Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Ice cream. Talk about screwing with her ‘let’s go home, be calm, have a snack, and wind down’ routine. Once Leah had screamed yes, Aurora couldn’t say anything—not yet. She had no intention of being the bad guy. But she and Nick would talk later.
After ice cream, they went to a playground at a nearby park. Nick pushed Leah on a swing, sending her so high Aurora nearly threw up her ice cream.
Once back at the house, Aurora had given up. She let Nick’s offer of pizza happen and put the chicken she’d taken out earlier to defrost back in the refrigerator for another night. Aurora bathed her daughter, and while Nick read her a bedtime story, Aurora walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine.
She didn’t drink often but tonight, she needed to take the edge off. Everything about Nick being around today had messed with her head. Her routines were off and as a single mom, Aurora lived and died by her routines. Not only did they make life easier but they gave Leah the security Aurora, herself, had never had.
Depending on the foster home she was in at the time, she hadn’t known what she’d be coming home to after school. Sometimes, she’d find her foster mom, a day drinker who managed to hide it well from social services, passed out on the couch. In another home, she was never sure if there’d be dinner on the table. If she was lucky, sometimes she found enough food to make a sandwich herself. But that hadn’t often been the case.
There had been no bedtime stories for Aurora. No safe baths. She made sure her daughter had it all.
One day with Nick had upended the security she’d given Leah. She took a sip of the dry wine and shook her head, knowing she was lying to herself. Being with Nick was good for her daughter.
What Nick had upended was Aurora’s own sense of security. And she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about that.
* * *
When Nick joined Aurora in the kitchen, she was staring at her wine glass, swirling the golden liquid. He’d had the best couple of days and hadn’t thought anything could bring him down. He’d had a night with Aurora that had been spectacular. Being with her again reminded him of why no other woman had managed to capture his interest. He’d spent the late afternoon and tonight with his daughter, learning about her likes, dislikes, looking through her baby book with her before she’d fallen asleep.
He’d been riding a high until he walked into this room and saw Aurora’s pensive expression. Even after a long day, she was so damned pretty. But she didn’t look as happy as he’d been feeling. His heart squeezed in his chest but he refused to open the conversation on a negative note.
“Today was perfect.” He stepped into the kitchen and she jerked in her seat, just realizing he was there.
“Want some wine?” she asked, gesturing to the bottle with an empty glass beside it.
He shook his head. “No thanks.”
“Is Leah asleep?”
He couldn’t stop his grin. “Yeah. Conked out while telling me she couldn’t wait for her first visit from the tooth fairy so you could tape her tooth into the baby book.”
Aurora smiled and shuddered at the same time. “I don’t think I’ll do well with a dangling tooth.” She’d heard horror stories from some of Leah’s friends’ moms.
He grinned. “I can handle that.”
“Right. And you’ll leave a hundred-dollar bill under her pillow, no doubt.” He caught the bite in her tone.
He walked into the room and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
She turned to face him. “I am so glad you spent today with us. I’m even happier Leah had such a great time.”
“But?” Because he sensed a big one.
She rubbed her palms along the stem of her glass. “For so long, it was just me and Leah. Yes, I had family, and when I lived with Melly, I was so lucky to have had help. But two years ago, I decided to move out. And Leah and I…we’re a team. She knows what to expect every day and that’s something I never had.”
He didn’t pacify her with platitudes like, I’m here now, or you’re not alone anymore. He listened. Really listened and tried to understand what she was getting at. “Are you saying I’m intruding?” The thought made him physically ill.
“No.” She shook her head. “God, no.” Reaching out, she grasped his hand and electricity darted through him, reminding him of being buried deep inside her and knowing they were meant to be. “But I am saying that today was an anomaly, and not just because you wreaked havoc with my routine.”
A smile played around those luscious lips and the twisting in his gut eased a little. “I took over and made things big again?”