I couldn’t remember the last time I fell into such a deep slumber, but when I woke, I was startled to see the sun was up and the clock on my nightstand said it was seven. I shot out of bed and ran out of my room to wake Miles up, stopping dead in my tracks at the sound of chatter coming from the kitchen. Miles laughed. I frowned, making my way down the hallway before stopping again at the threshold. Rowan’s back was turned toward me and Miles was sitting on one of the tall barstools, the ones I never let him sit on unless I was beside him because I feared he’d fall and hurt himself. Yes, I was that paranoid.

“Mommy,” he said cheerfully when he spotted me and suddenly both pairs of deep blue eyes were looking in my direction. I strode over to Miles, gave him a hug, and kept him in the center of the chair. “Careful, buddy.”

“I’m not gonna fall.”

“You might.” I raised an eyebrow. He’d changed out of his pajamas and was wearing his favorite sweatpants and NASA T-shirt. “You dressed yourself?”

“Rowan helped.”

I smiled at the way he carefully pronounced his name. I looked over at Rowan, who was plating the pancakes he’d made. He walked over, set one of the plates in front of Miles, leaned in, and kissed my forehead before going back for the other plates.

“Thank you,” I said as he set one in front of me before wrapping an arm around my waist. Goose bumps spread over my skin at the feel of his hand on me.

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said against my hair. “I made chocolate chip. You want coffee?”

“Yes, but I’ll eat after I shower. I’ll be quick.”

“I was able to secure a meeting with the owner of the fabric company for tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “Our flight is tonight. All of the information is in your personal email, which I got from Chloe.”

My mouth dropped. He winked as I ducked away from him and ran back to my room, heading straight to the en-suite bathroom, trying not to let the familiarity of our exchange in the kitchen get to me. I showered and dressed quickly, and once I was finished, I packed a bag. I didn’t want to leave Miles behind again, especially because I’d just been gone for two days, but Celia and Mom would keep him busy. What I was more concerned about was who was going to keep me too busy to think about Rowan. On that note, I picked up the phone and called my mom, explaining that I was going to Miami with Rowan for work. I left out the birthday celebration part because I knew she’d make a big deal of it.

“With Rowan, huh?”

“Yes.” I held my breath in anticipation. Her tone told me she would ask a million questions. “We’re leaving tonight, but I’ll be back Sunday by nine in the morning.”

“Hm. Why the rush?”

“Because it’s a work trip,” I said. “Celia already knows about it and said she’d watch Miles, but I wanted to let you know anyway. I’m going to go to the salon right now.”

“Isn’t Celia in a meeting right now?”

“She is.”

“Who’s watching Miles while you go to the salon? Are you taking him?”

“No.” I swallowed. “Rowan is here. He’s going to watch him.”

“Interesting,” she said, then spoke to my grandmother. “Mom, Tessa is letting Rowan stay with Miles. Wouldn’t you say that’s interesting?”

“Mom.”

“What? Excuse me if pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Mom.”

“It’s fine, Tessa. I just don’t understand why you’d feel the need to keep that from me all this time.”

“Because there was no point in addressing it. What good would it have done if you’d known he was Miles’s father?”

“I would have called Mildred and Alistair and told them what a son of a bitch their son was.”

“Rowan didn’t know.”

She stayed quiet for a beat. “Jesus, Tessa.”

“I know. I’m sorry I kept it from you and Freddie and Dad and Rowan and Sam, but I didn’t want anyone to know. Least of all Mildred.”

“I understand,” she said in a soft voice. “But I’m not Mildred.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” I slumped down on the edge of the bed.

“I forgive you,” she said after a moment. “I’ll be there in a few hours.”

“That’s fine. Take your time. I just wanted to fill you in on the details.” I walked back into the kitchen where Rowan was loading the dishes into the dishwasher. Miles had moved from the barstool to the couch and was watching Mickey.

“Does your father know?”

“Not yet.”

Rowan chose that very moment to switch off the water and close the dishwasher and turn his attention to me.

“No and no,” I said to Mom. “I will soon.”

“He’s coming next week.”

My eyes widened. “Why?”

“Your birthday,” she said in a voice that hinted she thought I may be losing my mind. I just might be. Still. The thought of having to tell my dad all of this made me break out in a sweat. “He gets here Thursday,” she added.

“You have a week to figure out what to say,” Grandma Joan said in the background.

“I can’t believe you have me on speaker phone.”

“So?”

“Mom. Are you in an Uber?”

She paused again. “Why?”

“Because you just told your Uber driver my entire life story. Seriously?”

“Who cares?” Grandma added. “Edmund, is this the worst story you’ve heard?”

“Oh my god.” I covered my face. “I’m hanging up now.” And I did. Rowan’s chuckle made me look up at him. “It isn’t funny.”

“It’s sort of funny,” he said, walking over to me. He stood close, too close. I glanced briefly at Miles, who had his eyes set on Minnie Mouse. When I looked back up at Rowan, he had moved farther into my personal space.

“You’re in my personal space.”

His grin widened. “Does it bother you?”

No. Not at all.

“Yes.”

“Hm. Maybe I shouldn’t kiss you then,” he whispered.

I shook my head. “Definitely not.”

“You sure?” He brought his hand up to my face.

I nodded, lips slightly parting, heart hammering.

“I really want to.” The low rasp in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. Between that and the way his eyes were piercing into mine, I felt I might lose my balance right there. He seemed to know this, because he ducked his face toward mine, put his forehead against mine, and breathed out. “I really, really want to.”

That rasp vibrated through me once more. I opened my eyes and looked at him. “You haven’t earned that.”

“I will.” He had a way of saying things that made me believe them and this was no different.

The ladies at the salon did my hair and nails at the same time. It was glorious. I walked out of there with a little kick in my step and headed to the juice bar across the street. I’d put in an order for three juices—one for me, one for Rowan, and one for Miles and was waiting for my number to be called when Camryn showed up. I swore the hairs on the back of my neck stood as she neared me. I didn’t even need to fully look at her to know she was there, but I looked anyway.

“Tessa,” she said in a cheerful voice. “What an interesting surprise! I thought you were living in Paris.”

I forced a smile on my face. “Not anymore.” I faced the counter again, clutching the receipt in my hand, willing my number to be called.

“Have you seen Samson or anyone?”

“Why?” I looked over at her again. She shrugged nonchalantly, bringing her left hand up to fix her hair in a motion that made it impossible for me to miss the huge rock on her finger. She smiled.

“Pretty right?”

I shrugged and once again looked at the counter.

“Ro thought it would be too big for my finger, but I’m glad he went with it,” she continued. “We’ve been having some issues lately, but nothing we won’t move past. Marriage is, like, so much work. I mean, definitely not for the weak.”

I nodded as if I was disinterested, but she knew I was listening.

“It would be a shame to let anyone come between us,” she said. “I mean that it would be devastating for sure. His mom is still heartbroken with everything that happened in her own marriage. She’d be so sad if Rowan and I split up.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I finally looked at her again. “Do you not have friends to rant to? Because I’m telling you right now I don’t give a shit about your marital issues or your husband or his mother.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh. I was just making conversation.”

“Well, make conversation with someone who actually cares to hear your stupid, insignificant, childish shit.”

My number was called. Finally. I smiled wide at the barista as I stepped forward and grabbed my cup holder. I brushed past Camryn and walked out of there reeling. Thankfully, I made it back to my building without shaking too hard and dropping the juices. When I got inside the apartment, Rowan had changed into jeans and a polo and was on the floor with Miles building a smaller telescope Dad had sent him for Christmas and I still hadn’t gotten around to building. I set the cup holder down, handed them their juices, giving Miles a quick kiss in the process, and picked mine up. Rowan’s eyes were on me the entire time. I didn’t need to look directly at his face to know that. Because I felt them with every step I took, even as I went over to the refrigerator to hide my face in it and hopefully cool off.

“Let’s finish this in a bit,” Rowan said. “Why don’t you go grab those rockets you wanted to show me?”

Miles ran off, juice in hand, and Rowan came up to me. I tried busying myself with the contents of the refrigerator.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Your hair looks beautiful.” He pulled a curl and wrapped it around his finger.

“Thanks.”

He stepped behind me, wrapping an arm around my middle, and buried his face into my neck. I inhaled sharply, closing my eyes.

“Smells good too.”

“Thanks.” My voice sounded breathy. I needed him to get out of my space. “Rowan.”

“I know. Let you go, get out of your space, don’t kiss you, just be cordial for the sake of the son we share together,” he murmured against me. “I’m trying, but it’s so damn hard.”

I let myself revel in that. It was so damn hard.

Then the memory of seeing Camryn came rushing back, and it stopped being so damn hard. I opened my eyes and moved my shoulders, forcing him to take a step back.

“I need to make sure everything’s ready for Miles.”

With that, I left the kitchen.