Proud of herself, she had an uneventful morning with the kids and strolled them up to Gwen’s at noon. Everything went perfectly well until she entered Gwen’s den to pick up the twins after her lunch and Gwen reminded her of the party the following evening.
“Your parents will be coming, so I’d like you to come too.”
Having the perfect way out, she smiled gratefully and said, “That’s very nice of you, but if you want Chance there, I’m the one left to watch the babies.”
Sliding Cindy into the stroller, Kate said, “Trisha, my teenage daughter, is watching them.”
“Oh.”
Gwen patted her hand. “I’m sorry, dear. We took the liberty of asking Trisha before we mentioned this to you. But Chance agreed.”
She checked that both babies were secure in the stroller, not sure what to say. She’d actually love to go to a party. She didn’t mind they’d found a sitter before consulting her. But she didn’t have a damned thing to wear. And even if she did, her leg was misshapen, swollen. She couldn’t wear a cocktail dress without embarrassing herself.
But when Kate said, “Great! It’ll be such fun for Trisha,” she knew she couldn’t get out of this.
And the first paycheck she’d lovingly tucked into her blue jean pocket would go for some kind of dressy pantsuit or inconspicuous long dress that would hide her leg.
CHAPTER SIX
ON SATURDAY MORNING, Chance didn’t awaken until ten. But when his eyes did pop open, he jumped out of bed and raced into the room where Tory was playing on the floor with his kids.
“Isn’t this your day off?”
She glanced over with a smile, but her gaze fell to his bare chest then crawled down his abs to the waistband of his sweatpants.
At first, Chance wanted to curse at his stupidity, but a very foreign, almost absurd idea entered his head. He liked that she was as attracted to him as he was to her. She was a very sweet woman who loved his kids. In his still-half-asleep state, he couldn’t remember why her liking him was bad.
She bounced off the floor. “You’re right. It is my day off and I need to get going. I wanted you to get a little energy reserve before you handled the kids by yourself all day. So I let you sleep in.” She headed for her room. “But now I have to get moving.”
Chance watched her race down the hall and disappear behind the door of her room. Okay. So she wasn’t quite as happy as he was about the attraction. But he’d seen the hungry look that came to her face when her gaze fell to his chest. Not to be vain, but she’d liked what she’d seen. They’d had too many of those “we’re attracted” moments for him to pretend there was nothing between them.
She came out of the bedroom dressed in jeans and a sweater and sunglasses and his heart skipped a beat. The jeans and sweater showcased her ample bosom and cute, round behind. The sunglasses made her look classy, sexy.
“I’m shopping with my mom and dressing at my parents’ house for the party. Kate and Trisha will be here around six to give Trisha an hour with you and Kate and the kids so everybody can get to know everybody before Trisha is left alone with them.”
She reached the door, turned, smiled and said, “Bye,” and raced out.
He stared at the closed door, his heart pounding in his chest, his hormones racing through his blood like cars in the Indy 500.
Max was right. He couldn’t spend his life avoiding family because their dad was a jerk. And—if he took Max’s advice one step further—he couldn’t spend his life avoiding women because of Liliah.
It had been over a year since she had dumped him. Yet, he’d totally stayed away from women for fifteen months. Was it any wonder he found himself falling for the only woman he’d come into close contact with? Tory might be an attractive woman, but being in a relationship with her was wrong. So maybe the answer wasn’t to get rid of her, but to find another woman.
Maybe it was time to come back to the land of the living?
When seven o’clock arrived, Chance hesitated at the door of his cottage. That afternoon Max had gotten him to commit to working for Montgomery Development. That was the good part. The bad part was that he’d now have to hire Tory permanently. And that meant he had to mingle with women. Get himself out there into the dating world so he’d stop being so attracted to a woman who might be attracted to him, but didn’t want to be.