Page 45 of Second Chance Baby
“How many people do you think are speculating about us now thanks to what Colette saw? And/or whatever poll or bet or whatever Mrs. Gunderson was referring to?”
Travis flicked a glance at me. “Who cares?”
He did have a point, but I’d never been as blasé about things like that as he was. “You’re a dude. Of course, you don’t care. The more babes you nail, the better.”
His silence clued me into my very wrong turn, since he’d already indicated his life had not been that way. Imagine me saying something to disrupt the tenuous peace between us?
What a shock.
Immediately, I bowed my head. “I didn’t mean?—”
“No, I get it. Regardless of the truth, everything is a bigger deal when a woman does it. Which was why I said what I did to Colette. Just wanted to keep everything clear.”
“I appreciated that, but what I said is still true. We were both all in on that shoot.”
“Oh, yeah, I know you’re used to all kinds of shoots.” His tone was carefully neutral.
“No, I definitely am not. That one was an all-new experience for me.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “In the very best way.”
His lightning-quick smile blazed through me, and I had to lace my fingers together in my lap to keep from reaching for him. I didn’t know what exactly I’d do then, but I just needed him to know how much it meant to me. The old me would’ve been afraid to reveal her cards but fuck it. My feelings for Travis had never waned, including the how insane he made me in the bedroom.
I was tired of hiding my emotions toward him. No matter what that required me to risk.
I’d risk any fucking thing for a chance to get him and my daughter back. Being with them seemed like a dream come true, and I only wanted more.
“I haven’t returned Daphne’s texts yet,” Travis said, hitting the gas to pass a car just ahead of him. “Barely even glanced at them.”
“Yeah, I made sure Elaine knew I had different priorities now. Though we still have to deal with the fallout.” I swallowed over the sudden boulder in my throat. “The shoot wasn’t the most important part, obviously.”
“No.” He draped his wrist over the wheel again. “What was the most important part to you? I don’t want to make any assumptions this time.” His meaningful glance seared right through me. “In any way.”
I heard the tremor in his voice. That a man as sexy and self-assured as he was could ever feel insecure about anything—even for a moment—seemed patently impossible.
My heart raced, and my palms went damp as if we were back in high school all over again.
In our early days, I’d never worried about keeping his attention. Travis never faltered on showing interest both in our endless conversations or active sex life.
Actually, our problem back then had been trying to keep our hands off each other. No way could I misread how teenage Travis felt.
Carrington was still singing along to the radio, though in a much lower voice and without all the theatrics. I wasn’t sure if she was trying not to interrupt us or if she simply wanted to hear what we were saying.
So, I waited until he looked my way again and mouthed, “You.”
His lips quirked, popping out his dimples. “Me too.” He reached over to grab my hand and then his brow arched. He didn’t say any more, just linked our fingers together, but I could feel his questions without needing to voice them.
Why are your hands damp? Why are they shaking?
Since now they were doing that too. Could I be any lamer?
Survey said no.
But I didn’t try to hide anything from him. Didn’t try to pull away or play off my reactions. I’d assumed I’d laid my cards on the table enough with our conversation during movie night, but I’d just skimmed the surface. We had so much more to discuss.
Like our future plans. How I wanted to maybe go back to teaching, and how he might want to stay home with our future kids. If any would be in the picture for us. Day by day was the only way we could take all of this.
For now, I just curled my fingers into his and held on for all I was worth.
His big hand wrapped around mine and he held on too. If anything, his grip tightened.