LITMIR.BIZ

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not getting them.”

      He knew he shouldn’t get involved and he had no intention of staying, but Jack heard himself say, “I like mushrooms.”

      Ava looked at her mother, her smile more than a little smug. Kelly didn’t look annoyed; she looked…unnerved. Which didn’t make any sense to him at all.

      “And bacon?” Ava queried.

      “And bacon,” he confirmed.

      “Fine, I’ll get half with bacon and mushrooms,” Kelly relented. Then she looked at Jack. “Which means that you’re staying for pizza.”

      “If you’d told me you were hungry, I could have stopped somewhere on the way from the airport,” he told her.

      “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.”

      “Then you should order from Marco’s—they deliver and they’re quick.”

      He gave her the number, and while Kelly made the call, Ava ventured upstairs to check out her new room and start unpacking. After pizza was ordered, Kelly took a look around. She’d seen photos and even videos of the house before signing the lease, but she wanted to see everything up close. Jack opted to respond to some email messages on his BlackBerry while she explored.

      She was back in less than ten minutes, and obviously pleased with everything she’d seen. “Lukas told me the place was furnished, but I didn’t expect it to be so well equipped. There are pots and pans and dishes and cutlery in the kitchen—and even toilet paper in each of the bathrooms. Something else I’ll have to thank Georgia for, because I didn’t think to pack any of that in my suitcase.”

      “I’d be surprised if you had room,” Jack said. “Considering that you each only brought one suitcase and one carry-on.”

      “I prefer to travel light, but there’s a lot more to come. It just seemed easier—and cheaper—to ship the rest rather than pay the airline fees for extra baggage.”

      “Makes sense,” he agreed.

      But he still had questions about her sudden decision to return to Pinehurst after so many years away. And he had an uneasy suspicion that nagged at the back of his mind. He hadn’t wanted to ask it while her daughter was in the backseat of his car—even if she had seemed oblivious to their discussion—but it was a question that needed an answer.

      “I just hope it arrives on schedule,” Kelly continued her explanation about the luggage. “Because my work clothes are in that shipment and I start my new job on the fifteenth.”

      “Was it the job that lured you back to Pinehurst?”

      “It was the deciding factor, but I’ve been thinking about coming back for a while,” she admitted. “I wanted a fresh start for Ava and myself.”

      Jack tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze.

      The contact was casual, but he would have sworn that sparks flew at the brief touch of his fingertip against her skin. Judging by the way Kelly’s eyes widened, she’d felt them, too.

      He dropped his hand, forced himself to remember the question he needed to ask. “Was he abusive?”

      She blinked, clearly startled by the inquiry. “What? Who?”

      “Your ex-husband,” he said. “Because I’ve been wracking my brain, and that’s the only reason I could imagine for taking a child three thousand miles away from her father.”

      Kelly dropped her gaze and shook her head. “No, Malcolm wasn’t abusive.”

      He wanted to feel relieved—he was relieved. And yet, he couldn’t let go of the suspicion that there was something more Kelly wasn’t telling him.

      A suspicion that was confirmed when she looked up again and said, “And he wasn’t Ava’s father.”

      Kelly held her breath, waiting for Jackson’s response to her revelation. But before he could say anything, the doorbell rang and Ava was racing down the stairs in response to the summons. “Pizza’s here!”

      And that quickly, any chance of taking the conversation further was gone.

      Her daughter flung open the door without first looking through the peephole to confirm that it was their food delivery. Of course, in Seattle no one could gain access to their door without first being buzzed into the building, so now that things were different they would have to have a discussion about basic safety precautions.

      Or maybe not, considering that this was Pinehurst, where many of the residents didn’t even lock their doors during the day. And wasn’t that one of the reasons she’d brought her daughter here? To give her the benefits of living in a small, close-knit community. Of course, an even bigger reason stood right beside her.

      As it turned out, it wasn’t their pizza at the door—it was Lukas with his arms full of grocery bags. Setting the bags down inside the door, he swept Ava up for a big hug. “There’s my favorite girl.”

      The girl in question would have been absolutely mortified by such an overt display of affection from her mother, but her cherished “uncle” got away with a lot. And Kelly suspected that the prospect of living in close proximity to Lukas was the one reason that Ava hadn’t kicked harder and screamed louder about the move.

      He ruffled her hair. “What’s with the purple streaks?”

      “Mom wouldn’t let me have a belly button ring.”

      “Makes perfect sense to me. And speaking of your mom…”

      He turned to wrap his arms around Kelly, squeezing her so tight she could hardly breathe, but it felt so good—so right—to be in his arms that tears filled her eyes.

      “I missed you,” she told him now. “I never realize how much I miss you until I see you again.”

      “I’m just glad that you’re finally home.” He released her with obvious reluctance and looked at his brother. “Thanks for doing the airport run.”

      “When have I ever objected to picking up a beautiful woman?” Jackson asked.

      Lukas chuckled. “Never.”

      The knots in Kelly’s stomach returned. Was Jackson’s comment just brotherly banter or a statement to her—a reminder that she’d never meant anything more to him than any other casual pickup? And why did she even care? She hadn’t come back to Pinehurst to rekindle her relationship with Jackson but for Ava to establish a relationship with her father.

      Now his words gave Kelly pause. Was he still a relentless flirt and unrepentant playboy? Because that was hardly the type of male role model that she wanted for her impressionable daughter. Or was she just looking to find fault, to justify her own actions? Since that was a question she couldn’t answer right now, she shifted her attention to Lukas instead.

      “I should have figured you’d be here in time for pizza,” she said, as the delivery car pulled up in front.

      “Am I?” He turned to follow her gaze and grinned. “My timing is impeccable as usual.”

      As Kelly dug in her purse for money to pay for their dinner, she couldn’t help thinking his timing would have been much better if he’d been able to meet them at the airport. But she could breathe a little easier now, confident that she’d survived her first face-to-face with Jackson relatively unscathed.

      She knew they had to finish their interrupted conversation at some point, but not today. Not when her heart was already feeling battered and bruised by the callous remarks of a man who probably had no idea how much he could hurt her. Instead, she gestured for Jackson to follow Ava—and the pizza—into the kitchen.

      He shook his head. “I need to get going.”

      “I thought you were going to stay for pizza,” Kelly said.

      “I’ve got files to review

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