When I Need You (Need You #4)(31)

A sheepish grin tipped his lips. "To knock on your door to see if you and Calder were up for ordering in pizza."

That sweet smile and sweeter words just did me in.

"But now that I see you have all these groceries, you probably had something planned-"



       
         
       
        

"Nothing planned. I'd love pizza."

"Me too," Calder said. "And cheesy breadsticks."

Jensen smiled at him. "A little dude after my own heart. I love cheesy breadsticks."

"Hey! Uncle Martin calls me little dude."

"So I shouldn't call you that?" Jensen asked carefully.

Calder considered him. "It's okay. You can call me that too."

"Cool." Jensen set his hands on my shoulders and gave me a little shove. "Hit the tub. We've got this handled."

"You're sure?"

"Yep."

I shuffled forward, grabbed the bottle of Zinfandel I'd opened last night and a coffee mug instead of a wineglass. With the day I'd had I wouldn't be surprised if I dropped the glass on the bathroom tile and injured myself.

I went directly into the bathroom and started the water, dumping in my favorite jasmine-scented bubble bath. I poured a mug of wine before I undressed.

Two big gulps of wine and fragrant steaming water worked their magic on me. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

My mug became empty far too quickly, but rather than leave my cocoon of warmth for a refill, I remained in my tub of tranquility.

The next time I opened my eyes, the bubbles had dissipated and the water had turned tepid. My languid feeling faded as I stood on the bathmat and realized I hadn't brought any clothes in with me. Nor had I remembered to grab the big bath towel Calder had brought into the kitchen. All that was left were the regular-sized towels that barely covered my son, let alone me.

I'd have to make a break for my bedroom. I doubted Calder or Jensen was lounging outside the bathroom door waiting for me to emerge. In fact, I hadn't heard any boisterous boy noises-I'd take that as the all clear.

No stealth or tiptoeing around; I opened the door and strode out, my hand strategically holding the towel between my breasts . . . and I ran square into a brick wall.

A brick wall with warm, callused hands.

Jensen said, "Not watching where you're going is a habit for both you and your son."

I glanced up but Jensen's eyes weren't on my face.

At all.

And he didn't seem inclined to let go of me either.

"Ah, I really need to get dressed."

He retreated. "Sorry."

I sidestepped him because the man took up a lot of space. "I'll be right out."

He said nothing.

But when I turned around after I'd opened my bedroom door, I saw that his focus had been on my ass.

Then he closed his eyes and muttered something like "Off-limits, off-limits, totally off-limits." 

Couldn't be. I had to be hearing things. I closed the door.

I dressed in black yoga pants, a gray long-sleeved T-shirt and fuzzy socks. I did manage to towel-dry and comb my hair, but I skipped putting on makeup.

When I entered the living room, Calder and Jensen sat side by side on the couch. My son had selected the first season of Dancing with the Stars as their entertainment. I got that heavy feeling in my gut and my mama bear instincts came out full force. Jensen, the super jock, had better not utter any snide comments to make Calder self-conscious in his own home.

"That was a really fancy move," Jensen said to Calder. "You think she knew how to do that before she got picked to be on TV?"

"Huh-uh. They show her practicing it like a billion times," Calder said.

"Getting good at anything requires lots of practice. Rewind it. I wanna see her do that again."

I stood behind them and watched some TV actress extend her leg up in the air and place her hand on the floor, then drop her extending leg back down and kick the other leg up in the air-all while smiling at the camera.

"Do they teach you how to do that in dance class?" Jensen asked Calder.

"Not yet. Maybe they'll teach us at camp. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Totally. The camp sounds amazing. So if you learn how to do it, you gotta teach me."

Calder tipped his head back to peer into Jensen's face. "You'd want to learn to do that?"

"If I knew how to do that? I'd be doing that move all the time. Then my teammates would be jealous that I'm also secretly a ninja dancer."

My son giggled.

Jensen ruffled Calder's hair. "You laughing at me, little dude?"

"Uh-huh." Calder's giggles were a balm to my soul.

I didn't have the heart to tell my son that I'd received word today the dance camp he'd looked forward to had been canceled.