Bent by Hb Heinzer

pre-treat this, I can wash it. It's not a problem."
    "No, we need to get it washed as soon as possible. Trust me, I've wrecked more than a few shirts with red wine." Julia's fingers tingled as they met his so she could take the shirt. "Really, it's not a problem."
    Micah laughed and his mouth curled in a signature smirk, "Drinking problem?"
    "Funny." He doubled over when she punched him in the stomach. After looking down the hall to see his son still sitting on the deck, he pulled Julia from the bottom step and into the living room. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. For a moment, he simply rested his chin on the top of her head. It felt right. As he leaned in to kiss her, Julia turned her head to the side. "Micah, we need to get out to Caleb."
    His grip eased so he was able to look into her pale blue eyes. "Thank you." He leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. "I'm not sure you realize how much tonight means to both of us. I don't deserve you," he whispered.
    "No, you don't," she laughed trying to get out of his grasp. Micah brought his lips to hers again. The kiss that was meant to be short and sweet quickly became heated as he ran his tongue across her lips. His hands traveled under her shirt to feel the soft lines of her back and around to her waist.
    Breathless, she broke the kiss, "Micah...we...Caleb..." His tongue entered her mouth every time she tried to speak, hungry to taste her.
    He realized she wasn't going to stop stopping. "Okay, but this isn't finished."
    As they parted, she ran a single fingernail up the center of his chest. The touch was light and teasing. "Promise?" The side of her mouth perked up. She smacked his backside when he tried to lean in to kiss her again. "Go."
     
    Julia hoped the flush in her cheeks had started to recede by the time she got to the deck. She didn't need to create an uncomfortable situation and reminded herself that she wanted to talk to Micah about making sure they were respectful of Caleb when they were together. He had been right to tell her that they needed to take things slowly because of Caleb. Now she needed to keep reminding him of his decision. While Caleb might love his dad to pieces, it would be easy to see Julia as a threat to the status quo. They couldn't act like there was no one else around.
    She was surprised when she got outside and Caleb was reading rather than eating. He said he didn't mind waiting and felt it would have been rude to eat without them. Micah had obviously done something right raising him. Or Gran Turner was a good influence. Either way, it was a sweet gesture. Everyone chatted companionably throughout dinner. Julia felt a wave of sadness rolling in as she realized that had things been different, this could have been the scene every night. Caleb could have been hers. She stopped herself from that line of thinking. He wasn't hers, things weren't different. This was nothing more than a dinner with a good friend and his son.
    After dinner, Caleb asked if they could have a fire before heading home. He explained that Gran said the smoke was horrible for her lungs when the wind carried it into the house. Micah deferred to Julia, who wasn't about to tell the boy no. She wondered if she would be this much of a pushover with her own kids. No, she decided, she was only bowing to his wishes because he was the guest. She carried the dishes into the kitchen and watched out of the window over the sink as they carried wood to the deck and started the fire.
    She was still trying to work through her feelings towards Micah but the image in front of her was a reminder that there's a reason for everything that happens in life. If Micah hadn't left her, he might not have Caleb right now. There was no doubt things would have been different. There was no way of knowing if that would have been good or bad. Believing that they were all better off as it was made everything easier to deal with.
    "Penny for your thoughts?" Micah snuck into the