“I gathered enough from your answers to figure most of it out.” She giggled. “It looks like I married myself to a dude who drives a trash truck and has no idea who his baby mama is,” she joked.

   “You’re going to pay for that,” he threatened as he started edging toward her.

   She backed away, still laughing. “Now, Jake . . . you’re the one who grabbed the phone. You asked for everything you got.”

   “Oh, really?” he said mildly as if they were discussing the weather. Then he dove and she squealed as he chased her around the island in the kitchen. On the third lap, she thought she detected a gleam of desire in his eyes and intentionally slowed down. When he pounced the next time, she let him catch her. And shortly thereafter, she had her first encounter with kitchen floor sex. The ceramic tile was cold, but Jake’s body was hot—so very hot.

* * *

   Later that night, while they were lying in bed, Jacob told Lydia about his lunch with Chris. He’d been torn about it but didn’t feel right keeping the information from her. That made him feel as if he had done something wrong and he didn’t really believe he had. His wife went still in his arms when he relayed the part about her rubbing his leg twice with her foot. “You’re angry, aren’t you?” he asked, knowing the answer.

   She nudged him onto his back so that she could turn and look down at him. She caught him by surprise when she asked, “Do I have the right to be jealous here, Jake?”

   He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp, wanting to see her face. “What are you asking me? Why wouldn’t you? We’re married, aren’t we?” Shit, was he actually encouraging jealousy? That was a new one.

   She sat up against the headboard and all of his male instincts were screaming that “the talk” was imminent. “I still don’t really know what we’re doing here,” she admitted. “I mean, I know we’re married and we live together. We obviously have sex—a lot of it. But—ugh! I’m just going to say it, and if you freak out and run, then so be it.” She squared her shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. “I’m in love with you Jake. I know we got married for all of the wrong reasons and we haven’t been together that long, but that’s how I feel.”

   He felt panic rising at her words. Love? He’d considered the possibility that he was falling for her a few times, especially after some of the intimate moments, but what was he supposed to do? Say it back to her now? She was looking at him warily, but dammit, there was hope there too; he could see it. “I . . .” When his phone suddenly blared, he dove for it like a lifeline. He didn’t bother to look at the ID as he answered the call. When he heard Chris’s hysterical voice on the other end, he jumped out of bed. “Fuck! Which hospital? I’m on my way.” He was already throwing his clothes on before he finished speaking.

   Lydia had sprung from the bed as well and was scrambling to his side. “What’s happened?”

   “Casey fell down the stairs. Chris said the fall knocked her out, but she did wake back up a few minutes later. She thinks her arm might be broken, something about the angle looking wrong.” He was already on his way out of the bedroom while Lydia struggled to dress. “I’ve got to go, I’ll call you.” Not thinking of anything except getting to his daughter as fast as he possibly could, he didn’t notice the look of hurt on Lydia’s face as he hurried away.

Chapter Twelve

   Lydia dropped back to sit on the edge of the bed, attempting to process what had just happened. She wanted to go to the hospital—but did he want her there? He certainly hadn’t asked her to accompany him. I’m being silly, she scolded herself. “I love Casey and I need to see that she’s okay. If I want Jake to treat me like his wife, then I need to act like one.” Getting back to her feet, she quickly dressed then realized she didn’t know which hospital they’d taken the little girl to. She did quick calculations in her head and determined that Grand Stand Memorial was the closest to Chris’s house.

   Within moments, she was backing her car out into the night and driving across town. Fifteen minutes later, she parked in the emergency entrance and rushed through the sliding doors to the information desk. She was relieved when the receptionist told her that Casey was indeed there. When Lydia explained that she was her stepmother, she was given the clearance to go to the family waiting room.

   After a couple of wrong turns, she stepped into the room and immediately saw Jake standing in the corner with Chris huddled in his arms. Lydia’s heart rate accelerated, and she felt slightly nauseous. But she tried to calm herself down by justifying the sight before her. Their daughter is hurt. He’s just comforting her.

   Jake spotted her over Chris’s head and looked uncomfortable, which somehow made the whole situation worse in her mind. If he felt guilty, didn’t that mean something? Clearing her throat, Lydia asked, “Have you heard anything yet?”

   “Lydia, you didn’t have to drive all the way here. I would have given you a call when we found out something,” he said absently. And those words hurt her more than catching him hugging his ex. With just a few sentences, he had effectively made her feel like an outsider. As if she was in the way when she had shown up here out of concern for his daughter. Plus, how often did he actually call her by name? Normally, it was always some form of endearment.

   No matter how she was reeling inside, she kept her face carefully expressionless. Keep it together; this isn’t about you. “There’s no way I could stay home not knowing what was going on. I love Casey too,” she added defensively. She moved a few feet away and took a seat. There were a handful of people on the other side of the room, but they all appeared lost in their own thoughts. She picked up a magazine and began flipping the pages, even though she couldn’t really make out any of the words on them.

   The silence was oppressive and she was absurdly grateful when Jake pulled away from Chris and walked over to her. “Thanks for coming,” he said softly. Not trusting her voice to be steady, she simply nodded. He settled in the chair next to hers and she tried not to notice how Chris immediately took the one on his other side and laid her head on his shoulder. He absently put an arm around the other woman but didn’t say anything else.