Read For the Sake of Their Son for Free Online Page B

“Sex will only complicate matters.”
    “Or it could simplify things.” He released her hair slowly, his stroke tantalizing all the way down her arm.
    Biting her lip, she squeezed her eyes shut, too enticed by the green glow of desire in his eyes.
    “Lucy Ann?” His bourbon-smooth tones intoxicated the parched senses that had missed him every day of the past eleven months. “What are you thinking?”
    Her head angled ever so slightly toward his touch. “My aunt said the same thing about the bonus of friends becoming...more.”
    He laughed softly, the heat of his breath warming her throat and broadcasting just how close he’d moved to her, so close he could kiss the exposed flesh. “Your aunt has always been a smart woman. Although I sure as hell didn’t talk to her about you and I becoming lovers.”
    She opened her eyes slowly, steeling herself. “You need to quit saying things like that or I’m going to have the car stopped right now. I will walk home with my baby if I have to. You and I need boundaries for this to work.”
    His gaze fell to her mouth for an instant that felt stretched to eternity before he angled back, leather seat creaking. “We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
    Her exhale was shakier than she would have liked, betraying her. “You can cut the innocent act. I’ve seen your playboy moves over the years. Your practiced charm isn’t going to work with me.” Not again, anyway. “And it wouldn’t have worked before if I hadn’t been so taken away by sentimentality and a particularly strong vintage liqueur.”
    Furrows dug deep trenches in his forehead. “Lucy Ann, I am deeply sorry if I took advantage of our friendship—”
    “I told you that night. No apologies.” His apologies had been mortifying then, especially when she’d been hoping for a repeat only to learn he was full of regrets. He’d stung her pride and her heart. Not that she ever intended to let him know as much. “There were two of us in bed that night, and I refuse to call it a mistake. But it won’t happen again, remember? We decided that then.”
    Or rather he had decided and she had pretended to go along to save face over her weakness when it came to this man.
    His eyes went smoky. “I remember a lot of other things about that night.”
    Already she could feel herself weakening, wanting to read more into his every word and slightest action. She had to stop this intimacy, this romanticism, now.
    “Enough talking about the past. This is about our future. Eli’s future.” She put on her best logical, personal-assistant voice she’d used a million times to place distance between them. “Where are we going first? I have to confess I haven’t kept track of the race dates this year.”
    “Races later,” he said simply as the car reached the airport. “First, we have a wedding to attend.”
    Her gut tightened at his surprise announcement. “A wedding?”
    * * *
    Lucy Ann hated weddings. Even when the wedding was for a longtime friend. Elliot’s high school alumni pal—Dr. Rowan Boothe—was marrying none other than an African princess, who also happened to be a Ph.D. research scientist.
    She hated to feel ungrateful, though, since this was the international event of the year, with a lavish ceremony in East Africa, steeped in colorful garb and local delicacies. Invitations were coveted, and media cameras hovered at a respectable distance, monitored by an elite security team that made the packed day run smoothly well into the evening. Tuxedos, formal gowns and traditional tribal wraps provided a magnificent blend of beauty that reflected the couple’s modern tastes while acknowledging time-honored customs.
    Sitting at the moonlit reception on the palace lawns by the beach, her baby asleep in a stroller, Lucy Ann sipped her glass of spiced fruit juice. She kept a smile plastered on her face as if her showing up here with Elliot and their son was nothing out of the ordinary. Regional music with drums and flutes