else.
“Long night, huh?” I ask, swallowing hard.
“Yeah, you know how it is with my parents.”
I do. And though it serves no good purpose, I let my mind slip back in time for just a few seconds, recalling the half dozen or so times I’d hung out with Jesse and his family. Janice was always in the kitchen, making her delicious Polish food, while his dad and siblings played cards, laughed, and generally harassed one another.
“I remember.” And I hope the silence in the house around me isn’t so quiet that Lane can hear the other end of this conversation and exactly what it is I remember. Jesse and I weren’t meant for more than the short period of time we had together, but the couple of weeks we did have were filled with so many memories. Memories I will cherish forever.
Which probably means I need to end this call ASAP, never mind the trip back in time.
“I should let you go. How about we try this again in the morning?” Jesse offers, as if reading my mind, and I blow out a silent breath.
“Okay, yeah. Sounds good.” I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and bite my lip guiltily. The bed I share with my fiancé is definitely no place to reminisce about the man who gave me my son. “Thanks, Jesse.”
“Yep. G’night.” He disconnects quickly and my shoulders drop in relief.
“Everything okay?” Lane’s fingers graze my bare arm curiously.
“Yep.” Forcing a smile, I set my phone on the nightstand and hop out of bed to hit the lights and shake off the thoughts. “Just too much fun with his other grandma and grandpa, I guess.”
“They still do that Friday night dinner thing?” He opens the blankets for me when I return, and I slide in next to him, resting my cheek on his bare chest. “Isn’t Jesse a little old for Mommy to be feeding him all the time?”
I chuckle and poke at his torso. “He goes for Jett. Besides, you know darn well you’d be at your mom’s in a heartbeat if she invited you over.”
He snorts. “Every once in a while, yeah, but every damn week? You’d think at some point—”
“Hey…” I lean up just enough to meet his eye. “Can we not do this right now? We had such a good night.”
His sarcastic smirk softens. “Yeah, we did. We need to do this more often. I like hanging out, just the two of us.”
And I don’t like the insinuation in his response, but I hate fighting with him, especially about Jesse, so I let it go and relax against him again.
“It was fun, wasn’t it?” We ordered cheap takeout and indulged in a few hours of Netflix, which we haven’t done in months. Even though we have every other weekend alone, we’re usually playing catch-up on work. I’ve been busier than ever since I started my home-based accounting business, while he’s been vying for a big promotion with Fremont Investments.
“Let’s get out of the house next time.” His hand slides from my upper arm to my waist, covered in a tank top, as I feign a gasp.
“Out of the house? What is this you speak of?”
He chuckles, that same hand dropping from my side to my ass. Since I’m only wearing panties and there’s not a lot of fabric between his fingers and my skin, it’s not hard to figure out where he expects this to go.
Unfortunately, I’m not far enough removed from the call and the trip down memory lane to follow him there just yet.
“What should we do?” Yes, I’m stalling and, yes, I feel guilty about it. Especially since I can’t remember the last time we had sex.
“Right now?” He reaches for my top leg and pulls it to his lap. “I have a pretty good idea.”
“I mean, when we go out.” Good Lord, he’s already hard.
“I don’t care as long as it doesn’t involve Chuck E. Cheese or Build-A-Bear.”
“No? Dang it, I was hoping to get that new polka dot princess bear.”
He laughs, his fingers digging playfully into my butt. “We could get dressed up. Or you could, anyway. Preferably in something short, black, and sexy.”
“Hey, if I have to get dolled up, so do you.”
“Maybe. It might be fun to go big, fuck up Green Bay, and forget our adult responsibilities for awhile.”
A giggle escapes my lips, but as the words sink in, my amusement falters. “Sorry to tell you, but parental responsibilities never go away.”
“Yeah, but Jett will