“Somewhere. Do you?”
“I think it may be in storage with my other stuff in D.C., but I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to look for it.” She wasn’t planning a trip to Washington anytime soon. Like in this century.
“I’ll see if I can find mine, then.”
“By the way, have you talked to Ariella?”
“Yeah. She’s still in shock, I think.”
Who wouldn’t be if they learned they might be the president’s illegitimate child? “Has she met with him yet?”
“Not yet. She said they’re going to wait for the DNA test results to come in. Until then she’s lying low.”
“Has anyone heard from the alleged birth mom?”
“Eleanor Albert is in the wind, as they say.”
“Well, send my best to Ariella and tell her I’m keeping her in my thoughts.”
“She’ll appreciate that. She’s such a sweet person. She doesn’t deserve this.”
They talked for several minutes about the latest D.C. gossip—who was sleeping with or bribing whom, and other juicy tidbits, then they hung up so Rowena could get herself and Dylan ready to go.
Dylan was still mesmerized by the television. Rowena tried to limit his TV time to two hours a day, and only educational programming. But on the weekends she made exceptions. Especially if she had things to do that were difficult to accomplish with a toddler vying for her attention. Although right now Rowena was the one feeling distracted. She finally closed her laptop and called to Dylan, “Hey, pumpkin, you want to go to the playground for a while?”
Dylan’s head snapped in her direction, and his eyes lit up. “Cowin come, too!”
Damn. They needed to have a talk about this. She walked over and sat on the rug beside him. “No, Dylan, Colin is not coming with us. He only stayed here because mommy was sick and he wanted to help. Like when you have to go to the hospital and the nurses and doctors all help each other take care of you. Just like when you hit your head and Colin fixed your boo-boo.”
Dylan nodded, then said, “He be my daddy?”
She sighed. The message just wasn’t getting through. “No, sweetheart, he’s not going to be your daddy. But he can be your friend.”
“I don’t have a daddy,” he said, so matter-of-factly it broke her heart.
“Some kids don’t have daddies, but that only means that their mommies love them extra, extra special,” she said, tickling his ribs until he was out of breath from giggling. “Now go get your shoes and your backpack. And you can bring one toy.”
“Yeah!”
She watched him hobble down the hall to his room, so sweet and innocent, her heart bursting with love for him. And out of nowhere she had the inexplicable feeling that despite everything he had been through, and everything he had to face in the future, he would be okay. He would succeed and be happy.
She only wished she felt so hopeful about her own life.
Ten
Rowena and Dylan played on the playground until lunchtime, then as a special treat she took him to his favorite fast-food restaurant. She even let him have a caffeine-free soda. In the not-so-distant future there wouldn’t be money for these little luxuries. She would be counting her pennies.
She tucked Dylan in at seven-thirty and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
She thought tonight it would be nice to do something a little different, so she stripped out of her clothes and changed into the lace teddy that was a hold-over from before she had Dylan. It was snug, but it fit. She pulled her silk robe on and belted it at the waist, then brushed her hair out and dabbed on lipstick. Usually when Colin and she met at the pool house they were so anxious to get naked and get to the good stuff, she didn’t bother with sexy clothes or makeup. For them, the seduction phase was obsolete. Intercourse was a forgone conclusion. Tonight would be a little different. They would have almost all night, and she couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to having sex in a real bed for a change.
Instead of typing out a text, she opened the robe and took a photo of herself and texted that instead. And he must have been ready to go, because he was knocking on her door a minute or two later.
She opened it, and he made a growly noise in his throat when he saw her.
“Is this for me?” he asked, slipping inside, reaching out to run his fingers over the lace covering her belly.
“I thought it would be a nice change of pace.”
“I’d have come here in my silk pajamas, but not only would it be difficult to explain if someone were to see me, but I don’t actually own silk pajamas.”
“I like what you’re wearing now.” The jogging pants were very easy access, and the nylon muscle shirt showed off his extraordinary pecs. How could she be so lucky that her first time back in the ring was with someone so unbelievably hot and awesome in bed…or on the floor, as was typically the case.