My relationship with the Leblancs was evolving as well. I was no expert on friendship, but it felt like Elisabeth and I had developed one. We laughed a lot and had shared quite a few tears too. She was candid about her and Roman’s relationship. How they had gotten a divorce and it wasn’t until they found out about the possibility of the embryos having been switched that they rekindled things. Their story of love and loss wasn’t an easy one, but as sad as it may sound, I was jealous.
Roman was an amazing man—albeit bossy and stubborn. But it was obvious he was madly in love with her and her with him.
It was a concept my mind couldn’t quite grasp.
Walt had proven that love wasn’t always hearts and flowers. It could be dark and dirty, defined by power and pain, and filled with anguish and agony.
But, even knowing that, I still longed for a connection. Like the magical spark I felt when I was with Heath—even when he had been Luke.
Swallowing hard, I snuck a peek at him as he crossed his thick arms over his chest and kicked his legs out in front of him. Beautifully relaxed. His blond hair was styled away from his face, and a thin layer of scruff covered his jaw. My stealthy gaze drifted to his lips, where they lingered for entirely too long. I had no right to wonder what they would feel like pressed against my own. But that didn’t stop me.
It was not the day to be daydreaming about Heath.
Tessa’s DNA test had come in and a doctor from the lab was driving out to give us the results in person. We all knew what they were going to read, but apprehension had still hovered in the air over breakfast.
Desperate to feel something—anything—except the nerves rolling in my stomach, I rested my hand on his thigh.
“What do you need, Clare?” he murmured the same way he had so many times over the last week.
My answer was always the same. “You.”
“Then get over here and take it,” he replied as usual.
It was an offer I never refused.
His blanket of warmth was often the only thing that could ward off the chill of reality.
“I’m nervous,” I admitted, leaning into his side.
Curling an arm around my shoulders, he reclined on the bed, taking me down with him.
“You should be,” he said dryly. “I’ve decided today is going to be the day I finally beat you at Wheel of Fortune.”
An evil laugh bubbled in my throat. “Good luck with that.”
“I’m serious. I know you’re cheating.”
“Oh please!” I rolled my eyes. “You guessed The Old Man and the Bee as a famous book. It doesn’t require cheating to beat you.”
“Hey!” He feigned injury. “It was a brilliant piece of satire.”
“A brilliant piece of fake satire is more like it. I Googled it. It’s not real.”
He teasingly gasped. “You used the Google against me? How dare you!”
I squealed as he tickled my side.
Tessa’s attention snapped to us, concern in her deep-green eyes.
Heath sat up a fraction to flash her a huge grin before saying, “Your mama thinks she’s funny.”
Her eyes lit. “Mama’s funny when she dances.”
Oh shit.
Heath’s head swung to me, his mouth hanging open in amusement. “You dance?”
I bulged my eyes at Tessa. “No!”
And I didn’t—unless I was alone in a room with Tessa. And then I became Michael freaking Flatley—assuming he was drunk, deaf, and rhythmless. But there was no way Heath would ever get to witness a tragedy like that.
“You do!” Tessa argued. “Like dis.” She got to her feet and flailed her arms and legs in probably a much better impression of my dancing.
Heath laughed loudly.
I rolled to my side and buried my face in his chest. “You’re never going to let this go, are you?”
His head dipped, his lips going to my ear as he rumbled, “Change of plans, babe.” Chills prickled on my neck as his warm breath breezed over my skin. “Tonight we’re forgoing Wheel of Fortune so you can show me these famous moves.”
I giggled and stretched my arm across his stomach, letting my hand splay over the hard ridges of his abs.
Heath and I weren’t exactly cuddlers, but true to his word, if I needed something, he gave it to me. And, truth be told, sometimes, I didn’t need it at all—I wanted it.
And I was quickly realizing that, when it came to Heath, I wanted it all.
I decided a change of topic would be better than discussing my “famous moves” any further. “What should we do with her while we hear the results?”
“I trust her with Alex,” he said, squeezing me tight.
“I don’t know.”
“She likes Ethan a lot,” he suggested.
“I know,” I replied, lifting my head to check on Tessa, who had gone back to quietly drawing in one of the activity books Elisabeth had bought her. “What about if I just let her wear the headphones and watch a movie?”
He gave me a tight squeeze. “You gonna be able to keep it together? It’ll freak her out if you get upset. She feeds off your emotions.”
I sighed. “I already know the results.”
“What about me?” he suggested. “I could sit with her.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I trusted her with Heath. Completely.
But I didn’t trust myself without him when those results were read.
“Headphones. I’ll keep it together,” I decided immediately.