Page 42 of This Time Around (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #3)

J ack felt his pulse kick up at the sound of familiar female voices outside the front door. Even though he’d seen Allie two hours ago, even though she’d texted to say they’d finished shopping, something inside him stirred with excitement at the thought of seeing her again.

Was it really just a few weeks ago that he’d sent that first email and spent days filled with a different sort of anxiousness? The urge to show her up, to rub her nose in how well he’d turned out.

Now he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss her and?—

“... And that lining on the inside helps conceal your nipples if it’s cold out,” Allie was saying as she pushed open the door. “So that’s helpful for modesty.”

Jack grimaced. Hearing Allie discuss nipples might have been a turn-on if she weren’t talking to his preteen daughter.

“Hey, daddy!”

“Hey, kiddo!” He held out his arms and she rushed forward so he could swoop her into a bear hug.

Would she ever stop being this affectionate with the people she loved?

He hoped not, but he’d gone through a definite “don’t touch me” phase in middle school.

Of course, that had more to do with his dickhead father walking out than with any real aversion to affection.

He’d sure as hell gotten used to affection when he started dating Allie.

In the doorway, Allie stood smiling at him with her arms weighted down by shopping bags. She held something that looked like a bakery box in one hand. Seeing his gaze on it, she stepped closer and held it out. “Snickerdoodles,” she said. “Paige said they’re still your favorite.”

There was something almost unbearably sweet about Allie remembering his favorite dessert and his daughter knowing it now, and Jack felt a wobbly lump in his throat.

It almost made up for the sour gut he’d gotten when he’d seen Wade back at Allie’s place a few hours ago.

He knew it was shitty, but something bugged him about coming face to face with a guy Allie had slept with, loved, planned a future with at one point in the not-so-distant past.

Jack knew he needed to get over himself, so he reached out to take the box from her. “Thank you. I suppose I have to save these until after dinner, huh?”

“Life’s short,” Allie said. “Eat dessert first.”

“Good idea!” Paige reached for the box, but Jack swooped it up and out of her grasp.

“No way,” he said. “That rule doesn’t apply to growing girls.”

“No fair.” She pretended to pout, but Jack could see she really didn’t care. “Where’s Grandma?” she asked.

“She’s upstairs playing with my new app that lets her race her friends to see who runs out of toilet paper first.”

“Excellent.” Paige scooped up the shopping bags Allie had set at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m going to show her my new bras.”

She scampered up the stairs, leaving Jack simultaneously relieved and wistful that his little girl no longer had an interest in showing him her purchases.

He got it, and truth be told, he would have been uncomfortable seeing a bunch of bras his kid planned to wear.

Still, it felt strange being on the edge of this precipice into Paige’s adulthood.

As soon as Paige was gone, he turned to Allie. “How’d she do?”

“Really well. I took her to a professional bra fitter at Nordy’s.”

“That’s a real job title?”

“Yep. At first I thought the whole thing might be kind of awkward, but Paige handled it like a champ.”

“I’m not surprised. She’s not exactly shy.”

Allie laughed. “That’s putting it mildly.”

“I’m sure this was the highlight of her week. Thanks for doing that.”

“No problem. That’s an inquisitive little girl you have there.”

Jack laughed and set the bakery box on the table behind him. “Sorry. We’re still working on recognizing what’s appropriate to ask a stranger.”

Something flickered in Allie’s eyes, but her smile didn’t waver. “I wouldn’t say I’m a total stranger. We’ve been bra shopping. We’ve shared a snickerdoodle. We’ve bonded.”

“Very true,” Jack agreed, wishing he could tell her he hadn’t meant to make her feel like an outsider. But the moment was gone, so instead he said, “Thanks again for doing that.”

“It was my pleasure.” Allie glanced at her watch. “I should probably get going. I was going to work on touching up the grout in all the second-floor bathrooms tonight.”

“You’re not staying for dinner?”

“You really want me to?”

“Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”

She seemed to hesitate, glancing toward the stairs before meeting his eyes again. “I don’t know. You seemed a little ... bristly earlier.”

He thought about denying it. The old Jack would have. He’d have gotten defensive, maybe thrown it back on her with some stupid accusation of his own.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Want to talk about it?”

He shrugged, wondering if he should just swallow his stupid insecurity about Wade. But she’d asked, and he owed her an answer. “I don’t know. Isn’t it weird sometimes hanging out with a guy you used to sleep with? Someone you’d planned to marry at one point?”

Allie frowned, but seemed to consider it. “A little, I guess. But since I’m sleeping with him again now, I guess that makes it?—”

“Wait, what?”

Her brow furrowed. “We’re talking about you, right? About the fact that we have a history together?”

He laughed in spite of himself, shaking his head. “I wasn’t, actually. But thanks for the heart attack.”

“Wade?” Allie raised an eyebrow at him. “You were talking about Wade?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He dragged a hand through his hair, feeling a bit idiotic. “I know I’m being a jealous prick, but it rattled me a little. Knowing you used to be engaged to him, and that you’re still so close.”

“But in a different way.” She reached out to hook a finger in his belt loop. He knew she didn’t mean it to be suggestive, and it wasn’t. It was more possessive, and something about it made Jack relax a little.

“Besides,” Allie said. “Wade is with Skye now.”

“I know. Like I said, I know it’s not reasonable. I’m being a jealous prick, and I’m sorry.”

Allie nodded. “How’s Lacey?”

The question caught him off-guard, and he almost laughed. “Lacey?”

“The woman you were sleeping with up until a few weeks ago. The one who texted you just a few days ago to say, and I quote, “Miss you and that big, thick c?—”

“How did you know about that?”

Allie smirked and tugged the belt loop. “About the text message, or about your big, thick?—”

“About the text,” he interrupted, though truth be told, he did sort of want to hear her take on the other thing. “How did you know about that?”

“Relax, Jack. I’m not snooping on your phone. The message popped up on your screen Sunday when you handed me your phone so I could re-read that message from Paige.”

“Ah,” he said, wondering if Allie’s casual indifference was real or a front.

She’d never had the jealous streak he had, but she’d sometimes seemed bothered when he brought up his first girlfriend or when girls in his college classes touched his arm and told him he was too young to be engaged. “Lacey’s fine. I think.”

“Hey, it’s none of my business,” she said with a shrug. “You and I have only been hanging out for a little while. It’s not like we agreed to be exclusive or anything.”

Something flared in his chest. Something primal and possessive. Something that had him pulling his phone out of his pocket and flicking it on. He scrolled to “Lacey” in his text message history, then held the phone out to her.

“Read,” he said.

Allie rolled her eyes. “What are you, a caveman?”

“Read,” he insisted, still holding the phone out. “Please.”

“Jack, I don’t need some sort of reassurance that?—”

“Please,” he said again, softer this time. And this time, it worked.

Allie took the phone from him, and he watched her eyes move back and forth as she skimmed the words on the screen.

Her forehead creased, and he couldn’t tell if it was worry or confusion or something else.

When she looked up, it wasn’t either of those things he saw in her eyes.

It was amazement. Exactly the emotion he’d hoped to see there when he’d come back to town, but for a different reason.

“You told her you’re back together with your old girlfriend and asked her not to contact you anymore?”

He nodded and took the phone back, sliding it into his pocket as he reached for her. “That’s right. I’m all in, Allie.”

She seemed to hesitate, then nestled into his arms. Jack held her against his chest, thinking about how right she felt there. She tilted her head back and looked up at him, and he lost himself in those green eyes for what felt like the millionth time.

“Are you?” he asked. “All in? I mean I know we didn’t talk about exclusivity or anything, and it’s kind of soon, but?—”

“Yes,” she said, smiling up at him. “I am.”

He kissed her then, so damn grateful that he almost didn’t see the flicker of worry in her eyes, almost didn’t feel the pang of hesitation in his own gut.

Almost.

Allie looked up as her mother swept majestically into the room, making her grand entrance with an attractive young man by her side.

Granted, the young man was a prison guard, and Priscilla wore handcuffs instead of the thick gold bracelets she used to favor. Even so, there was a regal air to her mother’s presence. Allie stood, resisting the urge to curtsy.

“Mother,” she said as the guard unlocked the cuffs and gestured toward the adjacent table. Allie leaned in for the customary, brief hug they were permitted at the start of a meeting. Then they seated themselves on opposite sides of the table.

“Allison, dear, did you have someone new do your hair?”

She nodded and touched a hand to it, trying not to take it personally that the question hadn’t included a compliment. “Yes, Skye. The woman Grandma hired to take care of the house.”

“You let a housekeeper do your hair?”