I had noticed tension on him when he walked in, but now it radiated. He didn’t want her to go. Did he have a reason to be concerned about this trip, or was he just going to miss her?
“Listen, I need to tell you something.” He held her in a way that he could look into her eyes. It was something I knew from school that helped make sure children understood what grownups were telling them. Had Dylan had a child psych class or maybe a parenting course? Or did being a great dad come naturally to him?
“Okay.” Maisie patted his cheeks.
“Your mom came to see me today.”
Maisie’s little brows rose.
“She wants to see you this weekend.”
“Is she coming here?”
Dylan shook his head. “She wants you to visit her in New York.”
This time Maisie frowned. “Will you come too?”
Dylan smiled, but it was forced. “It will be just your mom and her new husband.”
Husband?
“They want to take you to a movie and I bet your mom will take you shopping.”
Maisie still didn’t look convinced. “What if I want to see you?”
He pulled a box from his pocket. “I got you a phone, just for this trip. I want you to use it only when you have to, like when you’re homesick or feel lonely or scared and your mom can’t help you call.”
A phone seemed like a lot for a five-year-old, but it was clear that Dylan was as uncomfortable about this trip as Maisie seemed to be.
“Is Mommy’s new husband my new daddy?” her voice was so soft I could barely hear her.
“No, baby.” He pulled her tight again. “I’ll always be your daddy. Nothing will ever change that, okay?”
Her little arms wrapped around his neck. “’Kay.”
“I know this is different from before, but you’re a big girl now and I know you’ll have lots of fun with your mom.”
I wondered how they’d done visits before.
“Can Tessa come?”
“No, but I know you’ll have fun. Why don’t we get your bag packed so you’ll be ready when she gets here?” Dylan set her down.
“Is there something else you need from me?” I asked as Maisie skipped off to her room.
“I need to pay you.” His eyes watched her as she rounded the corner.
“We can take care of that later.” I moved to the door. I didn’t need to be here when Veronica arrived.
“Stay,” he said, his voice rough.
I stopped. A million questions ran through my mind mostly about what was upsetting him so much. “Yeah, sure. I can make some coffee or something.”
“Maybe you could pack a snack for Maisie. It’s nearly two hours drive to New York and I’m not sure Veronica would have considered that.”
“I’ll get on it.” I smiled wanting to reassure him, but he was still tense when he walked off toward Maisie’s bedroom.
I washed out Maisie’s lunch box and began to put in some of her favorite snack foods. Grapes. Peanut butter cracker sandwiches. Juice box.
I heard a knock at the door, but didn’t go to answer it. Instead, I handed Maisie’s lunch box to Dylan as he passed by the kitchen on his way to the door. Then I leaned against the kitchen entry to watch.
Dylan opened the door, and Veronica—a woman I’d only seen in magazines, on TV, and in a picture on Maisie’s bedside table—walked in followed by a distinguished-looking man, who had to be ten or fifteen years older than her.
Maisie wrapped her arms around Dylan’s leg as she looked up at Veronica.
“Oh! My little princess. You’ve grown up so much.” Veronica bent down in front of Maisie.
“I’m five now,” Maisie said with one hand still wrapped around Dylan’s leg and the other one holding up five fingers.
“So big,” Veronica smiled, and it looked genuine. “Can I have a hug?”
Tentatively, Maisie unwrapped herself from Dylan and went to Veronica. They hugged and then Veronica stood.
“Maisie, this is Leo. He’s your new stepdad.”
Dylan flinched, but didn’t say anything.
Leo held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Maisie.”
Maisie turned her head to look at Dylan who nodded, but had an expression like on the inside he was cracking.
Maisie took Leo’s hand for a little shake.
“We’re going to take you to our house in New York. We’ll go see a show and have so much fun Maisie,” Veronica said.
“What if I miss my Dad?” Maisie’s lip quivered.
“We’ll be having too much fun for you to miss him.”
Bitch.
Dylan’s eyes narrowed, and I saw the badass Mrs. Anderson had mentioned the last day of school.
“But if you do, you can call your dad,” Leo said, and I wondered if he understood how hard this was for Maisie and Dylan.
Dylan squatted down. “Maisie.”
Maisie rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t want to go, Daddy.”
“Now Maisie, I’m your mommy.”
Dylan cut Veronica a scathing glare. Then he turned his attention to Maisie. “I know this is new and sometimes new is scary. But you know your mom and she’ll take good care of you.” He looked at Veronica again as if to say, “you better take good care of her.”
“We’d better get going,” Leo said. “We don’t want to get back too late.”
“Come on, Maisie. I can’t wait to show you your new room.”
“I want to say goodbye to Tessa.”
“Tessa?” It was then Veronica looked up to where Maisie was pointing. Until then, I don’t think Veronica noticed I was there.
Maisie ran to me.
“Have fun with your mom and stepdad, Maisie,” I said, giving her a hug. “I want to hear all about your adventures in the city when you get home, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll walk them out to the car,” Dylan said to me as they headed through the door.
I nodded that I’d wait.
Fifteen minutes later, he returned. “They didn’t even have a car booster seat.” His eyes were dark, his jaw tight as he made his way to the kitchen.
“They can have mine—”
“I gave them mine.” He opened a cupboard over the refrigerator and pulled out a dark bottle. He took it with him to another cupboard where he pulled out a juice glass and poured a sizable shot. “Want some?”
I’d never seen him drink anything but water or coffee before, so it was a bit of a shock to see him drinking alcohol.
“No, thank you.”
“I can’t figure out what I’m feeling,” he said, downing half the drink.
“Nervous?”
He nodded. “Maisie is like a doll to Veronica. I worry about her getting bored … Veronica, not Maisie. I had no clue about Leo until she told me this afternoon.”
“Has Maisie never spent time with her alone?” I knew that for a five-year-old like Maisie, transitions could be hard, especially one involving a mom she hadn’t seen for nearly a year. But Dylan was acting like Veronica had never visited Maisie.
“She’s always stayed in town. Here, usually.” He gulped the rest of his drink and poured another glass.
“Here?” I supposed for Maisie that was a good situation, but it seemed odd to me that his ex would stay with them in his house.
“I know how it sounds, but it was easy and I could keep an eye on Maisie.”
“That makes sense. I suppose it was like old times.”
He looked at me. “I won’t deny that Veronica and I sometimes shared a bed then—”
I flinched. I hadn’t meant that. It hadn’t even occurred to me, although now it made more sense why he wasn’t interested in getting involved with another woman. I wondered if seeing Veronica with Leo upset him beyond Maisie. Was Dylan secretly hoping to reconcile with his ex-wife?
“––But it was never like old times. We were never a family. Not really.” He sipped his glass and walked
into the living room. “Let me get you your check.”
I nodded and watched as he went up the hall to his office. I let out a breath and sat on the couch to wait for him. I pulled out my phone to check on any messages my roommates or parents might have sent, but there were none. I opened my email, but there was only spam.
“Here you go.” He sat next to me and handed me the check.
I put my phone on the table and took the check, noting a full week’s pay even though I wasn’t working a full day today. “I didn’t work all day today.”
“No, but you deserve it. Thank you for taking care of Maisie’s packing.”
“Of course.” I watched him as he lay his head back on the couch. “You okay?”
“Not really. I mean, I know she’ll be fine, but I hate being away from her, you know?”
“Yes.”
He turned his head to me. “Do you think it was over the top to buy her a phone?”
I smiled. “No, not really.”
“You do. You think I’m an overprotective father.” He said it with amusement.
“I think it told Maisie that you understood she might be apprehensive and gave her a link to you. And you did it to help you feel better about it.”
“You should be a shrink, not a teacher.”
I shrugged. “I thought about it, but more school means more money.”
He straightened. “Is money really a problem? You can get loans. I had a few when I went to college.”
“I have some already. I plan to be a teacher, which doesn’t pay well, and so I don’t want to get into a situation in which I can’t live because all my pay goes to loan payments.”
“Good point. I’d hate to lose you. Maisie will too.”
His words warmed me. I knew he appreciated my work, but there was something more personal. Like he and Maisie liked me as a person.
His smile fell. “I hope Veronica doesn’t get any ideas.”
I wasn’t sure how we got to my babysitting to his ex. “About what?”
“About taking Maisie.” He shook his head. “Nah, she’ll see that Maisie still takes a lot of time and send her home.”
“You think she’d try to keep her?” My heart stalled in my chest. It was hard enough to think about leaving them in the fall, but to have her plucked out from under me now––I wasn’t ready.
“She said something about wanting to settle down. Don’t get me wrong, I want her to be a part of Maisie’s life, but Maisie is mine.” He looked at me. “Does that sound selfish?”
“Maybe a little, but I understand. I’d feel the same in your shoes.”
He sighed and rolled his shoulders. He still looked a bit agitated. I reached out and rubbed his shoulder.
“You’re tight and tense. I can give you a massage.”
He arched a brow. “Babysitter and masseuse?”
“It will make up for the extra you paid me. I’m good at it. Just ask my roommates. I give them shoulder massages all the time.”
He shrugged and turned his body so that his back was to me. I moved to my knees behind him and pressed my hands on his shoulders. They were thick and hard and hot. His scent was warm and manly. Immediately, I felt adrenaline surge through me.
Working to distract myself from the excitement of touching him, I said, “Now you have time for yourself. What are going to do this weekend?”
He laughed. “I don’t know.”
“Do you have a hobby? Maybe a potential hot date?” I hoped he didn’t have the latter.
He scoffed. “No hot date.”
I bit my lip, not sure I should ask the question I was thinking. At the same time, I was dying to know. “Did you and Veronica really stay together when she’d visit?”
He looked at me over his shoulder with a smirk. “Interested in my sex life, Tessa?”
My blood heated, although I wasn’t sure if it was in embarrassment or his asking if I wanted to know about his sex life. Either way, my question was inappropriate.
“Forget I said—”
“We would occasionally hook up when she was in town. Not for a long time, though. No, these days I’m celibate. Maybe I could become a monk this weekend.”
I snorted. “I don’t think Monks are as ripped as you.”
He grinned. “You noticed I’m ripped?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you buy your clothes one size too small on purpose?” I poked him on his bicep, which filled the sleeve of his polo shirt like the Hulk about to bust out of his clothes.
He held up his arm. “You’d never know I was the skinny kid that got beat up a lot, would you?”
“Is that true?” I gaped at him.
He sucked in a breath as if a bad memory came back to him. He put his arm down and turned his head forward again. “Yep. How about you? You got a hot date?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “No.”
“It’s Friday night. Surely you have plans with the girls to go out, live it up.”
“Not tonight. We talked about going out tomorrow maybe.”
He turned his head toward me again. “You must have a boyfriend.”
“Why?”
“Because. You’re young, pretty …”
He thought I was pretty. My heart did a little flip even though my head said he was just being nice.
“Thank you, but no. Too busy working and going to school.” I squeezed his shoulders again and then dug my thumbs into his shoulder blades.
He groaned. “Ah, come on. I worked, went to school, played football and still had time to date in college.”
“I suppose I’d have time if there was the opportunity.”
“There have to be plenty of men out there who want to give you the opportunity.”
I didn’t respond at first and instead kept massaging his shoulders. I felt a little uncomfortable discussing my love life, or lack thereof, with him. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know just how little opportunity I’d had.
“A few guys have sniffed around, but … I don’t know. I just wasn’t interested.”
“You’re one of those, huh?” he said with humor.
“Those what?”
“A woman with discerning taste. College men can be boneheads sometimes. I can’t blame you for avoiding them.”
“Mostly, none are very interesting to me.” The truth, I realized in that moment, is that most of the men I met while in school or out with my roommates, I compared to Dylan, and none of them rose to his level of gentleness, kindness, or sexiness.
“So … no hookups with attractive but dumb men?” he teased.
“No hookups with any men.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. He didn’t need to know I was a virgin still.
He frowned as looked over his shoulder at me. “Ever?”
My heart hammered in my chest. I couldn’t fill my lungs with air. I stared at him as longing filled me. “No.”
“You’re smart to wait for the right person.”
Dylan Hyatt was nearly perfect, from his flawlessly sculpted body, sexy smile, and most attractive of all, the love he had for his daughter. But he was wrong about me. The reason I was still a virgin at twenty-three had nothing to do with waiting for Mr. Right, although if I was, he would be Dylan Hyatt.
“I’m not waiting for my life mate,” I said, pressing my thumbs into the back of the nape of his neck as I massaged away the tension. I wondered if I could release more than his tension and make him forget his ex-wife.
“Then what are you waiting for?” he asked, with a groan and sigh as I felt his muscles begin to relax.
“Opportunity and desire.”
6
Dylan
It was bad enough that I was thinking of my daughter’s babysitter naked when I jerked off in the shower more mornings than not, but to have the hardon to end all hardons at the idea she was a virgin was disturbing. But there it was. My libido going full tilt like some douchebag horny bastard. I was afraid to look down, as I was sure my dick’s head was sticking ou
t of the waist of my pants it was so hard.
I shifted and turned to look at her, not realizing until too late how close we were. She bit her lower lip and I wanted that pouty mouth around my cock. Fuck, I was an asshole.
“I find it hard to believe you haven’t had both already,” I managed to say as I watched her lips.
“Opportunity, yes, desire not so much.” Her green eyes seemed to darken. Was she turned on too?
“You don’t feel desire? I can’t imagine there aren’t plenty of good-looking guys on campus or in the clubs.” I was immobilized even though my brain was blaring warning bells that I should get up and move away from this sexy woman.
“Desire isn’t just about looks.”
That was true. There was a time I desired Veronica, who was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. Today, it took more than beauty to entice me. Apparently, it took a sweet, fresh-faced woman … a virgin … to get me hot.
“So, what gets your engine going, Tessa?” It was a dangerous question, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from asking it.
“Sculpted pecs.” She looked at my chest and I had to shift, as my dick was increasingly uncomfortable.
“You should come to the gym. We’ve got lots of those.” What the hell was I saying? I didn’t want any of the men at the gym to touch her.
“Kind. Smart. Funny.” She took a breath as if she was gathering courage. “Someone like you.”
I’d been watching her lips again, but at her words, my gaze shot up to her face. Did she just say what I thought she did?
“Me?”
Her head bobbed once.
“I’m too old for you.” My voice sounded thick to my ears. I had to get away, but holy fuck, she was into me, and clearly I was about to combust I was so hot for her.
“Six years isn’t that big of a difference.”
“In life experience it is.” I looked down as regret and a feeling of unworthiness filled me. “I’m a divorced single father.”
“So?”
I needed to end this conversation. I wanted her like I never wanted anyone, but it was wrong for so many reasons. I gathered my resolve to stop this. “You’re a young woman with her life ahead of her.”
She rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like you don’t have anything to look forward in your life.”
Heart of Hope: Books 1-4 Page 51