mocking my earlier dismissal and stalking toward me. “What is wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?” I crossed my arms over my chest and held my ground. “I might let you get away with perving on me when we’re alone, but don’t do it in front of Jack.”
He rolled his eyes and kept coming at me with a face that would have pissed me off if it hadn’t been so charming. “It was just my hand on your leg, Lex.”
“So. What about your rules with Lauren and dating?”
He wrapped his arms around me, making me defenseless with mine tucked between us. He parted his legs wide off to his sides to get down on my level. “What about them?”
“Well, don’t you need to talk to her?”
His forehead bunched together as if I’d said something totally insane. “Why? She’s known you longer than I have. That’s just for bringing new people into Jack’s life. You knew him in utero for fuck’s sake.”
My shoulders slumped because I had been serious when I’d told him he was a good father and Lauren was lucky to have him. The very last thing I’d ever do is cause trouble for them or step on anyone’s toes.
“Come on. Please. No touching or flirting or anything like that in front of Jack for now. It’s important to me. Then when Lauren finally knows—and after he gets used to Mark—we’ll tell him. Think about it. That is a lot of change for a kid all at once. Maybe we just wait a while down the line, if there is a down the line.”
Ugh. I hated all this crap. I never knew what to say. And even if I thought I was saying the right thing, it still felt like it was coming out wrong.
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” His face softened and he scratched up and down my back. “Okay, you called time-out and Jack’s out there, but I’m ready to talk more about this whenever you are. But for right now, we only have about another minute before we have a three-foot-tall one-man search party looking for us. So kiss me and I’ll try to keep my hands to myself—around Jack.”
I’d never say it out loud, but the brute who was holding me had a sweet side I couldn’t resist.
“Fine.”
The one word was barely off my lips before he planted his to mine, and for the next thirty seconds, we were back in the safety of the bubble we’d found over the weekend. A place where he moaned when my tongue slipped across his. A place where we didn’t have to explain what was going on. A place where my heart led my brain.
All too quickly, it was over and he let me go. But first, he pressed his mouth to my ear and said, “I fucking needed that. I missed you all day.”
Like it always did, his low voice in my ear made goose bumps sweep across my skin.
“That’s so cool. Dad, have you seen this?” Jack asked, holding Boop beside me as I showed him the plans for the cat condo I was having built one way or another.
“Oh, I’ve seen it, all right.” Hudson could be such a buzzkill, but I didn’t let it bother me.
I knew my design was ludicrous, but either I could make dozens of cat houses, each with a separate feature, or I could treat my babies and have an all-in-one prototype.
How was I supposed to sell badass pet houses if I didn’t even know if my cats liked them?
I clicked my mouse to the next 3-D rendition of a birdcage that had a cute retractable-blinds feature on it so bird owners wouldn’t have to toss towels and sheets over their cages at night. It was pretty ingenious.
“Dad, we need a pet so Aunt Lex can make us one.”
Hudson bent to the side and looked around at the graphic I was showing Jack. He didn’t laugh or have anything Hud-like to say. Actually, he studied it for a long time before his blue eyes found mine. I wasn’t sure what his expression meant. It wasn’t like him not to take an easy shot at me and my wild ideas.
Finally, Hudson answered his son. “I’ll talk to your mom about it.”
“Yesssss!” Jack pumped his fist in the air. “Nolan has a Rottweiler named Satan. Okay, not really, that’s just what he calls it. But still.”
“Hey. Don’t get your hopes up. If it’s your dog, it’ll have to