Unlike the previous times I’d been there, the main door to Tessa’s building was unlocked and I was able to walk right in. Also, unlike previous times, there was no Freddie or Celia in sight as I stood outside of Tessa’s door, knocking for the third time. I hadn’t told her I was coming over, though, in my defense, I’d called and texted, but she hadn’t responded. I lifted my hand one more time with the intention of knocking a little louder when the door swung open. Tessa was on the other side of it, wearing the shortest blue shirt I’d ever seen—she may as well have been wearing a bra—and gray sweats that hung low on her hips. All Yale. All sexy. All mine. Nothing made my blood boil like the sight of her. She pushed her hair, which was wet, out of her face and looked at me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Mommyyyyyyyyy,” a little voice called out.

“Sorry. It’s bedtime.” She blew out a long breath and turned around, leaving me standing in the doorway. I took the opportunity and stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind me. Miles ran around the corner and came to a dead stop when he saw me. He was wearing Beast pajamas from Beauty and the Beast, his blue eyes wide on mine. His dark hair was perfectly brushed to the side.

“I said in a minute, Miles,” Tessa said, walking over to him. He lifted his arms as she lowered hers to pick him up. It was all done on autopilot, the way you perform secondary things like tying your shoes.

“You took too long.” He wrapped his arms around her and continued to look at me over her shoulder.

I’d never seen a toddler glare, but I was pretty sure that was what he was doing. I fought a laugh as they went into what I assumed was his room. I didn’t follow, not because I didn’t want to but because it was obvious that I was interrupting some sort of ritual they had and he wasn’t happy about it.

While I waited, I took my phone out and googled the best way to introduce yourself to your girlfriend’s child. It wasn’t exactly what I was doing, but I couldn’t even think of a way to phrase the reality of this situation. The first link took me to a message board where the women talked about dating after a divorce. Each response made me a little more baffled and upset than the last. Most of them seemed to be happily dating, not even a mention of the ex-husband in the picture. I hated it. I reminded myself once again that this wasn’t an ordinary case and kept scrolling.

“You can come back,” Tessa called out.

I put my phone away and the pressure in my chest seemed to lessen as I followed the sound of her voice. I stopped at the door and looked around. There were scattered toys on the floor, the walls were blue and had silver constellations and stars painted on them. The windowsill had an outline of a rocket surrounding it. Even the bed looked like a spacecraft. On the left of it was a small bookshelf, a desk, and a dresser with a basket of clothes on it. Tessa covered Miles, who still had his eyes on me, and walked over to the bookshelf.

“What book do we want today?” she asked.

“Giving Tree.”

She sighed. “Really?”

He nodded, a little smile on his face as he looked at her back. Even in my limited experience with things like these, I could feel the love he felt for his mother. It was pure and wholesome and impossible to escape. It was in the way he watched her and in the way he looked at me as if he didn’t want me anywhere near her. Tessa took the book from the shelf and flipped to the first page as she sat on a child-sized blue couch beside his bed. I leaned against the doorframe and listened to her as she read the story to him. He turned over on his side so he could look at the pictures, smiling every time she read something in a different voice. Everything about her enthralled me. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear each time it fell in front of the pages. The way she made her voice loud or soft, depending on what character was speaking. The way she glanced up and touched his hair every so often once she turned the page. I had never deserved this woman. Not when we were kids, not when we were teenagers, not four years ago, and certainly not now. I’d never done anything to deserve her attention or her love, yet, she gave it to me continuously without asking for anything in return.

She’d given me a son and not asked for anything in exchange. Seeing her with him, the life she’d created for him without my help, made me realize she’d never needed me. She’d spent so much of her life worrying about being held back because she needed a man in her life, and she’d proven time and time again that she didn’t. It was refreshing to see and I never would have thought that before this moment. Maybe it was because my mother always needed my father and I had hated that for her. It was the reason the affair and the divorce had been so hard on her. She’d told me as much recently. Even Camryn, with all her traveling and doing what she wanted always revolved everything around a man, whether it be me, Wall Street guy, to the random guy she picked up.

Standing there, I acknowledged more than just how the women in my life depended on me. I admitted, if only to myself, that how I felt watching Tessa and Miles must have been how my father felt about Mariah and the son they had together. That how I felt about Camryn was how my father felt about my mother. Sure, circumstances were different. I wasn’t him. I understood that. It didn’t change the fact that on paper our situations were eerily similar.

By the time she finished reading the book, I could hear the tears in her voice. It was a damn powerful story. She closed it, wiped her face, and kissed Miles on the forehead, her fingers running through his hair softly.

“I love you.”

“I love you, Mommy.”

With that, she flicked on the nightlight, which shot a reflection of stars up on the ceiling, grabbed the basket of clothes, and shooed me out. I took a few steps back, my eyes riveted to her every movement as she joined me. Raw emotions rioted inside me, reminding me of all of the things I didn’t even know I wanted until just the other day. Except Tessa. I’d always wanted her, but this life? This settled down, familiar life? When had I ever dreamed of that? Never. Not until I knew the possibility was real and damn it, I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted anything. I followed her to the living room, where she dumped the basket on a couch and began to sort out clothes and fold them. I could feel her exhaustion even from where I stood, so instead of sitting on the opposite couch, I sat beside her on the center ottoman and joined her. Her hands stopped moving, her gaze jumping to mine.

“Let me do this,” I said. She scanned my face, seemingly looking for some unknown reason as to why I’d want to fold Miles’s clothes. Truth was, I hated folding clothes, but having my son’s clothes in my hands made me feel closer to him even though he had no idea what I was to him. After a moment, she let go of the shirt in her hands and let me take over.

“You’re so good with him,” I said, my voice a hoarse whisper. I glanced up at her. “I’m in awe of you.”

She looked stricken for a beat before she cleared her throat. “Thanks. Do you want something to drink? Wine? Hot chocolate? Beer? Water? Passion fruit juice?”

“Wine will do.” I felt myself smile. She stood and walked over to the kitchen. I continued folding clothes. There were two soccer uniforms, one baseball uniform, a lot of NASA related apparel, one Yankees T-shirt, one Mets T-shirt, one Cubs T-shirt. I stopped folding. Was she letting my kid root for all of these teams? I looked up as she approached and took the glass of wine from her hand.

“Are you letting him root for three different baseball teams?”

She sat across from me, on the empty couch. “Who cares? You don’t even like baseball.”

“I respect it.”

“You think it’s boring.” She took a sip of wine and heat spread inside me at the sight of her parted lips, the way her throat moved as she swallowed. God, I wanted her. I wanted to lick the wine from her lips and drag my way down the rest of her body. She shot me a look. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know like what,” she said, glancing down the hallway. “I know what you look like when you’re turned on.”

Fuck. And I was. So turned on. I shook the T-shirts in my hand. “Can we go back to the issue at hand?”

“He likes the colors. He’s obsessed with blues. Those are three different hues of blue.” She shrugged and then rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here anyway? How did this even happen?”

“What part?”

“You coming over, folding clothes, and drinking my wine.”

“You offered your wine. I offered to fold clothes.”

“But why are you here?”

“I called you. You didn’t answer.”

Amusement lit in her eyes. Her lips moved into a slight smile. “I forgot. You chase down women who don’t call you back. How’s that working out for you?”

“As it turns out, I seem to only chase one woman.” I searched her eyes. “I’m still working on it.”

“Building a textiles empire, trying to get into your son’s life, and chasing this woman? However will you manage it all?”

“I’ll gladly drop the first one if it means getting the other two.” I meant it. I could see that she didn’t completely believe me, but that was okay. I would take the time to make her believe me. She cleared her throat and set her glass on the side table. “When did you bring him? For the games,” I asked.

“In the spring when Prim told me about the promotion. We flew over and went to a Yankees game, but Miles wanted a shirt from both teams, and then we went to the Mets game, where he wanted both teams as well.”

I gaped at her. “That’s unacceptable.”

She laughed. “Sam got him the Cubs shirt last Christmas.”

Of course. Sam. I tried not to let that pierce my heart. My brother had been there for Miles and I wouldn’t let my jealousy cloud that. I hadn’t had a face-to-face conversation with him about all of this yet, but we’d spoken a few times over the phone, and I was at peace with it. I didn’t believe him when he said he didn’t know, but I was learning that moving past things and seeing the bigger picture was more important than being caught up in the little things.

“You look tired.”

“Thanks.” She shot me a dirty look.

“Come here.” I set the clothes down and lifted one of her feet onto my lap and then the other. She let me, probably because she was so tired. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back as I started to massage her foot. “Did you speak to Ryan about the fabric?”

“He said I need to get the fabrics by Monday.”

My hands stopped moving. “It’s Thursday.”

“Which gives you four days to get me the fabric.” She lifted her head and looked at me. “Aren’t you Mr. Go-Getter?”

“I told you I need help getting this done.”

“What’s the status on the meeting?”

“I emailed that to Chloe. She’s willing to meet us this Saturday in Miami and show you the fabrics in person. It’s a weekend, but she’s limited on days.”

“That’s fine.”

“Why don’t we make a weekend out of it?” I suggested. Tessa’s eyes widened.

“I just came back from a trip.”

“That was a mental health slash work trip. That doesn’t count. I mean a quick getaway, just the two of us. We can get on the same page about Miles and celebrate your birthday.” I smiled at the look on her face. Clearly, she didn’t think I would remember. “When was the last time you took a birthday trip?”

She laughed. “Probably never.”

“We can go down to Miami.” I raised an eyebrow.

“When would this trip take place? Assuming I say yes.”

“Tomorrow. We can come back on Sunday.”

“What?” She sat upright. “I can’t just take an impromptu trip! We have a lot of ground to cover on parenting one-oh-one.”

“We’ll cover it on the trip. Do you want to bring Miles?”

“You’re serious.” She blinked slowly, openly gaping at me.

“Of course, I’m serious.”

“I’m not taking Miles to Miami. I’d take him to Orlando, but what’s he going to do in Miami?”

I shrugged. Hell if I knew. I’d been there once for a bachelor party and barely remembered my time there. “We can also find out if the fabrics company would be open to a meeting while we’re there.”

“Hm.” She studied me for a long moment.

“Your mom and Joan are still here. Freddie and Celia—”

“Freddie’s out of town for work, but yes,” she said, knowing where I was going with this. “I’d be able to leave Miles with them for a day or two. Preferably one, though.”

“A twenty-four-hour trip?”

She sighed heavily. “It can be longer, but not much longer.”

I grinned, fishing my phone out to book the trip.

“Oh my god. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. All I wanted for my birthday was to get my hair and nails done and you’re over here springing this on me.”

“How soon can you get your hair and nails done?”

“Tomorrow morning if I don’t go to the office but the daycare isn’t open tomorrow because—”

“I’ll watch Miles. If you let me,” I said, swallowing the lump that seemed to keep coming back. She looked startled. I waited for her to say no, to tell me I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and wouldn’t know how to handle him. Instead, she lowered her feet slowly and sat up, closer to me.

“You’d have to be here early.”

“I would stay the night if you’d let me.”

“We aren’t ready for that.” Her eyes widened. “It’s too soon for Miles. I’ve never had a man . . .” She let the words hang, but I caught her drift.

“We don’t have to share a bed. I can take the couch.”

“You don’t have clothes here. You’d have to pack too. Don’t you need to be at work tomorrow? At what time would we leave?”

“I’ll work from here. I’ll go home, get clothes, and come right back.” I waited, smiling when I realized I really had her. “Keep throwing around excuses. I’ll keep finding a way around them.”

“Believe me, I know you will.” She shot me a pointed look. “Fine. Go home and come back.”

She stood and walked into the kitchen, finishing her wine on the way over there, and then returned with a set of keys. I stood in front of her, loving the way I towered over her. Squashing the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her, hold her, anything to have her near. She shot me a pointed look, seemingly reading my thoughts, and handed me the keys. “I want these back. You haven’t earned them. But I am way too tired to wait up for you.”

I held her fingers between mine as I took the keys from her and leaned in. Her breath caught. I placed my forehead against hers, closed my eyes, and breathed out. She did the same.

“Thank you.”

“The keys are temporary,” she whispered.

“Temporary has potential to become permanent.”

With that, I pulled away and went home. I jogged back, hoping it would help kill the adrenaline running through me. I knew I’d have to take a nice, cold shower when I got there. And jerk off. There was no way I’d survive the night without both. I hadn’t felt this way in a long while, and a part of me welcomed it. I wasn’t broken after all. As I neared my place, I slowed my jog and glowered at the person standing by my stoop.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, obviously,” Camryn said, taking a step toward me.

“Unless you came over to tell me you signed the papers, I want nothing to do with you,” I said. “From now on, anything you need to tell me needs to be said through your lawyer. I’m not fucking kidding about that.”

She balked. “What? You can’t just order me away like that.”

“I just did.” I brushed past her, taking the steps quickly. She grabbed my arm.

“Tessa’s back.” Her words made cold dread seep through me. “You aren’t the only one who knows to hire a PI in the middle of a divorce.”

I kept my eyes on my door because I didn’t want her to know how uncomfortable this made me and I waited for her to tell me she knew about Miles. My stomach churned at the thought of a random guy with a camera following my kid around.

“What’s your point?” I made myself sound bored.

“My point is that if you think I’m going to sign those papers so you can run off into the sunset with her, you have another think coming,” she said. “Your mom is on my side. If you have any doubts about it, you should try calling her sometime.”

“What the fuck does my mother have to do with this?” I yanked my arm away and turned around to cut her with my glare.

“I’m just letting you know that I have more people on my side than you have on yours,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m sure that if I call your father tomorrow I’ll have him on my side as well. And your grandmother, what will she think when she finds out you’re trying to get a divorce before the contract is up?”

“The contract is almost up, so you can go right ahead and call the entire fucking world for all I care. This divorce is happening.”

I turned around and this time, I unlocked my door and shut it right in her face.