Single Mum Seeking...: A Daddy for Her Sons / Marriage for Her Baby / Single Mom Seeks...

Connor had his own problems. His phone was vibrating every fifteen minutes. Every call was from Brad. He knew that without even checking. He had no intention of answering the phone, but every time it began to move, he had that sinking feeling again.

Brad. Why couldn’t he just disappear?

Instead he was texting. Connor didn’t read the texts. There was no point to it. He knew what they said.

Brad wanted answers. He wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to get the latest scoop on Jill. All things Connor had no intention of giving him. But knowing Brad, that wasn’t going to satisfy him. He was going to intrude, one way or another. And he wouldn’t wait long to make his influence felt. Connor looked at his phone. If only there was some way to cut the link to Brad and his expectations.

CHAPTER SIX (#u1ad57c9d-4828-5ebb-a3c1-a037efa478bd)

IT WAS TIME. They had to move. But the twins wouldn’t stop clinging to Jill.

Connor had an idea. He brought in a huge plastic tub he found in the garage, placing it in an empty corner of the kitchen, far from the oven and the electric appliances. Using a large pitcher, he put a few inches of barely warm water in the bottom.

“Hey kids,” he called to them. “Want to go swimming?”

He didn’t have to offer twice. They were excited, getting into their swimsuits and finding swim toys. Jill could get back to packing up her cakes and Connor could supervise the play area while he worked on glazing at the same time.

The long, rectangular boxes were filled with cakes for the Jamison engagement party. It was time to go. Connor packed them into Jill’s van and took off. Jill sat down beside the tub of water to watch her boys pretend to swim and she felt tears well up in her eyes. They had made it. Now—as long as they didn’t poison everyone at the engagement party, things would calm down. There were still a few cakes to deliver, but nothing was the hectic job the engagement party had been. She’d come through. And she couldn’t have done it without Connor.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged tightly. “Thank you, Connor,” she whispered to the kitchen air. “You saved my life. I think I love you.”

And she did. Didn’t she? She always had. Not the way she loved Brad. But Brad was always such a problem and Connor never was.

She remembered when Brad had been the coolest guy around. The guy everyone looked up to, the hunk every girl wanted to be with. He drove the coolest convertible, had the best parties, knew all the right people. At least, that was the way it seemed back then. And he had chosen her. It was amazing how much you could grow up in just a few years and learn to see beyond the facade.

“Cool” didn’t mean much when you had babies to feed in the middle of the night. And it only got in the way when it was time to separate your real friends from the posers. Back then, she’d been a pretty rotten judge of character. She’d improved. She had a better idea of what real worth was.

A half hour later, Connor was back. She rose to meet him, ready to ask him how it went, but he didn’t give her time to do that. Instead he came right for her, picked her up and swung her around in a small celebratory dance.

“You did it,” he said, smiling down into her face. “The cakes are delivered and the customer is in awe. You met the challenge. Congrats.”

“We did it, you mean,” she said, laughing as he swung her around again. “Without you, all would be lost right now.”

He put her down and shrugged. “What do we still have to get delivered?” he asked. “I want to get this job over with so we can relax.” He looked down at the boys, still splashing about in the water. “Hey, guys. How are you doing?”

Timmy laughed and yelled something incomprehensible, and Tanner blew bubbles his way.

“Great,” Connor said back, then looked at Jill. “Your orders, mon chef?” he asked.

“We do have two deliveries left,” she said. “The last cakes are baking right now. We should be ready to call it a day in about an hour. Can you make it until then?”

“Only if I get a fair reward,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “What are you offering?”

“I’ve got nothing,” she said, making a face. “Unless you’ll take kisses.”

She was teasing, just having fun, but it hit him like a blow to the heart. “Kisses are my favorite,” he told her gruffly, his eyes darkening.

She saw that, but it didn’t stop her. Reaching up, she planted a kiss on his mouth, then drew back and laughed at him.

He laughed back, but his pulse was racing. “Hey, I’ll work for those wages any day,” he told her, and then he had to turn away. There was a longing welling up in him. He’d felt it before and he knew what it was.

He’d been yearning for Jill since the day he met her. His own background and emotional hiccups had worked against him letting her know over that first year, and by the time he actually knew what he wanted, Brad had taken over, and it was too late.

“What kind of glaze are we putting on these last cakes?” he asked her.

Jill didn’t answer right away. She’d seen the look that had come over his face, noticed his reaction to her friendly kiss. For some reason, her heart was beating in a crazy way she wasn’t used to.

“Those get a rum caramel with roasted chopped pecans sprinkled on top,” she said at last.

They worked on it together, but there was a new feeling between them, a sort of sense of connection, that hadn’t been there before. And she had to admit, she rather liked it.

He took out the last deliveries and stopped to pick up a pizza on his way home. She had the boys dried and put into their pajamas by then. They got their own special meals and then were put into the playroom to play quietly and get ready for bed. Jill set out the pizza on the kitchen table and she and Connor ate ravenously.

“Wow,” he said with a groan. “What a day. I’ve worked in a lot of places, but I’ve never been put through the wringer like I was today.”

“You did great,” she responded. “I couldn’t have met the deadlines without you.”

He sighed. “What’s the outlook for tomorrow?”

Tomorrow? She hadn’t allowed herself to think that far ahead. Was he going to leave tonight? She didn’t think so. He didn’t seem to be making any of the pertinent preparations. And if he stayed tonight, what about tomorrow? Would he stay then, too? Should she let him?

“Just a couple of orders,” she said. “And then, for the rest of the week, not a thing.”

“Oh.” He looked at her with a guilty grimace. “Uh, maybe you’d better take a look at some of the orders I took over the phone today. I wrote them down somewhere.”

That started a mad scramble to locate the paper he’d written them down on.

“I have to set up a system,” she muttered once they’d found it. “What if you’d gone and never told me about these?”

Gone? Where was he going?

Their gazes met and the question was there and neither of them wanted to answer it.

She looked at him, at his handsome face, his strong shoulders, and she felt a wave of affection. There was no one else she would have rather spent this day with. It had to be him.

She stopped in front of him and smiled, putting a hand flat on his chest. “Thank you,” she said solemnly. “I can never stop thanking you enough. You really did make the difference today.”

He didn’t smile, but there was a dark, cloudy look in his eyes and he put his own hand over hers. “I wish I could do more,” he said, and she could have sworn his voice cracked a little.

She shook her head, wishing she had the right to kiss him the way you would a lover. “You saved me from the nightmares,” she murmured.

He frowned. “What nightmares.”

She shrugged, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. “Sometimes I have this dream where I’m all alone on an island that’s being attacked by huge black birds. They look sort of like vultures. They peck away at me. I run and run and they swoop down. Every time I turn to fight one off, others attack from behind me.” She shuddered.

His hand tightened over hers. “Bummer.”

She tried to smile but her lips were trembling. “No kidding.”