Between You Me and Us by Kate Smith

Author:Kate Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kate Smith
Published: 2020-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

I stared blankly at my book, struggling to shut down the thoughts whirling around my brain. Would Luci tell her brother about this afternoon? As the lock turned in my front door, I straightened.

“Are you home, Mar?” Jake’s voice brought me out of my chair.

I’d been staring blankly at my book, struggling to shut down the thoughts whirling around my brain. Shooting a look toward my bedroom, I hurried toward the front door. “You’re early.”

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” he asked, catching me around the waist and hauling me against him. “Greg had a meeting downtown, but he had it covered, so …” His lips were enticing, soft and warm as he kissed me, dancing us toward the bedroom. His keys landed on the island with a clatter.

“Stop.” The firm push against his chest did little to dissuade him, but the only thing worse than him finding his daughter in my apartment would be him finding her curled up in the middle of my bed enjoying her afternoon siesta as he stripped me naked, intent on luring me into that very bed. “Really, we can’t.”

He pressed his face into the crook of my neck, groaning, still guiding me toward my bedroom, one slow backward step at time.

“Jake.”

He stopped just short of my room and stared into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Sarina’s tiny feet pattered against the hardwood as she toddled toward her daddy, lifting her arms.

He narrowed his eyes, but a bright smile appeared as he scooped up his baby girl, tossing her in the air and peppering her with kisses. “Starfish! Did you have fun today? What happened to Tía Luci?”

The little girl patted his cheek, followed by an open-handed thumb tap to her forehead with her right hand. She squirmed and pointed toward the living room.

Jake set her on her feet, and she raced away, plopping onto her bum beside the board book we’d looked at before her nap. “Why is my daughter here?”

“Good question. Why is she here, Jakob?”

“Where’s my sister?” He crossed his arms.

“Luci got called in to work and asked me to watch Sarina.”

“You should have said no.”

“And tell her that you demand that I stay away from your kid?”

“No, but this isn’t—” He eyed my phone as it rang.

“That’s probably Luci,” I said, glancing at the number onscreen—the one linked to the building’s intercom system. “What should I do?”

“Damn. Let her in? You can’t ignore her.”

I answered and released the door, still observing Jake.

The man stared at his blissfully unaware daughter, tense and poised, appearing ready to snatch her up and bolt from the apartment at any moment.

“It’s not that big of a deal. Just tell her I called you to pick up Sari.”

“Why would you do that? In her world, we aren’t even speaking, let alone having chummy phone convos while you babysit my daughter.”

“Then tell her we’re seeing each other. It’s time.”

As my front door opened, he pressed a finger to his lips and covered the few feet to my bedroom, slipping inside and closing the door only seconds before his sister appeared.

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