When You're Ready (Ready #1)(26)
“You look...Wow,” I stammered, leaning over to set Maddie down. I walked over to where Clare was standing.
“Hey Maddie, why don’t you go find where Aunt Leah’s run off to?” Clare suggested, briefly glancing over at Maddie and then returning back to me. Everything else disappeared for a moment. After a week away, I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and kiss her senseless. The look in her eyes told me she was on the same exact page.
“Oh, I’m right here. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. You could cut the sexual tension in here with a knife,” Leah shouted from the kitchen.
Clare reluctantly pulled her gaze from mine and circled around to Leah, who was currently sporting a messy bun piled at the top her head and a faded hooters t-shirt. She leaned casually on the granite countertop watching us, clearly amused.
“Seriously, Leah! She has ears. One of these days she’s going to repeat something you say to her daycare teacher or my Mom!” Clare scolded.
“Oh please, if Maddie said something to your Mom, she would know right away who taught it to her. Laura would come after me with a bar of soap,” she insisted.
“Well, at least she knows which one of us has the dirty mind,” Clare said, walking to the kitchen counter to retrieve her purse. As she passed Leah, she reached over and pinched her in the ass causing her to yelp, and they both laughed.
“Ha! I’m just more vocal about mine,” she argued as she rubbed her sore butt cheek.
“Not true. I’m an angel.” Clare said, officially ending the conversation.
I personally would love to know more about Clare’s dirty mind, but instead she went over Maddie’s evening routine with Leah, who just stood in the kitchen and rolled her eyes.
“Not too much sugar. Remember to feed her dinner. And make sure she brushes her teeth,” she reminded, giving Leah a pointed look.
Leah held up her hands in defense. “What? It was one time. Who says they need to brush their teeth every day?”
Clare shook her head and huffed in exasperation, leaving the kitchen to find Maddie who had arranged herself on the couch in the family room. She was reading a book with Dora the Explorer on the front. I smiled, knowing Clare hated Dora. Another late night conversation.
“Okay baby, Logan and I are gonna go. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.” She knelt down in front of her daughter who was doing a good job ignoring her. Bent over, her thigh was in full view, and I desperately tried not to stare as she said goodbye to Maddie.
I was doing a terrible job of not looking at her thigh and I heard Leah snort in the background.
Busted. My covert glances were obviously not so covert.
“Love you too, Mommy.” Maddie said absently, clearly engrossed in her book.
Clare laughed, “She’s really going to miss me, I swear.”
We headed for the door and I called out, “Bye, princess.”
“Bye, Logan!” Maddie yelled from the family room.
Leah gave me a wink followed by two thumbs up as we walked out, and I chuckled.
I was starting to like her.
~Clare~
“So are you going to tell me where we are going?” I asked Logan as we continued down the scenic highway we’d been on for what seemed like forever. Spring was my favorite season in Virginia. After endless months of bare trees and cold temperatures, spring would finally arrive. The trees flowered perfuming the air, the skyline filled with color and the days were just right for trips to the park and long walks through the neighborhood. The rural highway we roamed down now was no exception. Green trees, old worn fences and the occasional farm would pass as we drove giving a sense of peace that a world like this still existed when everything else around us moved so quickly.
“Nope,” he said as a wide, knowing grin spread across his flawless face.
“You’re really enjoying this secrecy thing, aren’t you?”
“I haven’t been on a date in a long time, and yeah...surprising you? It’s kind of fun,” he admitted.
“You haven’t dated since your divorce?” Between our long conversations on the phone and texting, he had talked about the divorce. He mentioned the cheating, and everything that happened with the press, but that was it. He didn’t talk much about his life during his marriage or after his divorce. When he did, it was vague. Mostly work related or small tidbits about friends. I knew he was holding back. Whatever the reason, I hadn’t pressed for information because I wanted him to come to me when he was ready. I understood heartache and pain, and we would both have to learn to trust each other with our own emotional scars. I had only skimmed the surface when he asked about losing Ethan. Sometimes, certain things were hard to admit, no matter who you were admitting them to.
“Dated, no. No, I definitely haven’t done this in a while.” He looked nervous, like he expected me to press for more. I didn’t. Thanks again to Leah and her savvy skills for gossip, I know the reputation he earned since his divorce, but he was here with me now. I had to believe that I meant something to him, something different.
“So, are we staying in Virginia?” I asked as I looked out the window and saw another farm pass by. Exactly how far we were driving?
He visibly relaxed at the change of conversation and laughed “Yes, we don’t have much longer.”
After fifteen minutes and an interesting conversation that involved me admitting my obsession with Broadway musicals, we arrived at our destination. When I asked him if he liked musical theater, he looked over at me, shocked, like I’d gone mad, and said, “Clare, you have noticed I’m a guy, right? Because if not, I can pull this car over right now and make that abundantly clear.”