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Lyla snickered. “I hope they sanitize the chairs after each class.”
“No. That’s why I like it.”
“You’re gross.”
Carmen laughed. “I know.”
“I think I’ll pass today. Gavin’s home.”
“Good. Get some nookie and report back.”
“I got some last night.”
Carmen hummed. “Nice.”
She relaxed. Carmen’s teasing never failed to lighten her mood. “There was boxing involved.”
“Go on.”
“And a weight bench.”
“I think Marcus needs a home gym,” Carmen said thoughtfully, and Lyla grinned. “Hey, I’m pulling up to the class now. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Lunch?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Okay, love you.”
“You too, bye.”
Lyla tidied up the nursery and kept an eye on Nora who had an unhealthy obsession with the carpet and kept trying to lick it. Beau followed her around and bumped his nose on the back of her leg for attention while Honey observed. Honey was a recent rescue she stole from Carmen. For the most part, Honey seemed to be adapting well. She’d regressed several times to a timid state, but Lyla wasn’t bothered. She hadn’t adapted well from things in her past. She stopped what she was doing to pull Nora away from the chair leg she was gnawing on.
When Nora was ready for a nap, she decided she needed one too. The dogs followed her into the master suite and climbed on the bed. She curled around Nora and stroked her hair. Nora’s long lashes fanned her face as she fought sleep. Lyla grinned as her daughter tried to roll away from her. She brought her back into place and continued to stroke her hair until Nora gave in with a scowl.
“Don’t be in such a rush, baby girl,” she murmured as she rested her cheek on her hands and watched her baby sleep.
Knowing Gavin was near allowed her to drift off much easier than her daughter. She woke an hour later to Nora’s hungry howl. She changed her before they trooped downstairs with the dogs rushing ahead of her and dashing out to the backyard. After she fed Nora, she made herself a sandwich and was halfway through it when she realized something was wrong. With Nora on her hip, she walked into Gavin’s office.
“Where’s Blade?” she asked.
Gavin rose from his desk, took Nora, and gave her a quick kiss. “He needed to do something.”
She stared at him. “Do something? What does that mean? Is that why you took the day off?”
“Yeah.”
She followed him into the kitchen where he finished her sandwich while fending off Nora’s seeking hands. “What is he doing?”
“Does it matter?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Uh,yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because …” She struggled to find a reason why Blade’s disappearance disturbed her so much. “He’s never left me before.” If she hadn’t been so distracted by the dream of Manny, she would have noticed much sooner.
Gavin dug around in the fridge. “He’ll be back.”
“When?”
