Page 51 of Under Control
“Because of his heart?”
He smiled, warmed by the concern in her voice. “Because he’s eight.”
“Oh.” She gave an uncharacteristically nervous laugh and shook her head. “Did you know you smile when you’re texting her?”
Derek sighed, dreading where this was probably heading. “I did not know that.”
“You do, and for a minute I was jealous, but then when you told me what she wanted, I realized you smile whenever you talk about your kids. I guess even when you’re texting.”
“They make me happy. It sucks that they start school soon, since I won’t get to see them as much as I do during the summer, but they like school and they start getting bored, so it’s good for them.”
“Speaking of next week, I’ll be out of town for a couple of days next weekend. It’s been on my calendar for a while, but I realized I hadn’t mentioned it to you.”
“Oh.” Even though they often went several days without seeing each other, her going out of town was new. “Are you going to visit your family?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. I’m speaking at a conference, so I’ll fly into Kansas City Friday and then fly home early Sunday morning.”
“Kansas City, huh?”
“Are you thinking about how far away I’ll be or the barbecue?”
He traced his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m thinking about how much I’ll miss you while you’re so far away...eating barbecue.”
When she nipped at the tip of his thumb hard enough to straddle the line between playful and painful, he yelped, but she didn’t look very contrite. “Before you even ask, Derek, I’m not smuggling barbecue home in my carry-on bag.”
“You could put it in your checked bag. You wouldn’t even technically be smuggling it, then.” When she tilted her head and looked up at him through her eyelashes, he held up his hands in surrender. “Of course you don’t check a bag. That would be inefficient.”
“Very. Checking a bag and then standing around waiting for the carousel is a huge waste of time for short trips. And even for longer trips, it’s sometimes cheaper and faster to buy toiletries and whatnot when you arrive at your destination.”
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her against him. “You’re very sexy when you’re talking about efficiency.”
“I can say with certainty I’ve never been told that before.”
“That’s too bad, because it’s true. When you talk about your work, you get this look. You’re passionate about it and knowledgeable, and you give off this air of confidence that’s very sexy.”
Heat flared in her eyes and she buried her fingers in his hair. “It’s very sexy that you find that sexy.”
He leaned in, teasing her lower lip with his tongue before pressing deeper. She opened her mouth to him and he kissed her with all of the hunger that had built up over a day of watching her in the sun, relaxed and laughing.
But when his hand cupped her breast, he felt her hesitation and broke off the kiss. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, really. It just feels weird to be kissing you with...you know.”
“With my kids asleep in their rooms?” He chuckled softly against her hair. “Behind their closed doors?”
“Yes, it feels weird.”
“Parents get to kiss people, too, you know. That’s why so many people have more than one kid.”
“You’re making fun of me,” she accused, eyes narrowing.
“Only a little.” He buried his face in her neck and growled. “When am I going to get you alone again?”
“I don’t know. You work Tuesday and we have a Village Hearts meeting Wednesday. I’m flying out Friday.”
“Or we can just go in my room and close the door and be alone right now.”
Her growl of frustration was even more impressive than his. “Your ex-wife already walked in on us. I’d rather not have one of your kids do the same on the very first day I met them.”
