Free The Weakness in Me by Josie Leigh Page B

smirking in satisfaction. The wild look in her eyes and the grin that slipped as she took in his appearance told him all he needed to know about whether or not the old Sammy was still somewhere inside of her. It, definitely , was.
    “I win,” he announced before turning off the water and moving back toward the kitchen to check on Corrigan’s progress. Seeing that she was covered in marinara sauce, he recognized he’d made a mistake allowing her to dine in her clothes. “What am I going to do with you?” He shook his head at her, when she smiled up at him before shoveling another spoon full of the circular pasta into her mouth.
    “What did you win?” Sammy asked, materializing behind him again , holding his shirt out to him, but not moving back toward the computer. He frowned, slightly, as he collected his shirt from her. He could see that her mask of indifference was already sliding back into place, and he knew he only had precious minutes before the wall was up again and he had to start from square one.
    “I wondered if I could get you away from the laptop, and I did. Secondarily, I wondered if I could get you to break some of that intense control you have over your emotions and everything around you. I won that, too.”
    “I didn’t lose control,” she stated, matter-of-fact, but blinking in what had to be shock that he’d called her out. Everyone had been treating her with kid gloves these last four and a half months, thinking she would break, while she retreated further away from everyone. He was done with that, she needed to be coaxed back from the brink.
    “ Are you kidding?! The minute you ran to see if I was naked in your bathroom, I knew I had you! I saw that smile on your face when you got to me,” he shot her his most dazzling smile. “You were disappointed I was still dressed,” Jason concluded with a wink.
    “No, ” she protested, “I was laughing at the thought of you trying to find your way through my bath oils and exfoliation scrubs. It was a very funny image, but you shattered it by sitting there so calmly,” she shook her head in mock disappointment. “I can’t believe you let me call your bluff. That’s not the Jason I used to know,” she folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the kitchen island in what Jason could only assume was a challenge. He almost jumped for joy at the life sparkling behind her eyes at their interaction.
    Restraining himself from an inopportune fist pump, he grabbed a sponge from the sink and started walking toward Corigan again. “You’re right, I would’ve been completely naked in that bath tub, looking for the lilac body scrub you used to have, if I didn’t think I would’ve been thrown out on my ass for my presumption,” Jason answered, picking up the now empty bowl from the high chair and handing it to Sammy so he could wipe away some of the mess on the tray.
    “Oh my! You are a messy little girl, aren’t you?” Sammy laughed, looking down at her daughter. “It’s a good thing I’m done with my email for the afternoon, you need a bath!” she crossed to put the bowl in the sink, before coming back to her daughter and Jason. “Shall I draw you one, too, Jason?” she bumped his shoulder with hers and raised her eyebrow at him.
    H e didn’t miss the slight blush that settled on her cheeks at the suggestion, even though she turned her face from him quickly after the comment. After wiping her hands and face, Sammy stripped Corigan down to her diaper in the high chair before letting Jason carry her toward the bathroom. Sammy trailed behind and deposited the soiled clothes in the laundry room on the way.
    “What do you want to do for dinner tonight?” she asked as she turned on the water in Corigan’s bathroom. Excited to see her with more life in her than he’d seen since he found her in the car, he wanted to do anything he could to keep her in this moment. He stifled a sigh at the bliss he was feeling at his success before