5
Rachel
A loud bang followed by someone coughing outside my window pulls me awake. I groan, and roll over, searching for the spare pillow to pull over my head, only to find a warm, hard body instead. What the hell? My lids fling open and as I take in Jaxon’s nakedness, the sheets at the bottom of the bed, all the dirty delicious things we did last night come racing back in a whoosh.
OMG.
I glance at my own body, find it completely naked, thoroughly fucked. I take in the finger bruises on my hips, remember the hot way Jaxon touched me. As my body stirs again, wanting more, I cover my mouth to stifle the sound crawling out of my throat. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. I should not have slept with my neighbor, or woken up in his bed. What we have is a business arrangement, but now this changes everything—and not in a good way.
I search the floor for my clothes, only to find Jaxon’s. Dammit, my dirty work clothes are still on his bathroom floor. Left with no choice but to slip back into his, I slide from the bed, quieter than as a church mouse at a Sunday sermon. No way do I want him to wake up and be forced to make awkward morning-after conversation. I need to get home, and I need to do it now. Then I need to come up with a new game plan. One where I pay cash for my vehicle repairs so I don’t have to spend any more time with this man. Becca was right. No way can I be around him without wanting to do the horizontal mambo. I am, after all, only human.
I tug on his sweatpants, tie them tight at the waist, and reach for his T-shirt. As I slide into it, another bang from outside the window reaches my ears. I tiptoe across the room, and glance outside to see some guy throwing up in our bushes. Great. Just great. I need to find another place to live. I shake my head, and peer through the window into my bedroom. We really do have direct line of sight with one another. Maybe I should get one of the girls to switch rooms with me. When it comes to my hot neighbor, the less temptation the better.
I quietly open the bedroom door, prepared to head home in my neighbor’s clothes, and do the walk of shame, but go still when the hinges squeaks. Dammit. A quick look over my shoulder confirms Jaxon is still asleep, and I let go the breath I’m holding. I tug the door quicker, and slip from the room. I hurry to the bathroom, grab my dirty clothes off the floor and dart down the long hall, but my footsteps come to a resounding halt when a little voice sounds behind me.
“Rachel?” Cassie asks. “What are you doing?”
I turn to find a sleepy Cassie rubbing her eye, a teddy bear tucked under her arm. “Good morning Cassie.”
She frowns. “I thought you were Daddy.”
“Your daddy is still sleeping.”
“Why are you wearing daddy’s clothes?”
“Ah…”
“Are you doing the laundry?”
I glance at the soiled uniform in my hand. “Ah, well, something like that.”
“Sometimes when I sleep over at Gina’s house I wear her clothes. I have my own clothes at Grandma and Grandpa’s when I sleep over there, but they’re in the Carbean right now.”
“Carbean?” I ask.
“It’s warm there.” She widens her arms. “They have a huge pool, bigger than my school.”
Ah, Caribbean. They must stay at a resort.
Cassie rubs her belly. “I’m hungry.”
Shit. I really wanted to be gone, out of here before Jaxon woke up. Hook ups aren’t my thing but how can I possibly walk out on Cassie? I could always wake Jaxon up, but the idea of that sits in the bottom of my stomach like cold oatmeal.
“How about I make you something to eat,” I say, wanting to bolt, but unable to turn my back on the little girl when her father is still in bed—a bed where he did such delicious things to me. My body quivers at the memories.
“Are you sick?” Cassie asks.
I take her hand and lead her into the kitchen. “What, no. Why do you ask that?”
She climbs into her chair, her little feet dangling below her. “Daddy says my face gets red when I have a fever. Do you have a fever?”
Oh, she doesn’t know the half of it.
“No, it’s just been warm lately,” I fib. “We’re having a heat wave, remember?”
Cassie wiggles her toes. “Daddy says if the heat wave continues, he’ll get my pool out for me.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“You could swim with me.”
“I could.” Or not. “Now, what would you like for breakfast?”
“Pancakes.”
“Okay.” I open the cupboards, and search for a pancake mix. I’m a pretty good cook, but I’m in a hurry this morning, so I go straight for the box. I move a few cans, and a couple of boxes of crackers around. “I don’t see any mix,” I say.
“What’s a mix?”
I make a little square with my hands. “Like a box that the pancake batter comes in.”
She shakes her head and her curls bob around her shoulder. “Daddy doesn’t use a mix.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, a little surprised by that. “What does he use?”
“How about I show you?”
The sound of Jaxon’s voice sends little threads of need along my spine. I glance up to find him in a pair of jeans and nothing else, leaning against the doorway, that sexy dimple of his prominent as he grins at me.
“Daddy,” Cassie says and holds her arms out. My
