Kylie took the phone her daughter handed her. “Yes, I’m sure that’s why he’s calling,” she said, trying to keep her voice neutral but feeling she’d failed miserably. She hoped Tiffany hadn’t picked up on any-thing.
“That’s really nice of him to call us all the way from Texas, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Well, it’s late and I have school tomorrow so I’m going to bed. Thanks for taking me shopping, Mom. Good night.”
“You’re welcome and good night, sweetheart.”
With quiet gravity Kylie watched Tiffany leave the room, closing the door behind her. It was only then that she turned her attention back to the phone and the man waiting on the line to talk to her.
“Hello?”
“Sorry about that, Kylie. I assumed Tiffany would be in bed by now.”
“Usually she is but that’s okay. I took her shopping after school and we just got back a little over an hour ago.”
Chance chuckled. “Must have been some shopping trip.”
Kylie smiled. “Trust me, it was.” She didn’t want to sound too excited but she was glad to hear his voice. “How are things going?”
“Busy. This is one of those annual meetings where the CEOs of various corporations get together, leave egos at the door and work on something we all need to improve within our companies.”
“And what’s that?”
“Employee relations. But I didn’t call to talk about that. I wanted to see how you and Tiffany were doing.”
“We’re fine.” Actually there was something concerning her. Maybe Chance could shed some light on it. “I know Tiffany talks to Marcus every day, but I’m a little concerned about something.”
“What?”
“Although I told him on Sunday that it would be okay if he wanted to visit with Tiffany for a few hours after school on occasion, he hasn’t done so.”
“Umm, even with football practice I’m surprised he hasn’t jumped at the chance at least once. Does Tiffany seem bothered by it?” Chance asked.
“No, and I know for a fact that they aren’t mad at each other.” Kylie sighed. Maybe things were different with teenagers today. She and Sam had practically tried living out of each other’s pockets. It had gotten so bad that he had become a regular fixture around her parents’ house although they had wished otherwise.
“Maybe I’m assuming too much here, Chance, but I thought with them being so ‘madly in love’ that once I gave the go-ahead for supervised visits that Marcus would become a constant visitor.”
“That’s strange, because I know that I would.”
“You would what?”
“Become a constant visitor if you ever gave me the go-ahead.”
Chance’s voice was hardly more than a whisper but she heard the underlying meaning loud and clear. Kylie’s breath hung in her throat for a brief second and then she took a deep, calming inhale, which was followed by a series of flutters in her stomach.
“Kylie?”
“Yes?” She was glad to say anything, even that one single word, to assure her that her vocal cords were still working and they hadn’t drowned in all those sensations overtaking her.
“May I ask a favor of you?” Chance asked.
“Sure,” she said with a small shrug, certain he wouldn’t ask her to do anything indecent or immoral.
“Would you pick me up from the airport tomorrow around lunchtime?”
Surprise flickered in the depths of her dark eyes. “You want me to pick you up?”
“Yes. My car is at the dealership getting serviced while I’m away. I can get one of my brothers to pick me up but I would like for you to…if it won’t be any problem.”
“No, it won’t be a problem. But can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you want me to do it?”
“You’ll find out when I see you.”
The sound of his voice held promises she wasn’t sure she wanted him to keep. She’d been having a lot of mixed emotions since meeting Chance. A part of her knew that getting involved with him was not a good idea, but then another part of her—the one that lately was constantly reminding her that she was a woman with needs—was egging her on to enjoy what he was offering. At least within reason.
“All right. Would you like to give me your flight information now?” For the next minute or so, she jotted down the information that he gave her.
“Well, I’ll let you go now. I’m sure the shopping trip tired you out.”
“Yes, it did somewhat. I appreciate you calling.”
“I told you I would. I just hope my doing so hasn’t raised Tiffany’s suspicions. I know how much you don’t want the kids to think anything is going on between us.”