"CJ knew your father?"
Michael nodded, the other corner of his mouth tipping up into a slow, sexy grin and she wondered what she said to make him look at her that way. "Yes. They knew each other for a long time."
Jacqueline set her hands at her waist and walked slowly, gingerly to the window. The landscape outside was brilliant, but just the sight of the snow made her cold to her bones. The memory of ice-cold water crashing over her head—sucking the air from her lungs—flashed through her. Shards of ice cutting her skin. The twist of her body when it impacted with the hard surface, only to crash through. She swallowed hard and forced herself to focus on the conversation.
Of the two choices, this conversation with Michael seemed like the easiest to deal with. Black memories would be there tomorrow, and the day after.
"You and Caitlin must be very happy," she managed to say.
With the same small smile on his lips, he walked around the end of the bed toward her. Joining her, he looked out the window before he answered. "Both Caitlin and I are happy with Nicole in our lives."
"Good," she said, the word strangled and lost somewhere before it left her lips. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Good. I really am glad for you, Michael, even if I didn't sound it before."
"Jacqueline…" he said, the same rough weight to his voice, as he reached across the space between them. His warm palm skimmed across the back of her hand as he wrapped his fingers around hers, and she sucked in a breath to tamp down the shiver that threatened to dance up her spine. "Caitlin isn't my lover. She's my mother."
Her heart pounded in her chest several times before the words sank in, and she blinked rapidly, staring at him. "Excuse me?" Momentarily thrown, Jacqueline shook off the intense physical reaction to his simple act of taking her hand. "What the hell did you mean by that?"
"Caitlin and I share a home. She is helping me raise Nicole, but she has never been or will she ever be my lover."
"She's your mother…Michael, that's not possible. CJ and I are almost the same age…she can't…and besides, you told me your mother was…what are you smiling at?" she demanded, crossing her arms.
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