Page 40 of Child of Mine

BELLA

When I wake, it’s dark out. I’m pressed up against a very warm, very muscular, very male body. I nestle in closer and breathe in his intoxicating scent. Unfortunately, it only takes seconds for all the reasons we shouldn’t be in this position—let alone all the other positions we found ourselves in over the past few hours—to slam into my brain.

We work together. We’re surrounded by our colleagues, not to mention the preadolescent kids we’re responsible for. And then there’s the little matter of our daughter.

Our. Daughter.

Shut up,Quinn mutters.I’m tired.

I don’t know how you’re ever going to make this right,Izzy says, suddenly wide awake.Why did you have sex with him without telling him that he has a daughter? He’ll never forgive you.

Maybe it’s just a one-time thing,Quinn says.But that would suck. That sex was, like… awesome.

And how do you think you’re going to work with him now?Izzy asks.

Same way we did before,Quinn says with a chuckle.With a side of lust.

A wave of panic drowns both of them and drives me out of the bed. Wincing at the sharp pain in my ankle, I search the shadows for my clothes. Balancing on my good leg, I get dressed and am about to open the door to escape when I remember that this is my cabin.

Prioritize, Bella,Izzy says.Slow your breath and your thoughts and solve the problem that’s right in front of you.

Guess somebody was listening in rehab,Quinn snarks.

Tabling worries about what my actions will mean for my future—for Lilah’s future—I take the advice and focus on what needs to happen right this moment. Henry needs to wake up, get dressed, and get out of here. We can’t have kids witnessing a walk of shame. It’s bad enough that James will know he didn’t sleep in his bed for… what the hell time is it? When I find my watch, I’m relieved to see that it’s only two in the morning.

I’ll tell him on his way out the door that this has to be a one-time thing. We scratched the itch, and that’s it. We can move on.

My heart rate back to semi-normal, I perch on the edge of the bed and shake Henry’s shoulder. “Hey, you need to wake up.”

It takes a few good shoves to get his eyes to open, and then he just stares at me. I lean in to whisper, “You have to go,” and our foreheads collide. Stifling my own gasp of pain, I cover his mouth.

“Sorry,” he whispers. It takes a few beats, but reality finally seems to sink in. “Oops.”

Not what a girl wants to hear after a night of sex,Quinn mutters.

Beggars can’t be choosers,Izzy says.

Finger in the air, I barrel on. “We don’t have time to talk about this. And really, I’m fine. We’re cool. This was fun, but… you need to get back to your cabin and figure out a story on your way there.”

He opens his mouth, closes it again, shakes his head.

There’s no time for a protest or an argument. I’m sure once he’s fully back to the real world, he’ll agree. “How about this?” I suggest. “Just tell James we were brainstorming and you fell asleep on my other bed. Or maybe he won’t even be awake, and it’ll all be fine.”

I don’t wait for his response. Instead, I find his clothes. He frowns when I hand them over, but he gets dressed. In fact, he doesn’t say anything, just lumbers to the exit. But when I turn the knob to usher him out, he reaches past me to brace a hand against the door, keeping me from opening it. With his other hand, he pulls me in for a long, lingering, hot-as-hell kiss.

When he breaks it, he gives me an equally heated look before slipping out the door.

Wowis all Quinn and Izzy have to say to that.

* * *

HENRY

After I stumble back to my room in a sex-soaked haze—where James is snoring away, thankfully, none the wiser that I’ve been absent—the rest of the week in New Hampshire is so jam-packed that I’m unable to get Bella alone for a few private words, let alone for a repeat. I’d like to convince her that doing over that do-over on a regular basis would be an excellent idea. We’re more compatible at the conference table and in bed than anyone I’ve ever known. So what’s the problem?

We work together, yes. But neither of us reports to the other. I’m slightly higher than her in the hierarchy, but her experience with the show and prior relationships give her enough of a power edge that it doesn’t feel like that.

There’s the kid. I’m sure being a single parent complicates things, especially if the potential new mate is terrible with kids. But it’s not that I never want kids or hate them.

---