She took a calming breath even as her chest trembled a little in excitement at seeing Jack again.
Only, as she reached the top of the stairs, the deep male voice was not the one she’d expected.
Leo.
What the heck is he doing here?
“…And we got to go sailing and fishing and I caught the biggest one I’ve ever seen—”
“I caught two,” Natalie interrupted.
“You should have seen us, Dad!” Paul continued.
The usual frustration and annoyance t
hat hit her whenever she was around her ex took hold as she made her way down the stairs.
“Leo,” she said, stepping into the front room where he was seated on the couch with the kids surrounding him. Aunt Glenda was in a chair, pretending he wasn’t there. “What are you doing here?”
“What? I can’t come and see how my kids are doing? I mean, especially after arriving back in town this morning and being bombarded with their faces across the front page. Looks like you’ve all been very busy.”
Was there really a tone in his voice? “Yes. We have. Actually, we also have plans tonight, so if there wasn’t anything that you needed, then maybe we can talk about this later?”
“Why don’t you walk me out?” he asked. It was clear from the way he said it he had something he wanted to talk to her about, but not in front of the kids.
“Fine. Tell your dad good night, kids.”
“Ah. But he said he had presents for us.”
“I most certainly do, but unfortunately, they’re not with me. You’ll have to come and get them when you visit this weekend.”
“This weekend?” Daisy asked, her voice abnormally high. “You’re not scheduled to have them this weekend.”
“Yeah, but since you’ve had them all this time, I thought it was only fair.” He made it sound like she’d kidnapped them and shortchanged him. Not because he’d bailed on his kids.
But…he was their dad. And from the looks on their faces, they were happy to see him. “I suppose we can work things out, but I’ll need them back for family dinner on Sunday.”
“Sure. No problem.”
He rose from the couch, and she followed him to the front door, where they stepped out, away from the prying ears of the kids.
“So how was your trip to London? Did you and Melissa have the alone time you were hoping for?”
“Our trip was just fine. I’m more interested in talking about what the hell is going on with you.” His long bangs that she’d once thought were nerdy-sexy brushed across his eyelids and he whipped them back impatiently. “Why am I seeing you partying and frolicking in the sand with this guy, this Harrison? I mean, for crying out loud, the guy’s a Republican. What on earth can you be thinking?”
“I’m thinking that it’s none of your damned business. I don’t give you grief about who you’re dating—and believe me, I have a lot worse things to dredge up than their political affiliation. I mean, Bambi, was it? The last girl who was barely eligible to vote in the last election?”
“Brandy,” he corrected impatiently.
“I’m just as entitled as you are to see who I want and not have my judgment called into question—no matter how badly I may have wanted to question yours these past couple of years.”
“What does this guy even want? It’s like he’s using you as some sort of prop in his photo ops. Not to mention he looks like some poster boy for a J.Crew ad.” Something that, in Leo’s estimation, would indeed be the ultimate insult.
“You didn’t like the sunglasses?” came a smooth, deep voice from the sidewalk.
Daisy hadn’t even heard his arrival, but she felt enormous relief when Jack climbed the front steps looking like her own Prince Charming. Sexy, panty-melting Prince Charming.
He came to stand next to Leo, and it was hard not to notice the good couple of inches Jack had over the man. Leo seemed to notice as well, if the way he puffed out his chest was any indication.