Page 15 of Summer Affair
“He’ll be fine. You’ll make it anentertainingsummer like you always do. Crafts and hiking and trips to the zoo.”
“I didn’t plan for that.” She knew what was about to happen, and her heart was already in her throat and her pulse was at stroke level because now it wasn’t only Sammy being affected. What he was about to do threatened her livelihood. Redirect her focus from what she’d worked so hard to accomplish. “I didn’t plan for any kind of childcare. You said he’d be gone, with you, so I gave up his spot at the Y and booked multiple weddings.”
“I’m sure there are other camps you can send him to. He told me about some football camp his friends are going to. Send him there.”
“I can’t afford football camp.” There, she’d said it. She could barely afford the YMCA. She relied on hand-me-down cleats from other kids just so he could play in the local youth football league. But all-day camp? Monday through Friday? Even with all the weddings, that was well beyond her means.
“Dirk will pay his half,” Nikki assured her. “Won’t you, babe?”
Dirk didn’t respond, but it didn’t matter. Even with half of it covered, Jillian couldn’t make up the difference. He knew this. Was relishing in the moment where he got to stick it to her once again for daring to divorce him over a simple case of slippery dick syndrome.
“You could always call your dad for help,” Dirk offered, knowing damn well that Jillian hadn’t spoken to him in over two decades. Like Dirk, he wasn’t cut out for parenting and when her mom passed, a nine-year-old Jillian was sent to live with her grandma—who loved her fiercely. But knowing her dad didn’t want her left deep scars. “Or maybe you can stop being Ms. Cupcake and go back to being a professional, then money wouldn’t be so tight.”
Wow. Talk about a punch to the gut. He was the one who had been adamant Sammy needed a stay-at-home mom. He wanted her to be a wife and homemaker. And stupidly, she’d allowed a man to run her life. Now Sammy was paying for her mistake.
“Being ‘Ms. Cupcake’ is the only way I can still stay home to be with Sammy.” Which was more important than material things. And a five-year résumé gap as a domestic caretaker didn’t exactly leave her with an abundance of options.
“I’d hoped you’d be better at the whole stay-at-home thing than you were as a project manager. So I guess we were both disappointed.”
And the tears she’d been holding at bay were creeping closer. Not over Dirk’s cruel words, but over how upsetting this whole ordeal would be on Sammy. She was about to tell Dirk he was a gigantic dick when an arm came around her, a hand sliding intimately down her side to rest on her hip. She looked up to find Clay looking down.
“Hey, Cupcake,” he said, tugging her closer in that familiar way that people who had seen each other naked would. “I was wondering where you went.”
He gave her a wink, full of conspiracy and humor, right before his head lowered. Slowly but with purpose, and an unexpected excitement rushed through her.
Oh boy.She didn’t want to examine that too closely, because she wasn’t sure she’d like the conclusion she’d come to. Or why her pulse quickened at the mere thought of contact.
He was clearly en route for a brush of the cheek, but somehow her wires got crossed because he zigged as she zagged and before she knew it, Jillian Conner was kissing Clay Easton.
Chapter Five
Resolutions from Jillian’s Journal
Kissing burns 6.4 calories per minute.
Wanna workout?
Clay had made a serious tactical error.
He was coming to realize that Jillian was expectedly unexpected. Today was no different. One minute he’d been checking on her, then next they were kissing. Right there in front of an audience. Which had been his intention.
A little show to get her bag of dicks ex to shut his pie hole, but the minute their lips touched, he found himself kissing her for a whole other reason. He braced himself for her to shut him down, but no amount of bracing could have prepared him for just how big a punch her mouth packed.
Prim and proper, it was enduring as hell. When warm and soft lips shyly pressed against his—it was damn electric, sparking some serious voltage that nearly short-circuited every wire in his brain.
Then he remembered that this wasn’t some cleat chaser who’d strolled into Stout looking for a good time. This was a sweet single mom who’d already been handed a raw deal when it came to men. So, even though kissing her was more mind-blowing than he’d fantasized, when it came to Jillian, she was off-limits.
With one last brush of the lips, he pulled back, surprised when she didn’t look as if she wanted to castrate him, which was a good thing considering he was pitching a tent in his shorts. Nope, Ms. Cupcake looked as if she didn’t want him to stop. Something that didn’t bode well for the thousand-and-one reasons he’d come up with to steer clear.
When she went to step away, he moved the wrong way, which resulted in his arm draped over her, his hand grazing the side of her chest—and what a great chest it was. From his vantage point, he could see a lot of that glorious cleavage.
He was still looking and they were still touching, only now it was a clearI’ve got youkind of contact.
Even though he’d come late to the game, he’d heard enough to know exactly what Jillian dealt with on a regular basis, and that rubbed him wrong. His first instinct was to wipe the floor with Dirk’s face, but one look at Jillian’s shattered expression and he’d decided to change tactics, going from defensive to a fully offensive play, covering his teammate.
“Everything okay here, hon?” he asked, really nailing the casual intimacy vibe he’d been going for.
Her lashes lifted and behind those golden-brown eyes flashed amusement. “Dealing with it,hon. No need to worry.”
