Love Me (Take a Chance)

chapter Nine


Thomas stood at the end of the pathway to Brianna’s house. Déjà vu all over again, only this time he wasn’t waiting for Jerry Springer.

He was waiting for the earth to swallow him whole.

Kids. And he was about to spend the entire evening with them.

What the hell did he think he was doing?

He’d never wanted kids. He didn’t know how to talk to children. How to make them like him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t let himself be intimidated by children. He’d have to get past this hurdle if he wanted to date Brianna. Date the mother, date her kids. That was the rule. He wasn’t the type to get cold feet, so it was time to get those feet moving.

He’d almost shown up with gifts but they’d only think he was trying to buy their approval. Anyone would think that, and they’d be right. It was a cheap ploy, one that wouldn’t win him any points in the long run.

This isn’t a game. Get out of the marketing mindset.

And get moving.

He cursed to himself. He could do this. He headed up the walk and hit the doorbell. The door swung open almost immediately—and the entire reason he was here stood in front of him, smiling up at him with a dazzling warmth, her hair loose around her shoulders and making her look more carefree than he’d ever seen her, in a pale yellow sundress. She’d left the businesswoman at the office.

So he could leave his issues at the door.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, breathing in her scent. “Hello, sweetheart.”

“Hello.” She flushed. “You smell good.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

She laughed. “You think you smell good, too?”

“Fabulous.”

From over her shoulder, Zach sneered, “Why is he here? I told you I didn’t want to meet him.”

“And I told you to act your age and accept that he was coming whether you liked it or not,” Brianna said, hands on her hips. “Mind your manners or you can forget about going to the movies with your cousin tomorrow.”

Thomas hovered in the doorway. He was more out of place than a gazelle among lions—and just as vulnerable to attack. He tried a smile. It felt like his marketing smile, frozen and oily. “Hi. I’m Thomas. I’m one of your mom’s work friends.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Sure you are.”

Brianna stiffened. “Zach, I swear to God, you will be—”

“—staying home if I keep it up. Yeah. I know.” Zach looked Thomas up and down, then left the room, calling over his shoulder, “But it might be worth the punishment. I can catch the movie when it comes out on Netflix.”

Brianna closed her eyes, her fists tight at her sides, and counted from one to five soundlessly. His amusement rose with each number. When she opened her eyes with a calm smile, he tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Feel better?”

“Not really,” she said. “A little. I’m sorry. He’ll be stubborn, I’m afraid. He misses his dad. Don’t let it bother you.”

“Don’t worry about me.” He pulled her into his arms. She rested her cheek on his chest. She felt so perfect against him. He was tempted to tell her—tell her how right she felt in his arms. But he couldn’t. Not when he could still hear Nicole mocking him for daring to express human emotion. He took a slow breath and chose his words carefully. “I’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

No. “Sure.”

She exhaled and pulled free from his arms, curled her fingers into the front of his shirt, dragged him down, and kissed him hungrily. He stumbled only momentarily before he crushed her in his arms—where she damned well belonged. When she dipped her tongue into his mouth, he sank deeper into her, seizing a desperate and ruthless control. God, no woman had ever kissed him like this. Wild. Hungry. Savage.

He buried his fingers into her hair and backed her against the wall. She tore free, panting. He bent to kiss her again but she stayed him with a finger to his lips.

“We can’t. The kids are in the other room.”

Reality hit him harder than a kick to the nuts. He forced himself to pull back. “Shit. Sorry.”

“That’s a bad word,” a prim little girl said from the doorway. Katelyn, he guessed, with her neat blond curls and her mother’s ladylike demeanor. She carried a Nintendo 3DS in her tiny hands and watched Thomas curiously. “Mama says for bad words you have to put a quarter in the swear jar.”

Brianna’s lips twitched at the corners. “Well…he doesn’t live here, so he doesn’t have to play by our rules.”

The girl’s face fell. “That’s not fair.”

“She’s right. That’s not fair.” Thomas felt around in his pocket and withdrew a quarter. “I’ll pay up. I shouldn’t curse around pretty ladies.”

“See, Mommy?” Katelyn smiled, her eyes bright. They were her mother’s eyes, hazel and clear. “I was right. It was a bad word.”

Thomas knelt before her. “Why don’t you show me where the swear jar is?”

“It’s in the kitchen.” She offered her hand.

He curled her fingers inside his larger ones, dwarfing her. It was the strangest feeling—that tiny hand in his, trusting and fragile and soft. His heart thumped oddly. He met Brianna’s gaze over Katelyn’s head.

Thank you, she mouthed. He nodded.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Katelyn led him into the kitchen and pointed at a grape jelly jar on the counter. A hole had been cut into the lid, and a piece of paper had been taped to it. Bad Word Jar. It was spelled wrong, and the d was a b, but he got the gist. There was a surprising amount of money in the jar, and he dropped his quarter into it.

“I get to keep the money.” Katelyn’s chest puffed out. “It was my idea. Most of the money is from Mama, but some is from Zach. I’ve never had to put in money.”

Thomas chuckled and knelt again. “Because you’re a good girl, right?”

“Right.” She beamed, her 3DS clutched tightly to her chest. “I like him, Mama.”

One kid down, two to go.

“I do, too,” Brianna said.

Thomas looked over his shoulder. Brianna leaned against the kitchen counter, a small smile softening her lips. His stomach tightened. He stood and wiped his hands on his jeans.

“There’s a lot of money in there. Why am I not surprised you curse like a sailor?”

“Worse,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. “But I’m working on it. I try to save the cursing for after they’re asleep.”

A young boy came into the room—had to be Cody. He eyed Thomas with disinterest. “When are we eating?”

Brianna retrieved a Domino’s menu from the counter. “I’ll order the pizza now.”

Cody nodded. “Katelyn, come on. You were gonna play Transformers with me.”

“Only if I get to be Megatron!” Katelyn followed Cody from the kitchen, but paused to wave at Thomas before leaving him alone with Brianna. Brianna glanced at him.

“Pepperoni okay? It’s the only thing Cody will eat.”

“Fine by me.”

She called the order in. He leaned against the counter and fidgeted. He’d barely seen the kids for even a moment and already felt like he’d made a fool of himself. Katelyn seemed to like him well enough but boys were always a harder sell.

And there was no way he’d win over the mother without winning over the kids.

After Brianna hung up, she said, “Food will be here in twenty.”

“All right.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around the kitchen. Only one picture of Michael was in the room but it stared down at him from the wall frame. Accusing him. Mocking him. Cursing him for touching his wife. Would the man haunt him for the entire night?

Or worse…for the rest of his life?