Free Six Naughty Nights: Love in Reverse, Book 2 by Serenity Woods

until she nodded her assent, he opened the packet and gave them to Charlie before taking his seat and opening the chocolate bar. He broke it into pieces, popped one into his mouth and pushed the rest over to her.
    She blew her nose, then took a cube of the chocolate and sucked it. “Why does chocolate always make things better?”
    “Dunno, but it does.” He turned the bottle in his fingers. “Look, why don’t we be honest with each other? This isn’t the easiest situation. Basically, if we hadn’t met in the supermarket, I’d be none the wiser and you’d still be on your own. But we did, and everything’s changed. I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work, and my gut feeling is to give it a little while for us to come to terms with what’s happened and to think about what we want from the relationship.”
    She nodded, wiping away the remains of her tears. “That sounds sensible.”
    “With that in mind, I have a proposal for you.” Her eyes must have widened, because he gave her a wry look. “Don’t look so alarmed—it’s not that sort of proposal. I know you well enough to guess what the answer to that would be. Look, I’ve already told you I’ve booked flights for this weekend. Dan gets married next Saturday, and I have to go.”
    “Of course.”
    “But here’s an idea… Why don’t you come with me?”
    She stared at him.
    “With Charlie,” he added. “Obviously.”
    Her mouth fell open. “You mean…to the Northland?”
    “Yeah. It doesn’t sound like the university’s going to be open any time soon, so you probably won’t be working for the next couple of weeks at least. You don’t have a place to stay, and it will take a few days to sort out your insurance. It will be a break for you to get away, especially after the earthquake.”
    “I…I couldn’t.”
    “Because…”
    She couldn’t think of an answer.
    “It would give us time,” he said. “For Charlie and I to get to know each other.”
    “We’d stay with you?”
    “If you wanted, or I can arrange somewhere else. You can decide when you get there, if you like.”
    “But I’d have to meet your friends and family…”
    His eyes were calm but firm. “Don’t you think it would be nice for Charlie to meet his grandparents? And for them to meet him?”
    Fear made her words dry up. He had every right to want to take his son to meet his family. But the thought filled her with panic. She glanced at her son, who was feeding buttons to Thomas Tank while he gave a running commentary about them being bad for Thomas’s teeth. She didn’t want to share him with anyone. But she had to think about what was best for Charlie, and surely having an extended family was a good thing?
    To her surprise, Toby reached out and took her hand. “I’m not going to take him away from you.”
    His sincere words brought a lump to her throat. She’d never be able to forgive or forget the fact that he’d walked away from her, but he’d said to her, “I was very young, Esther.” Perhaps he’d changed. And even if he hadn’t, he was still Charlie’s father.
    She went to say something, but Charlie interrupted her with a complaint that a chocolate button had somehow “got stuck” in Thomas’s wheel. She spent a minute levering it out with a spoon, sighing as he returned to the floor. She’d forgotten what she was saying.
    “Having an extended family does have its benefits,” Toby said. “Like babysitting.”
    She gave a short laugh. “I can’t remember the last time I had an hour to myself when I wasn’t working.”
    “There you go. Perhaps we can go out for a meal or two, to talk things over.”
    She met his gaze. His warm brown eyes held a very small hint of mischievousness. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned. “This morning’s kiss was a mistake. It won’t be happening again.”
    “Of course not.” But the twinkle didn’t disappear.
    For some reason, the box of cards he had in his bedroom jumped into her mind.