Page 23 of Room 908

He set the box on the ground at his feet. “Yeah, I get it. That’s pretty obvious, since you wentten yearswithout telling me,” he snapped. I flinched, and he groaned, backtracking. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Yes, you did,” I said on a sigh. “And I deserved it.” We were interrupted when my phone pinged with a text, and I pulled it out. It was from my mom.

Mom:Cam wants to know if you’re still shopping. He says he’s hungry and ready for dinner. Did you want me to make something for him?

I quickly texted back that I was just packing up the car and would be home in ten minutes.

Just a few seconds later, Eric’s phone pinged. “Sorry,” he muttered when he pulled it out to look, and I saw the profile picture on the text was Cam.

“Is that…”He wouldn’t, would he?“Is that text from Cam? Did you buy him a cell phone?”

Eric went totally still, and I could see him weighing his options. Finally, he decided to go with honestly. “Yes, but—”

“What the fuck, Eric?! You know how I feel about screens, but you just had to go behind my back and buy him one. You couldn’t even ask?”

“How was I supposed to ask you when you won’t take my calls?” he argued back. Our voices were getting louder, and a few people turned to look. Great, something else for the tabloids to print. They would probably say I was begging for more cash.

“Forget it. I can’t have this conversation right now.” I headed for the driver’s door, but Eric ran ahead and put himself in my path.

“Just hang on a second and listen.”

“What?” I snarled.

“Yes, I bought him a phone, but it’s one of those emergency ones for kids, so he can only text or call the approved phone numbers, which is you and me and his grandparents, and that’s it. No games or apps, no internet connection, but I wanted him to be able to text you when he’s with me. I knew you would miss him.”

That soothed at least a little of my rage, and I took a deep breath and tried to let go of my temper. “Okay,” I finally bit out. “Now, if we’re finished, I have to get home.”

“Gods, I keep screwing things up between us, but this isn’t how I want it to be. Please believe me. Jasper, that kiss—”

“Was nothing,” I said, cutting him off before he could finish.

“It wasnotnothing, and you know it. Don’t lie to me and say you didn’t feel it too,” he said more firmly, taking a step toward me, and this time, I held my ground, closing my eyes and just letting myself be in his presence. He was warm and smelled so damn good. He was a temptation, and I couldn’t say no forever, because Eric and I had a connection, and it was impossible to deny it.

Against my better judgment, I admitted softly, “I felt it.”

His eyes softened. “I’m not expecting us to commit to a serious relationship straight away. I’m not saying we should get married.Yet. After ten years apart, neither of us are who we used to be. I’m just asking you to keep an open mind. Maybe we could try to get to know each other again.”

I tipped my chin up and looked into those green eyes, the gray sky above making them appear deeper. “But we have Cam to consider. I don’t want him to get his hopes up, only for things to fall apart. And because of your fame, the whole world will be watching.” What I didn’t want to admit was that I couldn’t let Eric break my heart again; I couldn’t survive it twice.

“We can take it slow, keep it to ourselves for a while.” When I didn’t immediately shoot him down, he said, “Maybe I could call you tonight, and you’ll actually pick up?”

“Well, we do have a birthday party to plan…” I began cautiously, but he was already nodding.

“Perfect. I’ll call you around nine after Cam’s in bed.”

“Okay,” I whispered. I felt like I just made a deal with the devil himself.

I halfway expected Eric to try to kiss me again, but he kept his word to take things slow, and I scolded myself for being disappointed. He slid out of my way and opened my car door for me. “Make sure you tell Cam I found you,” he teased, wiggling his phone at me. “Oh, and you’re accepting this gift. You’re welcome.”

I snorted a laugh and climbed into the car, while he opened the back to put the mixer in. I drove away, watching him staring after me in the rearview mirror. So that was why Cam had wanted to know if I was still at the grocery store. He’d been keeping tabs on me and feeding the information to Eric. I had a spy in my midst, but I couldn’t bring myself to be mad about it. In fact, to know that our son was rooting for us took some of the pressure off.

Too bad my heart was still playing defense.

14

Eric

“Pizza’shere!”Icalleddown the stairs.

---