Chapter Twenty-Seven

Avery

Things had been a little tense last night. We both said we were tired and went to bed early. We had barely slept Friday night. He hadn’t made a move to touch me, and we had barely spoken all day yesterday. I had dreaded the morning after but hoped we were both adult enough to avoid the awkward encounter. Obviously, we weren’t. We had basically been ignoring one another, neither of us knowing what to say.

This morning, I had gotten up before Jake and made a big breakfast with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I was hoping to break the ice a bit. It worked. We chatted about our upcoming week, and he talked about some of the recipes he was hoping to try. After breakfast, he went into the den to work while I grabbed my steamy romance novel and settled in on the couch in my plaid pajama bottoms and a T-shirt with no bra.

I loved the idea of kicking back and doing nothing on a lazy Sunday. It had been a stressful few weeks, and I knew if and when we got custody of Iris, our days would be anything but lazy. They would be full of excitement and new beginnings. I couldn’t wait to see her take her first steps or to take her to the zoo. I wanted to spoil her and give her all the love Tracy would have. I knew Jake felt the same way. He had shown me his videos yesterday. He was a proud uncle.

The doorbell rang, startling me. I wasn’t expecting anybody, and I seriously doubted Jake was. I assumed it must be a door-to-door salesman, although we were kind of out of the way. I used a hand to brush down my short hair that I assumed was spiking up and out all over my head.

I pulled open the door and bit back the curse word that threatened to cross my lips when I saw Janice standing there, her yellow notepad in her hand.

“Hi. Janice. You’re here,” I said, for lack of anything better to say.

“Yes, I’m here,” she replied dryly. “Good morning,” she said, looking at my attire. “Is your husband home?”

I nodded. “Babe!” I yelled the word in a somewhat desperate voice I hoped Janice didn’t pick up on.

I pulled the door open wider and gestured for Janice to step inside.

“Come in, please.”

“This is your first unannounced visit,” she said, stating the obvious.

I nodded. “I figured as much.”

“Babe?” I heard Jake call out.

I silently prayed he wouldn’t blow it by asking why I had called him babe. He came into the foyer and stopped midstride. He was wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else.

“Oh, we have company,” he said.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes. Janice is here for our unannounced visit.”

“I see that,” he said, stepping forward to come stand beside me. “I’m afraid you’ve caught us on a very casual Sunday.”

Janice’s head bobbed up and down. The woman was staring at Jake’s chest and the many tattoos that covered his arms and part of his chest. One tattoo snaked down his ribcage, highlighting his six-pack abs. He had always been careful about covering the tats. I hoped Janice wasn’t the type to make snap judgments based on appearance. Jake had certainly proven himself already. The tattoos shouldn’t matter. They didn’t make him a better or worse parent.

“So, what do we do? I mean, do you interview us again or do you need to look around the house?” he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

The woman seemed to have trouble finding her voice, which made me want to drop to the floor with laughter. The stuffy woman was enthralled by my husband’s near-naked body. I wondered what she would do if she saw all of him. That would really make her mouth drop.

“Yes. I mean, yes, I have a few questions, and I would like to see the condition of the house. It’s the reason for the unannounced visits,” she said, quickly regaining her snotty attitude.

“Well, we can head upstairs first, and I’ll grab a shirt,” he said with an easy grin.

Janice nodded. “Fine.”

I smiled at Jake, hoping it looked like a smile of pure love. It was actually a bit on the lusty side, but who could blame me when a man like Jake was squeezing me against his bare chest? Heat radiated off him. I fought the urge to press my lips against one of the beautiful pectoral muscles that was so nicely defined.

“This way,” I said, stepping out from under Jake’s arm and leading the way to the staircase.

Janice was scanning the area as we walked. I was sure she was hoping she would find needles or empty bottles of booze lying about. Every time I thought we were making headway with the woman, she jumped back to being that old stuffy woman we first met.

Our bedroom was a bit of a mess, and normally I would have been embarrassed to take anyone into my messy room. In this situation, messy was good.

“Sorry. We haven’t made the bed or anything,” I said as we walked into the large master bedroom. The king-size bed was unmade, and it was obvious we had both slept in it. My clothes were scattered here and there, as were Jake’s.

Once Janice had taken in the bedroom, we quickly went through the rest of the upstairs before heading back into the kitchen. Jake was making coffee.

“Coffee?” he asked Janice.

I grinned when the woman suddenly looked nervous. Jake’s naked chest had thrown her off. It was funny and proved she was human under that cold exterior.

“Yes, please. I have a few more questions that weren’t covered in our earlier interviews,” she said.

“Let’s go out on the patio and enjoy our coffee,” Jake said, each of us taking our cup and heading outside.

We sat at the shaded table area. I was uncomfortable to be having the conversation in my pajamas, but asking to be excused to change seemed like admitting I was doing something wrong. My pajamas weren’t anything revealing. Hell, I’d seen women in Walmart wearing similar outfits.

“What can we answer for you?” Jake asked.

“This woman, Sally, who you mentioned as being a possible fill-in babysitter for Iris, I haven’t met her,” Janice stated.

I smiled at the obvious statement. “No, you haven’t.”

“I’d like to.”

I looked at Jake and then Janice. “I could give her a call and see if she can stop by. I can tell you she is probably at church or visiting friends.”

“Please do. If she is going to be spending time with the child, I would like to vet her as well.”

“Will you be interviewing the nanny we hire as well?” Jake asked.

I looked at him and smiled. He said it in a way that wasn’t offensive, but the point was made.

Janice shrugged, clearly not the least bit bothered by his direct question. “Assuming you get guardianship of the child, there will still be regular visits and check-ins. If something arises that gives cause for concern, yes, the nanny will be interviewed.”

Jake looked at her. “I guarantee you if something happens to Iris while she is in the care of the nanny, you won’t need to worry about interviewing her. She’ll be fired, and I’ll make sure the nanny never works again.”

“When can we start the adoption process? I’ve been doing some research and Arizona favors family adopting orphaned children,” I said, wanting Janice to know we weren’t entirely at her mercy. “Kinship adoption, I believe it’s called.”

Janice smiled. “The home study and criminal background checks must be completed first. I’m glad you’ve done your research.”

“Are the background checks done?” Jake asked.

She shook her head. “They can take a month or more.”

I could see the frustration on his face and reached out a hand to touch his forearm. “It’s okay, babe. Neither of us has anything to hide, and considering I’ve only lived here my entire life, it should be quick, right?” I said, looking at Janice.

She nodded but didn’t give a straight answer.

“All right. I’ll go call Sally and see if she’s around.”

I left the table and quickly called Sally. She didn’t answer her phone. I left her a voice mail. I knew the woman wouldn’t be sitting around waiting for my call. She was very active and had a busy social calendar. Janice would have to schedule an appointment with her if she wanted to meet her. Not everyone was going to jump when she came knocking.

I returned to the patio. “I’m sorry. She isn’t answering her phone. I left her a voice mail. Like I said, she tends to go to church in the mornings and then spends the day with friends.”

Janice sighed. “Fine. I guess we’ll have to schedule a time to talk.”

“That works best. She is a busy woman. Would you like her phone number?”

“She can call me,” Janice shot back.

I took a deep breath, biting my tongue. “Fine. I’ll have her call tomorrow.”

“Well, I think I have all I need for now. I’ll let you two get back to your relaxing Sunday morning,” she said, once again looking at my attire.

I gave her a big cheesy smile, not caring a bit what she thought about my pajamas. At least I had clothes on. I could only imagine what her reaction would have been if I’d answered the door naked or she had caught me sunbathing in the nude on the patio. She’d probably have had a stroke.

We said our good-byes at the door. Jake and I turned to look at each other and burst into laughter.

“I’m going back to my book.”

I headed into the living room and flopped down on the couch.

Jake leaned over the back of the couch, his face close to mine. “Babe?” He repeated the word, making a joke about the way I had called him out of the den.

We started laughing again. “I wasn’t sure what to say. I went with what I thought she would expect.”

He was grinning. “I thought it was code for being mugged at the door or something.”

“It was basically the same thing. I did not expect her on a Sunday morning. They weren’t joking when they said surprise visit. I’m glad we were at least somewhat clothed. And you, poor Janice is going to have to go home and scrub her eyes. You gave her quite an eyeful,” I said, shaking my head.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone, and it isn’t like you haven’t seen it before.”

“I’ve seen it, but I think she was surprised by the tats.”

“Oh well. I spoke with the lawyer on Friday just to give him an update. There is no reason I shouldn’t get custody. This is all a formality. Janice has to know I have a lawyer. I dare her to bring up the tattoos.”

I laughed. “I don’t think she will ever be able to speak of your body without blushing.”

“Good.” He smirked. “I like to keep my women off guard.”

He leaned down, dropped a quick kiss on my forehead, and walked away.

It was the first kiss since the night I let him take me over and over again. I had been worried he’d had his way with me and was no longer interested. I shouldn’t have been worried about it at all. I had already decided it was a one-time thing. I had wanted to scratch the itch, and we had. I couldn’t let myself get caught up in our fake marriage and think about spending time with him. The adoption would be fast once we were approved to take custody. I had a feeling Jake would be moving back to California and only making visits.

He wasn’t the kind of guy to settle down with a family. He wanted Iris, and I believed he loved her, but I didn’t see him giving up his lifestyle. That was fine with me. I went into the marriage with my eyes wide open. I wasn’t going to be sad when he left us.

At least, that was what I was going to keep telling myself. I needed to remind myself on the daily that this whole thing wasn’t real. I shouldn’t get used to coming home to a gourmet dinner every night. I was figuring I would come home to a somewhat messy house, a box of mac and cheese, and Iris. That worked for me. I would probably be lonely, but Iris would be there to keep me company and very busy.