“Okay,” I said as he set me on my feet. “Are you coming in?”
He looked at me like I was nuts.
Rebel had fallen asleep as soon as I’d buckled her into her seat, and she stayed that way through the entire ride home, being carried into the house, and as I changed her diaper before putting her into her crib. I pulled her blanket up to her shoulder and leaned heavily against the side of her crib as I watched her sleep.
Will was waiting for me somewhere in the house, but I needed a few minutes to myself. I needed to breathe.
I really liked Will. He made me feel good, happy. But he also made me feel crazy. When I was with him, I no longer recognized my quiet life. The one I’d been living since Rebel was born and everything had changed.
I liked my job. I liked watching cartoons with Reb, and playing with her little molding clay set, and waking up late on my days off and then spending the entire day in my pajamas because we didn’t have anywhere to be. I liked it quiet, and with Will life was anything but.
It felt like we fought all the time about stupid shit. We didn’t agree on anything, and both of us got angry with the other at the slightest thing.
What was I doing?
“She still sleeping?” the man I’d been thinking about said softly from the door of Rebel’s room.
“Yeah, I just wanted a minute,” I answered, still looking at Rebel and softly rubbing her back.
“Take your time, beautiful,” he said, tapping the doorframe softly. “I’ll wait.”
He walked away and I sighed, only waiting a minute before following him out and shutting Rebel’s door quietly behind me.#p#分页标题#e#
“What’re you doing?” I asked when I found him in the kitchen, bent over the counter with his back to me.
He jerked in surprise, then lifted a hand to brush it across his mouth as he turned to face me.
“Thought you’d be a minute,” he said, chuckling in embarrassment.
My stomach clenched as he brushed at his mouth some more. I walked slowly into the kitchen and looked behind him, my heart thundering for a reason I couldn’t pinpoint.
“Cake?” I asked in surprise as I caught sight of the unwrapped tinfoil.
“It’s my favorite and I didn’t get any,” he said quickly, turning his body toward the counter. “I’ll make sure it’s all gone before she wakes up.”
God, why couldn’t he make any sense? Sometimes I looked at him, and he seemed like a stranger—intimidating and unbreakable. Then he’d turn to me and quickly try to explain why he was eating cake—like a little boy who’d just gotten caught.
“Can I have a bite?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Well,” he hesitated.
“Are you serious?”
“No,” he said, his lips quirking. “But pineapple upside down cake is serious business,” he whispered. “You have to pay attention.”
“Why’s that?”
“’Cause you have to have the right ratio of cake to pineapple,” he said, using a fork to cut through the cake that he’d already put a huge dent in. “You have to have some pineapple in every bite.”
“What happens if you don’t?” I asked with a smile as he lifted a bite to my mouth.
“Then the entire cake is ruined.” His voice went husky as I pulled the cake off the fork with my teeth.
“Yum, that’s really good,” I mumbled, covering my mouth with my hand.
“She makes chocolate and cherry upside down cake, too. That one can be your favorite,” Will informed me as he scooped a bite much larger than he’d given me into his mouth.
“Maybe pineapple is my favorite,” I argued as he fed me another bite.
“Can’t be.”
“Why?”
“’Cause it’s my favorite.”
“So?”
“So if it’s your favorite, I’ll have to share.” He stuffed another large bite in his mouth. “That’s not gonna work for me,” he mumbled around the bite.
I mock glared, then before he could stop me, leaned down and licked the top of his cake, smiling in triumph as his jaw dropped.
“Sugar,” he scolded, shaking his head. “I’ve had my tongue all over you—you think your spit bothers me?”
Then he proceeded to put the rest of the cake in his mouth, his cheeks filling as he struggled to chew it. He turned and put his fork in the sink, then rolled up the rest of the foil and tossed it in the garbage.
“You’re still going to pay for that,” he warned, his glare completely ruined by the crumbs stuck in his beard.
“You’ve got a little something,” I gestured to my own face, trying to hold back a laugh.