Her palms were sweaty, and her heart was doing a pitter-patter dance. She blew out a deep breath and wiped her hands on her leggings. She’d left work and run home to change her clothes and grabbed her spend-the-night bag.
This wasn’t a big deal. People co-parentedall the time. Maybe not as well as she and Vic, but this was not too abnormal. This was a hang out of sorts to watch a movie with their son. That was normal—right?
But her sleeping over at her very handsome ex’s house because they were planning to make another baby was definitely not normal.
She inhaled and got out of the car.
Kian burst out the front door before she even made it to the back seat where her bag rested.
“Mommy!” he shouted. He ran down the stairs and beelined it to her. He had the widest grin on his handsome little face.
Her heart melted at the joy in her son’s face.
“I picked out the movie!”
“Really?”
He slammed into her open arms for a strong hung.
She breathed in her baby’s scent and released him to grab her bag. “What is it?Encanto?”
She sort of hoped it was. They had watched that movie multiple times, and she did love it. She was ready to ‘not talk about Bruno’. She hefted her bag’s strap onto her shoulder and shut the door.
“Nope.Coco!” He walked alongside her.
She tossed an arm over his shoulder and brought him close to her so she could drop a kiss on top of his head.
“Good choice, big man.” She loved that movie, too.
She glanced up. Vic stood by the entryway. His handswere in his pockets as he leaned against the wall. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him in a black t-shirt, gray sweats, and he was barefoot. His hair was slightly damp as if he’d just got out of the shower.
He offered her that crooked grin of his, and her stomach did a tiny flip-flop.
Shit.
“Hey,” he said. He reached out and took her bag from her. He stepped aside so they could enter the house.
“Hey,” she said back. She ignored the flutter of butterflies that filled her stomach.
The house smelled of pizza and lemons. Ginger must have recently cleaned, which always left the house smelling so good. She was going to have to get herself a Ginger. Even though it was only her and Kian, she felt as if she needed help keeping their house clean and organized.
They made their way into the dining room where the table had a stack of napkins, two large pizza boxes, wings, ranch, and bottles of pop.
“You ordered out?” she asked.
“Movie night rules. No cooking.” Vic shrugged.
“Good rules.” She squeezed Kian’s shoulder. “Let’s go wash our hands.”
“I’m going to put your bag on the stairs,” Vic said.
She nodded then followed Kian into the kitchen. They quickly washed their hands and went and filled up their plates with plentyof food.
Ginger, the housekeeper, stepped into the family room just as they were getting settled. She was mid-fifties with short red hair and a warm smile. She had her jacket on and her bag in her hand. She looked as if she was ready for the weekend.
“Evening, everyone. Everything’s cleaned for tonight. Kitchen’s done and the laundry folded.” She tossed a wink to Tachina and wagged a stern finger at Vic and Kian. “Don’t let those two animals destroy all of my hard work before I return on Monday.”
“I’ll try my best, Miss Ginger.” Tachina laughed.