He rubbed the back of his neck. “Besides, my ex wouldn’t come, even if I did call her,” he finally admitted. “Not unless I offered her money. And I refuse to pay her another dime to be a mother to her son.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to think of anything to say in response. She found it impossible to imagine what had caused Dan’s ex to turn her back on her husband and her son. “Her loss,” she finally managed.
Dan’s tense facial features relaxed. “I think so, too,” he agreed softly. Then he cleared his throat and glanced toward his son’s room. “Look, Molly, it’s late and I know you probably want to get home, but I would rather you stayed here in case Josh’s muscle cramps return.”
His request caught her completely off guard. “Here?” she squeaked.
“In the guest room,” he hastily clarified, ramming his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “It’s the room right next to Josh’s.”
She didn’t have any of her things, not even a toothbrush or a comb, but the thought of Josh’s muscle cramps returning was enough that she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. Staying to ease the child’s pain was the least she could do. “Of course I’ll stay.”
Relief flooded his features. “Thank you. I have spare toiletries and will leave them in the bathroom you’ll share with Josh.”
She wanted to smile at the way he’d made a point of letting her know she wouldn’t have to worry about stumbling across him in the middle of the night. She assumed that his master suite had its own bathroom. Not that she should even imagine him in his master suite. She quickly pulled her thoughts away from the image that bloomed in her mind. “Um, great! Sounds good.”
“This way,” he said, gesturing to the doorway of the spare bedroom with one hand.
She rose to her feet and followed him across the living room to the guest room. He paused next to her, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
“Thanks again, Molly,” he murmured, staring down at her intently.
For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he simply took her hand and squeezed it gently. She was glad it was dark, so he wouldn’t see how she blushed. “You’re welcome,” she murmured, forcing herself to tug her hand gently from his when all she really wanted to do was to throw herself into his arms.
When he finally left, she leaned against the door and took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.
She needed to remember that he’d only asked her to stay for his son’s sake, not because he wanted to be alone with her or anything. If she hadn’t been able to hold on to James, there was really no way in the world she had a chance with someone like Dan. He was way, way out of her league.
She brushed her teeth and vowed to take the subway home first thing in the morning, putting their relationship back on a professional level.
Where it belonged.
Dan didn’t sleep very well, and while he’d have liked to blame his son’s leg cramps, he knew the real reason was because Molly was just down the hall in the guest room.
So close.
Too close.
He finally crawled out of his bed at five-thirty, knowing that trying to sleep any longer was useless. And there was a tiny part of him that looked forward to seeing Molly this morning.
After a quick shower, he padded softly to the kitchen and peered inside the fridge. He wanted to make a nice big breakfast as a way to thank Molly for helping Josh through his crisis and staying last night.
He hadn’t heard Josh wake up at all, and since he’d been awake half the night, he could only assume his son had slept peacefully.
After brewing a pot of coffee, he began pulling out the ingredients for French toast, Josh’s favorite. He prepared the egg mixture so that he’d have things ready to go when Molly and Josh woke up. His stomach rumbled with hunger so he decided to cook thick slabs of bacon, as well.
“Do your patients know you eat like that?”
He spun round to find Molly hovering in the doorway, dressed in the clothing she’d worn the day before, only this time she’d pulled her long red-gold hair back into its usual ponytail, a style that made her look incredibly young.
Or maybe he was just incredibly old.
“Ah, good morning, Molly.” What was it about her that made it difficult for him to think straight? He glanced down at the bacon with a guilty flush. “My patients are children, not adults. And, besides, having bacon once in a while isn’t too bad, right?”
She laughed softly and hitched her purse over her shoulder. “I guess not, although I must confess I would have imagined you making wholegrain pancakes or granola and yogurt for breakfast.”
He grimaced wryly. “Guess I’ve tarnished my image, huh? Come in, have a seat. Would you care for coffee?”
She gazed longingly toward the coffeepot, but slowly shook her head. “No, I should probably head home. I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality.”
“You can’t leave without eating breakfast,” he said in a rush of panic, ridiculously upset that she intended to leave so early. “Did you really think I was cooking all of this for me?” he asked, gesturing to the meal in progress incredulously.
“Well …” she said doubtfully. “I don’t want to impose on your family time.”
He didn’t have the heart to admit that he and Josh didn’t exactly have family time, at least not in the way she probably thought. They had more of a trying-to-rekindle-their-broken-relationship-time, which consisted of awkward silences more than anything else.
“If you leave now, you would be imposing on me and Josh to eat all this food by ourselves,” he teased, trying to keep his tone light. “Please sit down, and are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup of coffee?”
She chewed her lower lip nervously, but then ventured farther into the kitchen, taking a seat on the stool in front of the breakfast nook. “I’d love some coffee. The mere scent was enough to wake me up from a sound sleep.”
He busied himself with pouring her a mug of coffee, sliding it over to her before getting one for himself. “Cream, sugar?” he asked.
“Cream or milk, if you have some.” She cupped her hands around the mug as if needing the warmth.
He brought out the milk, and then frowned. “Are you cold? I’ll turn up the heat.”
“Maybe a little,” she admitted, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “It’s been so nice the past few days, but now I can see frost outside.”
“Welcome to spring in New York,” he muttered. “Hang on a minute, I’ll get you a sweatshirt.”
He flipped the bacon strips before he retreated to his bedroom, looking for one of his sweatshirts. He brought it out for her, oddly pleased at how she looked wearing his clothing.
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do,” he responded. “I, uh, hope you like French toast,” he said, crossing back over to the stove. “It’s Josh’s favorite.”
“I love it,” she assured him. She took a sip of her coffee and he couldn’t help thinking how pretty she was. Suzy had worn enough makeup to paint a clown, but he preferred Molly’s fresh-scrubbed beauty any day of the week.
Forcing his gaze to the task at hand, he dunked the bread slices in the egg mixture and set them into the sizzling fry pan.
“Dan,