Chapter 12
twelve
Jackson
Kaci pulls away, but I dip my chin to her ear. “Kaci.” Her name burns in my throat, and it comes out like a command. Everyday pucks fly at my head at a hundred miles an hour, but my heart has never hammered harder in my chest.
I get it.
It was completely assuming.
I should have asked.
She deserved something more romantic than me forcing my lips on hers, but she kept insisting I wasn’t genuine in my flirting.
I got her message loud and clear.
She wasn’t buying my words. I needed a plan B, and fortunately, I have quick reflexes.
“Uh.” Her breath rushes out as she presses her fingertips to her lips, and stares up at me, eyes wide.
I get that it was impulsive.
We just met. That doesn’t stop me from plucking her fingers off her lips, taking her hand in mine, and bringing it to my lips, pressing a kiss on her knuckles. “In case you are wondering if that kiss was an accident,” I say, “I meant to do that.”
She tilts her head closer and harshly whispers, “What is going on?”
“I don’t know.” I’m not indecisive in my tone. I’m stating a fact.
It’s the truth, and I confess the only thing I understand. “I have no idea what is going on, but as the hours ticked down, and I knew you’d be leaving, I just had to do it.”
She smirks, not sarcastically, but one I haven’t seen before.
It’s gentle, yet direct. “You just wanted to kiss me,” she repeats, her face growing more serious like she’s studying math problems. As her brows pin together, she draws a breath, and her tone adds snark, “You just think you can kiss random women whenever you want?”
“No.” I haven’t lost my sanity. How do I explain that I was running out of time, and she wasn’t taking my subtle hints?
There was logic.
Some.
Okay, not logic.
More like something that’s the opposite of logic mixed with chemistry.
That’s what we have. “I ah, thought we had chemistry, but I didn’t know how to say it to get you to accept it.”
She has the audacity to roll her eyes, as if I’m not standing right in front of her, watching. “That’s a line,” she mutters, taking a step closer to the carousel.
I snort laugh and then laugh again. “You think I’m smart enough to have lines?”
She gives me a pointed look, but I don’t let her speak.
“Tell me that you didn’t think that kiss was the best kiss you ever had, and I’ll grab Rigsby, and we’ll go on our way.
” I shove my hands in my coat pockets, waiting for her to spit back her rebuttal.
Her perfect bottom lip moves, but no sound comes out. It’s as if she is dumbfounded.
“Well?” I entice her to speak.
Again, with the eyeroll. Then she says, “I’m not telling you anything unless you feed me.”
“Feed you?” I blink and then blink again. That sounds like she’s asking me to ask her out without asking me. “Ah, you want to get something to eat?”
“It’s dinner time.” She nods toward the kids, who are getting off the carousal and heading this way.
“Ah, what do you like?” I gesture as I’m willing to give her anything. At this point if she asked for my wallet, I’d just hand it over without hesitation.
“I’d like to talk about this,”—she gestures between us—" but the kids are going to be hungry.” Her gaze shifts past me to the kids, and she speaks as if she’s thinking out loud, “How about . . . pizza at my place?”
“Your place?” I deadpan.
“That’s what I said.” Her light blue eyes move over me as if she’s assessing. “It’s been a grueling day, and I just want to go home and eat. It’s too cold to stand out here and argue about this.”
Wow. How brazen.
Maybe that’s the theme of the day. We banded together to get through our day and made it this far. Why stop now?
My stomach rumbles. I’m not sure if it’s hunger from the mention of pizza, nervous at the thought of talking, or maybe excitement at the possibility of more kissing.
Apparently, my stomach gurgle is loud enough that it caught Kaci’s attention, and she’s staring at my midsection.
I’m so insanely thankful I do five hundred sit-ups a day.
I leak out a nervous laugh. “I guess my stomach agreed for me.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” She flashes me another new smile. I love this one even more than the last—it’s higher on one side, and a tad wobbly. It’s smile perfection.
After the day I’ve had, I’m not one bit surprised I still have Rigsby.
I texted Jackie and offered to keep him overnight again.
She didn’t hesitate to take me up on my offer since she still hasn’t delivered the baby.
She mentioned they might be having an emergency c-section if it goes much longer, and I told her not to worry. I’ll handle Rigsby.
Kaci leads the way inside her apartment building, calling over her shoulder, “I hope it’s okay. I already ordered pizza.” She flashes her phone at me with a growing-hangry smile on her face. “I have the app.”
“That’s fine.” We stop at the door, and she selects one key from her jumbo-sized key ring, sliding it into the lock until it clicks.
“Never mind the mess. I haven’t been home all day, or really much at all lately.” She strolls ahead of us into the apartment and shuffles a few stacked boxes to the side, clearing a path for us to walk. Then she stops at a hook on the wall and hangs up her coat.
Bella kicks off her shoes and hands her coat to her mom. “Can I show Rigsby my room?”
“Just until we eat.” Kaci places Bella’s coat on the hook next to hers. Then she reaches forward for Rigsby’s coat and adds it on top of Bella’s. “When the pizza gets here, we are eating at the table. Then it’s going to be time to wash up for bed. It’s been a long day.”
Kaci’s eyes follow the kids as they pad down the hall. Then she slowly turns to me, letting a quiet sigh slip from her lips. “Well.”
“So.” I rock back on my heels. Everything is happening so fast. I’m not quite sure what I’m even doing here. I get that she’s hungry, but she certainly didn’t need to invite us over.
“Come in. Can I get you something to drink?” She gestures toward the couch that’s only a few steps inside.
It’s a tiny apartment—a TV, couch, and coffee table in the living room, and a small kitchen on the opposite wall.
She crosses the room, taking a moment to fix the pillows on the couch as she passes, and continues to the fridge, opening the door.
“I, ah, I have juice boxes, water, or I can make some coffee.”
I meander to the sofa, plopping down right as her gaze shifts back to mine. “Water is fine.”
“Sorry.” She grabs two bottles of water, shuts the door with a swing of her hip, and returns to the center of the room, passing a bottle to me. “I wasn’t planning on having company or I would have had something else to offer.”
“Water’s perfect.” I must have sat on a spring or something, because there’s a hard spot. I shimmy over, placing me more in the center of the couch.
“Good.” She slowly lowers herself onto the couch. Since I’m now in the middle, there’s only a slice of air between us.
I resist the urge to gulp. I’m not a gulper, so I have no idea where that came from.
It’s like I have a comment ready to fly out of my mouth, and I’m trying hard to play it cool.
The problem is, that she’s gazing at me in a new way—a way that makes me want to skip the talking stage and just reach over and steal a kiss.
Again.
She pushed me away last time, so of course, I’m not going to try that again. Probably not. But there must be a reason she invited me over.
After twisting the top of her bottle, she says, “We made it through the most insane day. I think we need to toast to our success.”
I chuckle, and I tap my bottle with hers. “Cheers to that. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She tips her bottle and drinks. I take a swig and set my bottle on the small coffee table and turn toward her. “So, nice place. How long have you lived here?”
“Too long.” She lets out a huff and places her drink down next to mine. “I’ve been here since Bella was a baby. I’m ready to move into something with more space as soon as I graduate in May. I’m in my last semester of classes, and then I will student teach next semester, and I’m done.”
“Bella’s seven.” I conclude since I know Rigsby’s age. “It’s just been you two all these years?”
Her face crinkles as if she’s holding back, and her only reply is, “Yep.”
“So, Bella’s dad…” I drop the question right after it’s out and quickly change the topic, “This is a great location.”
“It’s a fair question.” Her gaze deepens, and she pulls a leg underneath her as she leans back into the cushions.
My mind enters a time warp—one where we are so comfortable sitting next to each other that I can casually reach over, grab her legs to rest on my lap, and lounge with her while we binge Netflix.
I blink away the vision as she continues, “Chase and I co-parent but we’ve been broken up for years.
He gets to see her every other weekend, but it’s always just been us. ”
“Gotcha.”
“So, how are you enjoying being a parent?” A teasing gleam sparkles in the corner of her eye, and it does everything to put me at ease. I sink further into the couch.
“It’s been insanity. Clearly, I failed.” A loose chuckle slips from my throat, and I shake my head. “If it hadn’t been for you helping so I could work, I surely would have gotten fired. I don’t know how you do it.”
“You learn as you go.” Her beautiful eyes, a kaleidoscope of the clearest seas, glitter back at me. “I suppose you got scared off from having any of your own someday.”