Page 26 of Unveiled

She held a large piece of plastic in one hand and a roll of duct tape in the other. She shrugged. “Fixes everything, doesn’t it?”

He quirked a grin at her. “Almost everything.”

They remained that way for a long moment, each of them absorbed in the other. A throat cleared from behind Adalyn and she jumped, breaking the moment. “I’m sorry, I’ll take that.”

She extricated the vacuum from the other woman and set it aside. “Jenn, can I borrow you for a second?” Her gaze flicked to him. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”

He dipped his chin at her. “Take your time.”

Adalyn led the other woman around the corner, her voice hushed as she gave instructions, and he turned back to the window. There was still something between them, some indefinable quality that tethered her to him. The feeling had awoken the moment he’d laid eyes on her four nights ago, and it refused to let up.

The papers he’d brought with him burned a hole in his back pocket. He’d brought them somewhat out of obligation, but now he prayed he wouldn’t need them. He couldn’t bear to leave whatever was between them unexplored. He’d fallen hard in lust with her two years ago, and it seemed he was on the same track now. He wasn’t ready to let go of her.

He applied the last strip of tape to affix the sheeting to the window frame, then turned to find Adalyn watching him. She chewed that full bottom lip, looking unsure as she reluctantly met his eyes. “Thank you for doing that.”

“It was no big deal.” He shrugged. “Didn’t take much effort, and it’ll at least get you by until someone gets out here to fix it.”

“Well, um…” She shifted nervously, and he chanced a tiny step closer.

“Can we talk?” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “I know you’ve had a crazy morning. Tomorrow, maybe?”

“I suppose,” she hedged. “I might be able to make time in between appointments…”

She said the words like they had to be pulled from her, and he barely managed to bite back his smile. A victory was a victory, no matter how small. At this point, he’d take whatever he could get.

“Perfect.” He stepped forward, bringing himself to an arm’s length away. “I’ll bring us lunch.”

“Oh, no, that won’t⁠—”

Her mouth snapped shut as he reached out and brushed a single strand of loose hair from her cheek. She seemed so uptight, everything perfectly in place, as if nothing dared defy her. Each time he’d seen her recently, she’d been buttoned up, her hair pulled ruthlessly away from her face.

Even on her date, she’d been dressed primly, almost businesslike—not the way most women dressed, in his experience. Most tried to show off their body to their advantage; not Adalyn. She was confident exactly the way she was, and he loved that about her.

The sleek chignon she now wore showed off those gorgeous cheekbones and luminous eyes, but he wanted to see it down again. He remembered the way her hair had fallen in tousled waves and draped over his chest after they’d made love, the sexy tendrils tickling his skin. He wanted to run his hands through the long, silky strands.

He shoved away the dirty thoughts tickling the back of his mind and dropped his hand away. “I’ll see you tomorrow around lunchtime.”

She nodded jerkily, and he could feel her eyes on him as he made his way to the front door. He risked one last glance as he exited and met her gaze. Pretty gray orbs narrowed on him as he shot her a wink, then hopped down the few steps and strode to his truck, humming softly and debating just how to win his wife over again.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

The ringing of Adalyn's phone on the bathroom counter made her jump, and she swiped mascara off the bridge of her nose. Glancing at the screen, she slid her thumb over it to answer the call. “Morning, Wendy.”

“Adalyn? I’m so sorry to do this to you, honey, but I can’t watch Jaclyn this morning.”

It wasn’t Wendy's words so much that worried Adalyn, but the tone of her voice, laced with worry. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“George was having chest pains, so I called the doctor. He’s worried George is having a heart attack; they’re taking him to the hospital.”

On cue, Adalyn heard the faint peal of a siren from outside. “Oh, my gosh, of course! Do you need anything, or want me to come with you?”

“No, no, dear. We’ll be fine. And I’m so sorry⁠—”

Adalyn cut her off. “Don’t you worry about a thing. You get George taken care of and let me know what the doctor says.”

They hung up, and Adalyn quickly finished her makeup, then scrambled to get a diaper bag together. Tossing in diapers and a few changes of clothes, toys, and baby food, she gathered Jaclyn. “Come on, sweetness. You’re coming with me today.”