At least he knew she was using him for his body and not for anything else he could give her. His mouth twitched. If anything, she was probably the one on that side of the equation most of the time. A second later, he frowned, not liking the idea of a guy using Sharon for her money. There was a lot more to her than that.

Like how cute she was when she was sassy, the way she made him laugh, the adorably teasing expression she got on her face when she wanted to be naughty, the surprising sweetness that she tried to keep hidden...

Running his hand over his face, he groaned as he went down the elevator and headed out to his car.

He didn’t need to dwell on what Sharon had to offer in a relationship.

It was already hard enough keeping his emotions separate.

“Come on in, it’s safe,” Leigh said, opening the door wide and speaking in a normal voice. “Melody is awake and feeding right now.”

“Oh good,” Sharon said with relief as she stepped into Adam and Angel’s house. She’d texted Leigh and gone through the garage rather than ringing the doorbell. Waking up a sleeping newborn was a big no-no. Holding a whole chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pie that she’d picked up on her way over, she headed into the kitchen. “I’ve got dinner and dessert for them here, and there should be plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. What else do we have going on today?”

Everyone was chipping in to help Angel and Adam with their new delivery. This week Leigh and Angel’s mom were taking turns staying overnight to help the couple with day-to-day things - Adam’s mom and stepfather would be in town next week for the same reason and his father and stepmom the week after that - but the rest of the Stronghold gang had signed up to stop by and help as well. That way Angel and Adam had constant food coming in as well as extra hands on deck for whatever they needed.

This was Sharon’s first time over since they’d brought Melody home and she was eager to do whatever she could to help out. Plus, it was a good distraction from how deliciously sore she was, and it would keep her from giving in to her impulse to text Jake. Waking up without him this morning had been a bit disappointing - which was not good as far as keeping things casual was concerned.

“Not much other than sleep,” Leigh said, laughing softly as she followed Sharon into the kitchen. “The house is clean, I’ve got a load of laundry in the machine, and Adam is currently napping so that he can take over baby care for a few hours when Melody is done feeding.”