Page 38 of Whispers at Seaside
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said, missing her little man. “If he needs me, my brothers will call. When he was younger I’d call and check on him when he stayed overnight with them or with Serena, and it made himrememberthat he missed me. It’s like he gets so caught up in having fun he forgets I exist for a while.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“It did,” she answered softly. “But then my mother reminded me that this was what being a parent was all about, raising our children to be independent. Selfishly, I’d like to hear his voice, but that’s for me, not him. He’s out having a blast, doing boy things.”
“Guythings,” he said with a coy smile. “You’re a wonderful mother, sunshine. I can’t imagine it’s easy.”
Matt tucked her snugly against his side as they walked toward the water, talking about intimate topics they hadn’t ventured into before crossing the friends-to-lovers line.
“Nothing’s easy, but with parenthood there are more wonderful times than hard times. I wouldn’t change my decision for anything.”
She told him about the many sleepless nights and zombielike days she’d endured when Hagen was a baby and how she’d napped when he did. They talked about how her mother had stayed with her for the first week after Hagen was born, and how much her brothers and Serena helped her since.
“Do you want more children?” he asked.
“Yes, someday,” she answered honestly. “You?”
He nodded. “Definitely.”
She wasn’t a woman with a checklist, like some single women out there. But if she were, being with a man who wanted a family would be on the top of the list, alongside reliable, loyal, loving, and trustworthy.
Mira learned about how Matt’s father used to take him on weekly trips to the library and they’d hunt down book sales all summer long.
“Hagen would love that,” she said.
“Then let’s make a point of doing it. There’s no reason he should miss out on the things he would love.” He stopped walking and tipped her chin up with his finger, bringing her mouth in line with his.
Standing beneath the black velvet sky, Mira smiled up at the man she was falling harder for every minute they spent together.
“Come to Boston with me next weekend. I have to do some research, and Hagen would love spending hours in the library. It’s on your road-trip list.”
“Both of us?” Her heartbeat quickened at the prospect.
“Of course. We’ll rent a two-bedroom suite. You and Hagen can stay in one room and I’ll stay in the other. It’ll be our next adventure.”
“You wouldn’t mind staying in a separate bedroom?” In the dating realm, she hadbaggage, a term she hated when used in reference to her son, but a term that was tossed around like a volleyball just the same. During all of his visits, Matt had never tried to push Hagen out of the picture. He never made her feel like her son was an inconvenience, just as he wasn’t now.
Our next adventure.
She’d spent so long trying not to think about Matt as a prospective boyfriend that she was still getting used to the idea that they had become a couple. A couple that might have anextadventure.
He pressed his lips to hers. With a thoughtful, loving—yes,loving—gaze that made her heart soar, he said, “I will do whatever it takes to be with you and Hagen. I’d get my own hotel room, but selfishly, I’d like to be more involved with bedtime, morning…familytime. That’s why I suggested a suite.”
The dreamy sigh that escaped her lips came straight from her ovaries.Family time.Surely he was just using it as a loose term for daily activities that seemed typical for couples with children, but it tweaked all of her heartstrings. She knew she needed to be careful with Hagen’s heart—and her own—since Matt was supposed to return to Princeton, but she didn’t want to be careful. Especially not when her heart was pushing careful as far away as possible. Serena was right. Even if they went back to seeing each other every few weeks, what were she and Hagen losing out on? This time together was too good to pass up.
“Okay,” she answered. “We’d love to.”
They walked toward the water, talking about the trip and how excited Hagen would be. A quartet was playing by the wharf, and Matt swept Mira into his arms and began dancing.
“I never knew you liked to dance so much,” she said, laughing as he twirled her around.
“I don’t, but I’ll take any excuse to have you in my arms.” He kissed her then, long and slow, and oh so sensually, tightening his grip when her knees weakened.
“You make me want so many things,” he whispered in her ear as they swayed to the romantic melody. “You, Hagen, time with both of you.This.You make me want to stay.”
Oh, how she wanted to believe him, to take those words and make them come true, but she knew better. “You can’t say things like that to me,” she said softly, holding him a little tighter.
“But it’s true, baby. Why wouldn’t I want you to know how I feel?” He spoke directly into her ear, holding her securely against him, as if he never wanted to let go.
