Page 98 of Just One Kiss

Her shoulders went stiff and she refused to smile. Man, he missed the days when their relationship was light and easy. He missed their playful banter, their easy way of joking with each other. He missedher.

“Okay, well, I plan to be here as much as he needs,” she said, back to business.

“But you need to take breaks too.” Josh finished off his coffee, rinsed out the cup and put it in the dishwasher.

“I’d feel better if I was here.”

The words were like spurs digging into his sides. Even after all this time, she didn’t trust him with their son.

He tried to shake it off. Tried not to remember the day that finally convinced him Carly and Jaden would be better off without him or the day that had put the idea in his mind in the first place.

He tried, but he failed.

It all came rushing back as if the wound only needed to be nicked for the pain of it to begin throbbing again.

Josh had been a father for about a month, and he still felt completely useless. Carly had taken to parenting much better than he had. She seemed to have a sixth sense about what the baby needed—when he was tired or hungry or needed to be changed.

To Josh, the pudgy little human was still a mystery.

Maybe that was why Carly rarely let him help. Maybe that was why when he offered to change the kid, she stood beside him, explaining exactly how to clean the baby, how to affix the diaper, how to get him dressed.

Maybe that was why she was constantly running through a list of instructions, as if she was the teacher and he was the student. She must’ve known how inept he was—must’ve seen it on his face or in the way he held their son. Awkward and unnatural.

They were living in the apartment above Mimi’s—something that still didn’t sit right with the older woman who’d bought the shop from Gus after Carly’s mom took off.

“I don’t like you two living in sin up here, but you need a place and I’ve never been one to turn away someone in need.”

They’d settled in, mostly, but that didn’t mean they were used to having a baby to tend to. Especially not a baby who slept in three-hour stretches.

“You still planning to go out tonight?” Josh asked Carly minutes after Jaden fell asleep.

She shook her head. “No.”

He frowned. “Why not?” She could use the break, and honestly—so could he. She wasn’t exactly easy to live with these days.

She plopped down on the couch and let out a heavy, tired sigh.

“You should go out,” he said.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “I wish.” She stretched her legs out on the couch, putting her feet in his lap.

He picked up her foot and started rubbing it. “Seriously, the baby is down for at least a few hours. I can handle things here.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “What if he wakes up?”

Josh shrugged. “Then I’ll feed him.”

“But he doesn’t eat for nearly four hours.”

“Then I’ll hold him. Or change him. Or burp him,” Josh said. “I’ll figure it out.”Let me figure it out.

She closed her eyes again and tipped her head back on the cushion. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Your friends are only home ’til Sunday,” he said. “And you need a break.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re cranky,” he said. “Really, really cranky.”

---