Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“I would love to,” Tulsi lied. “But I’m having coffee with one of the other moms. But maybe you and I could meet up for lunch before my meeting? I’d love to pow-wow before I go to the Head Starts office.”
“Sure,” Mia said. “I was going to close up from twelve thirty to one, does that work?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll meet you at the diner for patty melts. My treat.”
“Do you want this to be just us?” Mia asked. “Or is it okay if I bring Pike along if he hasn’t found something important to do with himself by then?”
“I’d rather it be just you and me, if that’s okay,” Tulsi said, trying to keep her voice light. “I’m so nervous about the meeting, I don’t think I’m going to be very good company. I’d rather catch up with Pike when I’m not so stressed out.”
“That’s fine. He doesn’t look like he’s chomping at the bit to horn in on the girl talk anyway. See you at twelve thirty, and try to enjoy your day off, okay? You deserve some fun after how hard you’ve been working.”
“I’ll try. See you later.” Tulsi said her goodbyes and tucked her phone back into her jeans. After a brief debate on the virtues of quiche vs. eggs and bacon, she and Deb headed across the street to Tea for Two. Deb had decided on quiche, but Tulsi’s head was too busy swirling for her to care too much about breakfast. She couldn’t stop thinking about Pike’s easy smile—what it meant and if it even mattered.
Whether he hated her or wanted to be friends, did it make a difference? No matter how much the stupidly forgiving part of her would like to have Pike in her life again—even as a friend, no matter how painful that would be—there was too much at stake. She’d gotten lucky this morning, but if Pike and Clem spent too much time together, sooner or later her luck was going to run out.
And then her happy life in Lonesome Point, the safe, steady childhood she’d fought to give Clem, and everything that really mattered to Tulsi would be destroyed. And no friend was worth that kind of sacrifice. No matter what Pike felt or didn’t feel, Tulsi was going to continue to hold him at a distance. She had too much to lose to even think about a friendship—or anything else—with Pike Sherman.
CHAPTER FOUR
Pike
Pike was in trouble. Deep trouble.
Turned out being nice to Tulsi wasn’t nearly as hard as he’d thought it would be. In fact, a part of him had been thrilled to see her rush into the shop behind Clementine. It had been easy to smile at her, easier to tease her, and when their eyes had met, and he’d watched his steamier memories of their time together playing out behind her eyes…
All he’d wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her until they brought the heat from their past surging into the present. It was obvious Tulsi still wanted him, and he wanted her so badly the only thing that had stopped him from taking her against the wall of his sister’s lingerie shop was the little girl standing between them. And Clementine would always be between them. Even if his cock could convince his brain that going to bed with Tulsi wasn’t dangerous, Pike couldn’t forget that there was a child involved. Tulsi was a mom, with a little girl who depended on her.
Watching Tulsi pet Clementine’s hair, as her daughter hugged her tight, had nearly been enough to break his heart all over again. Tulsi was never more beautiful than when she had that sweet, loving look in her eyes, and she obviously loved her daughter more than life itself.
He had to remember that side of her. It wasn’t okay to fantasize about bending Tulsi over a stack of boxes in the stock room. No matter how tempting it was to imagine her heart-shaped ass tilted toward him as he slid inside her, no matter how much he wanted to hear her calling his name, begging him to make her come—that could never happen.
Fantasizing about his ex wasn’t going to help him loosen the mental hold she had on him. And no matter how much he wanted another taste of Tulsi, falling back in bed together would be a bad idea. He couldn’t afford that kind of emotional mind-fuck and on the off chance he still had the power to affect Tulsi the same way, he owed it to her daughter to keep his distance. He had to put his anger and desire aside and think of what was best for Clementine.
Even before he’d met the little girl in person, he’d had a soft spot for her, but now he was a bona fide fan. Mia’s stories hadn’t done her justice. Clementine was a bundle of energy with personality to spare. The fact that Tulsi had ended up with a kid, who was more like a young Pike or Mia than a shy, did-as-she-was-told Tulsi, was a satisfying bit of irony. She clearly had her hands full and didn’t need any more drama in her life than the drama introduced by her little blond look-a-like.