Chapter 26
Christmas Day, and Dan was having breakfast with a two-year-old.
Which was quite an experience.
For one thing, they were both covered in scrambled eggs, even though he was pretty sure Karim had eaten a full bowl—and so had he. For another, puffed rice cereal was scattered all over the floor.
That had been Dan’s fault. He’d placed the open box on the table and then turned his back for maybe half a second, which had been plenty of time for Karim to swoosh its contents everywhere.
Dan would clean everything up, but he hadn’t yet located a broom, and he didn’t want to turn his back on Karim again, so he’d collected the worst of it with his hands and brushed most of it under the table. Karim had helped. Sort of. And now his little bare feet were covered in crumbs.
“Gimme five,” Dan said when they’d piled the spilled cereal under the table so they wouldn’t keep stepping on it. “Your mum will be happy to know what a great helper you are.”
Libby was still sleeping—in Dan’s bed. When he’d stirred at daybreak, Dan had been pleased to see her still lying next to him.
They’d finally fallen asleep somewhere around three a.m. That last time, he’d been on top, her legs wrapped tight around his hips as he’d moved inside her.
Then she’d arched her back and sent them over the edge. Together. Perfectly timed.
“We’re getting good at this,” he’d said.
“It’s all this practice we’re having.”
“Is this sideline in our friendship still working for you?”
“Hmmm, three orgasms a night?” she’d said, sleepily. “Let me check and I’ll get back to you.”
He’d gone to deal with the condom, and when he’d returned a few minutes later, she was fast asleep, so he’d slipped in beside her and fallen asleep too.
The sun had barely risen when he’d heard Karim call out, “Mamma!”
Libby hadn’t stirred. So Dan had pulled his boxers on and went in, fully expecting the little guy to start bawling because Dan wasn’t Libby. Instead, Karim had stared at him wide-eyed for all of two seconds then said, “Cars!”
“Urgh. Are you sure you don’t want to sleep more?”
Another wide-eyed stare. “Cars!” He’d stretched his arms out to be picked up, and instinctively, Dan had lifted him into his arms.
“Cars it is, then, squirt.”
So, after a quick trip to the bathroom, they’d played. And played. Then played some more.
An hour later, Dan had remembered breakfast, and here they were now, hanging out and making a mess while Libby slept in.
“What’s next, Karim?” Dan took their empty plates to the sink. His phone bleeped on the counter. A message. He glanced at the screen.
Isabella again.
Merry Christmas! Did you hear? I’m top of the UK charts!
The punch of pride took him by surprise, even though he’d never doubted her success.
She’d made it to the top. She’d won her gold, and she deserved it.
He hadn’t replied to her messages yesterday. He hadn’t even thought about them.
Not much, anyway.
But he typed back now.
Congratulations.
Her reply beeped through before he’d put his phone down.
Thank you. How are you? Take a look at this.
She sent him a link. He tapped it. It took him to her social media post, and there she was—dressed in white, barefoot on a golden sandy beach, talking about how great it was that he was looking so well and rested and how she looked forward to seeing him again.
I’m promoting your videos. I miss you, Dan. Want to talk now?
Dan’s thumb hovered to connect a call. Then Karim said something.
“Be right with you, kid.” He put his phone aside on the table.
“I think we should do some drawing now,” he said to Karim.
There were certain things Dan didn’t want to unpack, certain things he couldn’t deal with.
And Isabella was one of them. “I’m sure there’s a pen and paper somewhere.
Maybe Father Christmas has brought you some. ”
Libby woke with a start.
Bright daylight flooded the room. This wasn’t the dawn light she usually woke up to. She bolted upright. No Karim—and she was still in Dan’s bed.
Naked.
Shit.
She snatched at the sheet tangled around her legs, grabbed her nightclothes off Dan’s floor, and dressed as she darted to her room.
Empty.
“Karim! Honey? Dan?”
“Hey, we’re here!”
Libby whirled round to the kitchen, her heart thumping.
“You okay?” Dan asked.
Karim was kneeling on a chair at the table, his sleep shirt covered in crumbs and damp patches of what she assumed was milk. She breathed again. “I… I… Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You looked like you needed the rest.”
“Hey, baby.” She stroked Karim’s hair and brushed food crumbs off his cheek. “I’m sorry, honey. I overslept.”
“He’s been absolutely fine.”
“Mommy didn’t hear you.”
“Libby, he’s fine. We played cars. Had breakfast. And we were just about to do some drawing.”
“You should’ve woken me.”
“I would’ve if he’d been upset, but he just wanted to play.”
Anxiety and mom-guilt mixed with irritation. She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe I slept through him calling me.”
“He called you once. I woke, went to him. That’s it. Want some coffee?”
This was so…so not how she lived her life. Her child waking up alone while she was in a man’s bed.
“Libby?”
“Hmmm?”
“You okay?” Dan was looking at her, his soft brown eyes concerned and caring. That was obviously the second time he’d asked her, and she hadn’t replied.
“I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
Probably because it wasn’t her bed in the first place.
She grabbed the dishcloth from the sink and wiped the table.
“I’ll clear up.” Dan placed his hand on hers. “Have a coffee. Go back to bed if you want.”
“I’m not used to this.” She sat on the chair next to Karim, who was running his car back and forth on the table, oblivious to her mixed emotions.
“I’m here to help you,” Dan said. “We’re helping each other, remember?”
Libby glanced at him. There was no smirk or quirk of his lips. This time, he wasn’t talking about sex. He was reminding her of his offer to help with childcare and housekeeping while they worked together, but still, after another night in his bed, something unsettled her.
A cup of much-needed coffee appeared in front of her.
Dammit. He was too good to be true.
Why couldn’t he still be cranky? Why couldn’t he be an ass? Why couldn’t she see him as just a piece of eye candy? A booty call.
“Happy Christmas.” Dan slid something flat and rectangular, wrapped in a brown paper bag, across the table to her. “And this one’s for you, kid.” He handed one to Karim.
Libby’s heart went splat.
That unsettled feeling morphed into something more. Much more.
Something that felt like love. Oh no.
“You shouldn’t have gotten us presents,” she managed, her throat tight and burning.
“Why not? You gave me one. Twelve, to be precise.” This time, his lips did quirk, like he’d been remembering how they’d been using her gift.
“Thank you.” Libby picked up her present and tapped Karim’s. “Isn’t this so exciting? Let’s open them, sweet cheeks.”
They ripped the paper off. Inside were notebooks.
Karim’s had a bright-yellow monkey on the front, and Libby’s had a dazzling blue bird.
“These are awesome and just what we needed, aren’t they, honey?
What do we say to Dan?” She encouraged Karim to say thank you.
Excited, her baby stood on his chair and jumped around.
“Hey, honey, careful.” The table jolted, she reached for him, and Dan’s phone came alive.
The screen he’d been looking at glared between them.
It was Isabella, looking stunning in a flowy white dress.
“Has she—”
“It’s nothing.” Dan switched the screen off. “Are you still okay to spend the day on the beach? Mum and Malek said they’d come along too.”
“Of course.” Libby ignored the quick change of subject.
And how Dan wouldn’t look her in the eye.
What was he hiding? That he’d been looking at Isabella’s social media?
But heck, Libby had been doing that all along, too.
It was important that they knew what Isabella was posting.
Dan was still very much linked to his ex—publicly and privately.
Libby opened her mouth to tell him that, but thinking of Isabella and Dan having had that private link stole the words from her throat.
Of course, they would always have that private, intimate history.
“And Mum still wants to video call my sisters before dinner tonight,” he was saying. “She’d love it if you could join us. I would too. Just don’t believe a word Femi or Gabi say about me.” He pushed his chair back. “Leave the mess. I’ll clean up. I’ll just grab a quick shower first.”
Then he stood from the table and took his phone with him.
Dan’s sisters looked so much like Carina, especially the younger one, Femi, who also wore her hair back in a tight ponytail like their mom.
Femi and Gabrielle were close in age—late twenties, like Libby—and they were both swamped by children.
Some were the same age as Karim, some younger, some older.
Legs, arms, and smiling faces filled the screen.
It was just as well that Libby had offered her laptop for the call.
She wouldn’t have been able to make out who was whom on Dan’s or Carina’s phone screens.
Laughter and squeals flowed. The happy sounds were contagious, pushing aside the unnerving start to Libby’s day.
She’d forgiven herself for sleeping through Karim’s calls, and as for the way Dan had acted over Isabella…
Well, she’d excused that too. It was Christmas Day—he’d given her and Karim sweet, thoughtful gifts—and today wasn’t the time to address the subject of his ex.
It wasn’t any of Libby’s business anyway.
That’s what she’d be wise to remember, even though her gut said otherwise.