Free Stripped by Abby Niles Page A

So Jaxon had ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza. She’d give him points for that.
    Madison reached for a plate, but stopped when Jaxon shook his head. He made her plate for her, then placed it in front of her. “What would you like to drink?”
    Not used to being waited on, she blinked at him. “Uh. There’s tea in the fridge, but I can—” She started pushing back her chair.
    “You stay there.”
    He hurried into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She stared at him. This felt weird. Other than going to a sit down restaurant with a waiter, which wasn’t very often, she was always the last to sit down. Heck, most of the time, she ate standing up because the moment she sat down, she had to get right back up and get something else. She never got waited on. She felt like she should be doing something.
    A few seconds later, he placed the iced tea in front of her.
    “Thank you.”
    He made his plate and then took the seat across the table. The four of them. Eating dinner. Like a family. So weird.
    Not that it seemed to bother Jaxon if the relaxed way he was chowing down on his pizza was any indication. If anything, he seemed completely at ease with the fact that he was sitting at a table with a woman he’d all but called a prostitute less than forty-eight hours ago and the two kids he had no idea she had.
    Maybe he was.
    At this point, she needed to accept that Jaxon Sutherland wasn’t as one dimensional as she’d thought he was.
    As dinner progressed, they chatted about this and that, laughing. Jaxon mentioned he rented the new PIXAR movie to watch after they finished eating, which the kids went ape-shit over. Madison couldn’t get over the man sitting in front of her and how different he was from the man she worked for.
    As everyone finished their last piece of pizza, Madison folded her arms on the table and leaned forward, signaling it was time for the ritual she’d started with Faith as soon as her daughter had been old enough to comprehend the question. “Faith, what was your favorite part of the day?”
    A thoughtful expression came over her little girl’s face before she said, “My favorite part was when we got ice cream.”
    “Hmm. I’m sure it was.” Chuckling, Madison turned her attention to her son. “What about you, Noah?”
    He tapped a finger on his chin. “I liked holding Jaxon’s hand.”
    His innocent and bluntly honest answer twisted her insides. Emotions clogged her throat and she ducked her head in fear that her feeling could be easily read. Noah was jonsing for a man’s influence so badly, and it broke her heart.
    “What about you, Madison?” Jaxon asked. “What was your favorite part?”
    She kept her gaze downcast. Not able to meet his eyes. She couldn’t voice her favorite part. It was too personal. Too intimate. Gave away too much of her deep desires like Noah’s had. And it included Jaxon too.
    Though it could’ve been any man standing there feeding her kids and it still would’ve been her favorite part—or she was telling herself that at least.
    “My favorite part was when you showed up with dinner so I didn’t have to make it.”
    The admission still included him, but at least it was safer than the truth.
    He smiled at that. A real smile. Like it made him happy that he’d been included in their favorite parts of their day. “Well, my favorite part is this moment.”
    That caused her head to snap up and meet his eyes, and she was greeted with an intense heat that caused her heart to pick up speed. “T-this moment,” she said. “Why?”
    “I can’t remember the last time I stayed in and ate dinner.” He glanced at both the kids and smiled. And again it became very difficult for her to breathe. “And with such great company. Now who’s ready to watch a movie?”
    Both kids jumped up, yelling, and raced into the living room. Jaxon stood and started reaching for the plates. She waved him away. “I’ve got this.”
    When he started to protest, she interrupted,