“First of all, you didn't demand a place to live,” I reminded her. “I offered.”
“Even so,” she said, shaking her head. “Don't get me wrong; I think you're better off without her. Not that I knew her all that well. Not that I knew her at all. But she didn't respect you the way that she should. And you're great with Emma.”
I laughed. “Are you saying that it boils down to, I shouldn't have been with her because I'm great with Emma?”
Lexi blushed a brilliant shade of red, perhaps redder than I'd ever seen her before. She rolled away from me so that she was looking up at the ceiling. “What I mean is...” She trailed off, sounding embarrassed. Then, she cleared her throat and glanced over at me. “Don't you think it's only natural that you be with me, given that you're the father of my child?”
I frowned, seriously thinking over that. “I'm not sure what I think,” I told her guardedly.
What I really thought was, I wasn't going to stay in this relationship if it wasn't working out for us, regardless of whether we had a kid together. At the same time, I didn't want her to misinterpret my saying that out loud, especially not since I knew she must already be thinking that, somewhere in her mind.
Lexi turned back to face me, carefully analyzing my expression. “Okay,” she said simply, no judgment in her tone or her expression.
“I do want you to stay for at least a few months, while we figure things out,” I told her slowly.
I brushed back her hair and leaned in to kiss her, moving unhurriedly, giving her plenty of time to pull away if this wasn't what she wanted. But although I shied away from saying it in words, I hoped to convey how much feeling I already had for her.
It seemed to work, if the smile on her face as we pulled apart was any indication. “Thank you,” she said appreciatively. “For letting us stay.”
“It's all for Emma,” I teased. But then I fixed her with a serious gaze. “You've grown on me too, though.”
“You've grown on me as well,” Lexi admitted. “At first, you were a total jerk. It seemed like all you cared about was yourself and the success of your business. But I don't know; since we've been here, you've seemed different. More caring.” She ducked her head, as though she couldn't believe she was saying the words. “Not that it's any of my business anyway.”
I tilted her chin up and kissed her again. The kiss was gentle and sweet, only hinting at our hidden passion. “I'm trying to be a better role model for Emma,” I told her.
It was my first time I had admitted it even to myself, but I knew it was the true story behind my transformation at work, as well as the true story behind how frequently I now worked from home.
From Lexi's pleased smile, I could tell that she appreciated the revelation. She leaned in to reward me with another kiss, this one much more heated than the last.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lexi
I looked up as Andrew came into the room where Emma and I were playing with some cars on the floor, zooming them around the “town” that we'd built from blocks. It was still early in the evening, but Andrew was already home. I was impressed with how much he was trying to temper his workaholic side and become a real family man. The fact that he made an effort to change at all surprised me.
“How was your day?” I asked as Andrew joined us on the floor, heedless of the fact that he was in a tailored suit.
“It was good,” Andrew said, nodding. “We're well ahead of our internal production goals for the month, and we're on track to return record profits.” I could tell that there was something more to those record profits, but he didn't expand on it. Instead, he watched Emma for a moment, a smile on his face. “Emma, darling, would you mind if I stole Mommy away for a night?”
Emma looked curiously between the two of us and then frowned. “Why?” she asked.
“Because I thought that you and Janice might want to decorate some cookies and surprise us,” Andrew said, winking over at me.
Emma gave him a long-suffering look. “Daddy, it's not a surprise if you already know about it,” she said matter-of-factly, and I had to stifle a laugh.
“Indeed,” Andrew said, grinning over at me. “Then I guess you're just going to have to think of a new surprise with Janice.”
“Okay!” Emma cried, jumping to her feet and tearing out of the room.
I raised an eyebrow at Andrew. “You're stealing me away for the night?” I asked.
“I figured it had been a while since you'd had some time off from Emma,” Andrew said. “And it's been a while since I did something that wasn't work or hanging out with you and Emma. So, I thought that, just maybe, we might both benefit from an adults-only fun night.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering exactly what he was suggesting. We had barely touched since the night we'd slept together again, and I wasn't sure how to bridge the space that seemed to lurk between us. I wasn't sure what Andrew was thinking, if he didn't want to bridge that space or if he also wasn't sure how. It seemed like he had plans for us tonight, though.
“I made dinner reservations,” he finally elaborated. “It's nothing quite as fancy as our first date. I just wanted something a bit more relaxed. I hope that's okay.”
“That sounds great,” I said. I looked down at my jeans and the old t-shirt that I had on for painting with Emma earlier in the day. “I guess I should shower and get changed.”