was in disarray around her cute pink face.

 

They stood and stared at each other in that awkward way children had. They didn’t have the social understanding yet of the proper way to wait.

 

“Hi,” she said in a sleepy voice.

 

“Hi there,” he said, walking a few steps down the hall. “I’m Jason, a friend of your mommy’s.”

 

“She’s getting my bunny. I won’t sleep without it. I’m a brat.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“It’s soft and cuddly,” she murmured and walked over to him. “I’m tired.” She lifted her arms up and his heart completely melted. He dipped down and picked her up. She leaned against his shoulder, looking just a little too cute to trust. “You’re not soft, but you’re cuddly,” she said, then closed her eyes.

 

Jason restrained a smile. She didn’t fool him for a minute. This one was going to take watching. No question about it. He stood there with the sleeping child. Kelly came out from the bedroom. “Thank you so much, Kim, for watching her. We’ll get out—”

 

Her words just cut off when she saw him there. She glanced at her sister, then dragged her hands through her hair, looking suddenly very fragile. In fact, she was so pale, she looked ready to fall down. Jason shot his sister a quick worried look.

 

With a strained voice, Kim said, “You’d better get going, sis. Tomorrow comes pretty fast, and you guys need to get some sleep.”

 

“She’s got a point,” he said. As she passed, he reached for the diaper bag and the car seat.

 

She gave him an uppity look. “I’m not that tired, Jason. I can carry these.”

 

He didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at her, and she gave him an exasperated huff and went out the door, muttering something under her breath. But she didn’t waste any energy arguing with him. It was as if she’d used up the little burst she had, and he followed behind her down the walk.

 

She opened the back door of his sedan and he set the car seat inside, holding on tight to his precious cargo. As soon as Kelly had the seat securely situated, he shifted Kiko and slipped her into her seat.

 

He set the bag on the floor, but then opened it and snagged the bunny. He tucked the fuzzy white stuffed animal into the crook of her arm. She opened her eyes briefly and gave him a beaming smile, then she was gone, back to la-la land.

 

Following her directions, he drove to her house, and they were soon at the back door. Kelly unlocked the door and pushed it open. He took Kiko inside and Kelly closed and locked the door. She took him through a mudroom, then into the even bigger kitchen.

 

The fridge and stove gleamed, the pegged oak floor didn’t have a smudge of dirt on it, and even the pretty yellow curtains at the window looked freshly washed. A basket of fruit sat in the middle of the round table, so full it could feed half the county, and the scent of cinnamon lingered in the air.

 

She walked from the spotless kitchen to the dining room, obviously heading for the stairs. Getting a tighter grip on Kiko, he started up the wide staircase as she flipped on the light. Noting at the top that everything was also shipshape here, too.

 

“To the left,” she murmured, and he followed her directions into Kiko’s room. He headed for the small narrow bed, a dresser a dark shape in the shadowed room. He passed a small desk with art supplies, pencils, pens, crayons in a jar, paper covered with colorful marks. Kelly had already pulled down the comforter, black and white pandas against bamboo green stalks, as he bent down to set her inside her bed, the silk of her soft black hair brushing his wrist as he supported her lolling head, the smooth sheets cool against the back of his hands.

 

Kelly took off Kiko’s shoes and socks as he backed up, giving her space as she started to undress the little girl for bed. Stepping into the hall, he waited.

 

 

 

 

 

She worked at getting Kiko’s floppy limbs into her PJs. Kelly was so aware of Jason’s presence, it was as if her body had a million little sensors in it. And to make matters worse, it was so intimate, the two of them putting her daughter to bed—his daughter, their daughter. A soft sob of regret caught in her throat as she struggled to hold on to her equilibrium, to maintain some balance. She swallowed hard, then bent down to tuck her daughter in. She almost smiled when she realized Kiko was dead to the world.

 

She’d had no intention of allowing Jason this close, but she was losing the battle. Her guilt kicked in and she couldn’t seem to deny him this small glimpse of Kiko.

 

“All set?” Jason said, his voice very low and gruff. Framed in the doorway, he was a big, broad-shouldered presence, his golden hair lit up, his handsome features outlined by shadow and light, his stubble glinting on his strong jaw. It was as if her skin was electrified, and her heart was pounding so hard it made her lungs seize up.

 

“Yes,” she murmured. Feeling unexpectedly close to tears, she bent over and kissed her daughter good night, her chest unbearably tight. She had never felt so guilty, unsure or bereft in her entire life. Well, except for the day she’d found out she was pregnant. That had been pretty awful, then the birth, which had been magical.

 

Nearly overcome with emotion, she closed the door. “Thank you for driving us home. It was kind of you.”

 

“I wasn’t being kind,” he said.

 

Startled, she looked up into his dark, beautiful eyes. “Jason—”

 

“I so wasn’t being kind,” he said again, his tone set off such a reaction in her that she could barely stand, and she closed her eyes, trying to marshal her resolve. She heard him move closer, felt his hand slip around her jaw as he turned her face toward him. Her eyes fluttered open, his expression unsmiling, his eyes dark and intent. It was as if she was transported back to the heat and the sweat and the need that coursed through her every time this man put his hands on her. Her system overloaded, her pulse heavy, her heart laboring against it. She stared at him, sure that if he removed his hand she would crumple to the floor.