The Daughter He Wanted by Kristina Knight Page A

from Alex.
    Not that she was angry with Alison for kissing Tuck. She was single and unattached. He was most definitely kissable, from his full lower lip to the teasing light that never quite left his blue eyes. Paige wasn’t a prude, for Pete’s sake. Seeing Alison and Tuck wrapped around one another in the pantry made her wonder what it would be like to kiss Alex. To tease her tongue against that scar at the corner of his mouth. To feel his hands buried in her hair. On her body.
    To trace her fingers against the thick muscles of his shoulders. To feel the strength of muscles not hidden by his tees and shorts at all.
    “We just...” Alison trailed off.
    Paige waved her hands in the air and pasted a smile on her face. She knew when Tuck said they were in the nonexistent basement that something was going on between the two. They were entitled to a little fun; both were consenting adults. “No need to explain.” None at all. And she needed to get out of here because all she could think about was that game Spin the Bottle, and joining Alex in the pantry after her spin landed on him.
    That was so not helping.
    “Like Tuck said, it’s not our business. I was just coming in to tell you thanks and I’ll see you Tuesday, for girls’ night.” No need to go into Alex asking her out or why she couldn’t want to go. Paige had to get out of the kitchen. Away from Alex. She waved and backed out onto the deck, calling to Kaylie that it was time to leave.
    Neither Tuck nor Alison had a kid who could be caught in the cross fire should things go wrong. They could afford to flirt and be reckless.
    She wanted to be reckless. That’s what had her upset. Not that Alison was kissing a hot guy, not the reminder of what she might do if the situation were reversed.
    She wanted their situations to reverse. She loved Kaylie, but there were times she did wish she didn’t have to worry about babysitters or being quite so careful about people she allowed into her life.
    Until three days ago, when Alex had shown up on her curb, she hadn’t missed being single once since making her decision to create the family she wanted rather than wait to see if it happened on its own. Now it seemed she couldn’t stop thinking about being impulsive.
    “Paige,” Alison called from the deck.
    Paige grabbed Kaylie’s light jacket from one of the lawn chairs and motioned her daughter to hurry. Then she plastered a smile on her face and turned back to her friend. “I expect details later,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. “Full-on details,” she lied through her teeth.
    “I’ll call you later,” her friend said, concern etched in the thin line of her mouth, her eyes worried.
    Alex stood in the shadows, watching Paige intently. She dared not look at him. Finally Kaylie wandered across the lawn and Paige directed her to the car. The little girl didn’t fuss about leaving—score one for the non-reward-giving Mom. Kaylie accepted that when it was time to go it was time to go—the little girl waved to the adults still on the deck and picked a petunia from Alison’s flower bed.
    She buckled Kaylie into her seat and then offered a jaunty wave to the three watching her from Alison’s front porch. See? Nothing to worry about here. Nothing’s wrong. I’m— Crap!
    The manual transmission stalled as she pulled away from the curb. So much for the jaunty wave.
    All the way across town Kaylie chattered about the trapeze and seeing her grandparents and meeting her new friends, Alex and Tuck. Paige added a few “uh-huhs” and “reallys” to the conversation but didn’t truly join in.
    She was too focused on ignoring the pang in her belly.
    The one that told her she’d gotten what she wanted—she had avoided a date with Alex Ryan.
    Why, then, did she feel like she’d lost something?
    * * *
    A LEX PUSHED HIS shopping cart past a row of too-ripe bananas, choosing a bunch that was still mostly green and putting it under a loaf of French bread. He needed to