Page 46 of Starting Back
I pushed off his chest, flutters taking off in my stomach at his wide grin. I wrapped the sheet around me and took a deep breath.
“I know we talked about it, a little anyway. But why did you come back?”
He averted his gaze toward the gray early morning light leaking through the window.
Before Leo surprised me at the bar, our goodbye had seemed very final. There was no discussion about seeing each other again or keeping in touch, which I took as a given, considering we lived thousands of miles apart with completely different lives.
I’d resolved to file him away as a sweet memory, even if watching him walk out of the suite had hurt more than it should have. I still didn’t expect anything more from him now and couldn’t offer him anything after I left.
Yet, when I’d heard his voice last night, my heart was ready to burst out of my chest with joy. But as great as it was to get more time, it would still end the same way.
“Because,” he started, exhaling a long breath before dragging his gaze to mine, “I knew if I didn’t get as much time with you as I could, I’d regret it. If this is all I get,” he said, tapping my chin with his knuckle, “I didn’t want to waste a second.”
“Listen,” I started, pulling the sheet around me as I sat up. “Maybe we could…”
I trailed off at the pinch in Leo’s brow. I didn’t blame him as I didn’t have a clue as to what I was about to say either. This wasn’t a second chance at something more, yet a yearning stirred in my belly. But I was still clueless as to morewhat.
I was saved by the buzz of my phone on my nightstand, spotting my brother’s number at the top of the screen.
I picked up the phone, my eyes still fixed on Leo as I pressed the green button to answer.
“Hey, everything okay? I know you need my flight number, but it’s early.”
“Mommy, it’s me.” Emma giggled. “Move the phone away from your ear.”
“You want me to put you on speaker?” I stretched the phone out in front of me, sucking in a horrified gasp when I realized I was on FaceTime.
When I glanced at the mirror screen, my relief that I had a sheet covering me was short-lived when I realized that Leo was in the picture. I moved the phone closer to me and scooted away from him on the mattress, but Emma’s puzzled gaze let me know I was too late.
“Are you having a sleepover?” she asked.
Leo buried his face into a pillow as his shoulders shook.
“Um, not really.”
Shit.How did I explain being in bed with a strange man to my six-year-old? I prayed her sister couldn’t see the screen because she was old enough to realize her mother was full of crap.
“I went snorkeling yesterday.” I cleared my throat and moved up on the bed. “And I got lots of fish pictures for you.”
“Did you see Dory and Nemo?” Her eyes grew wide. “Did you have big goggles?”
I blew out a long breath of relief, thanking God for my little girl’s squirrel-like attention span.
My panic ceased enough to quell the tremor in my hands and shut off the phone camera.
“Not exactly Dory and Nemo but all kinds of fish I’d never seen that close up before. Yes, I had goggles. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”
“Yay! I miss you, Mommy. Grandma, Unca Jake, and Aunt Peyton are fun, but it’s not the same.”
“I am glad to hear all the donuts didn’t make you totally forget me.”
“Nope, I’ll see you later. Mommy’s on the phone, and she’s having a sleepover!”
“A sleepover?” I heard my brother ask.
“Yes, there was a guy sitting next to her in her bed when she answered the phone. I don’t know his name, though.”
I dropped my head into my hands after I heard the phone drop.
