Page 110 of Anti-Hero

“Anything for my favorite baby mama.”

She laughs, then winces. “Sorry I, uh, brought that up.”

“It was a fair shot. I was acting like an ass.”

I glance at her.

“Oh, sorry, were you waiting for me to disagree?”

I laugh.

I like Collins Tate. I like hera lot. I might even love her.

“For the record, you’re also myonlybaby mama. I’ve always been … careful.”

Collins hesitates before saying, “We were careful too.”

“Three times increases the odds.”

Once again, she pauses before speaking. “So, you don’t usually …”

I wait, but she doesn’t finish. Just blushes.

We haven’t discussedthatnight in any detail since it happened. Her fishing for information, paired with the revelations she’s not dating Perry and will no longer be working at Kensington Consolidated in a month, has me in an excellent mood all of a sudden.

“That wasn’t a normal night for me, Collins,” I state.

Something I would have said sooner had she stuck around the next morning.

She’s avoiding my gaze, but I don’t think she’s uncomfortable. The corners of her lips are curved up, and she’s still flushed. I think she’s flustered.

Maybe Fran and Sadie were right, and I should spell the whole truth out.

“I hope you’re ready for January,” I tell her.

She glances at me in response to the rapid subject change. “Uh, yeah. I should be. The responsibilities they went over during the interview sounded pretty similar to what I was doing at?—”

“I’m not talking about your new job,” I clarify. “I’m talking about how, starting in January, youwon’tbe working for me.”

Her head tilts. “What does that mean?”

“You know that’s the only reason I haven’tchasedyou since August, right?”

Shock spreads across her face, like ink spilling in water. Then gets hastily wiped away.

Collins’s fingers fidget, like she’s contemplating pulling her hand away. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she says softly.

“Why?” I challenge, undeterred.

She opens her mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. “It would complicate co-parenting if we were … involved.”

I nod in agreement. “That must be why couples never have kids together. Can you imagine? The hassle ofnothaving two houses and a custody agreement and separate finances?—”

“It would complicateourco-parenting. There was nothing to separate. We were never a couple to begin with, Kit.”

“That was your choice. Not mine. You knew I was interested.”

She scoffs. “Sointerestedthat I never heard from you after that night? It took me walking into your office as yourassistantfor us to have a post-sex conversation.”

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