Charlie puts down the tongs and twists around to face Brent. “Now, why’d you do that, buddy?”
A puppy-dog look comes over the child’s eyes and his attention falls to his ratty sneakers. His shoulders scrunch up to his ears before dropping dramatically. “I don’t know…I just felt like it.” Charlie’s lips curve up but he chokes down his laugh.
I doubt he’ll be laughing for long. “Now, he’s kicked out of the program and I don’t have anywhere to leave him on Monday afternoon. Preschool ends at 3:00 so I’m gonna have to leave work early every day until I can figure something out.”
All signs of amusement melt from Charlie’s face. He looks at me. “Man, I need you. You can’t be taking time off. Sophia and Josh’s wedding is in three weeks. They wanna move into the house right after the honeymoon.”
I turn up my palms and shrug helplessly. “There’s nothing I can do. They kicked Brent out of the program and they won’t take him back.” I practically begged for a second chance because it’s the only after-school program for preschoolers in this town. But they’d already made up their minds. They don’t want him.
“Holy hell…” Charlie grunts under his breath. He pivots back toward the grill. “Isn’t there someone you know who can watch him while you’re at work?”
“I just moved to town. I don’t know anybody here.” I shove my hands through my hair in frustration.
“You could put up flyers for a babysitter,” my friend suggests.
I scoff. “I’m not gonna send my kid off to the house of some stranger I found off of a flyer. You never know with people these days. They do the strangest things behind closed doors.” Maybe I’m just being overprotective but handing my son over on some random’s front steps just isn’t going to work for me.
Charlie’s ribcage expands on a deep, frustrated inhale. “So, what am I supposed to do? I don’t want to put any pressure on you but I have a deadline. I have a picky-ass client to satisfy.”
As Charlie spins back toward me, his eyes snag on his sister who’s been standing there quietly the whole time, back pressed against the porch’s railing, fingers twisting in front of her. He halts as the idea takes form in his mind.
Reese’s eyes are round and anxious and she’s looking right at me.
Chapter 10
Reese
Leo is wearing a denim shirt…
I have a confession to make. I have a thing for guys in denim shirts. Especially guys with broad shoulders and tight stomachs and wide backs. Especially when the sleeves are rolled up to the elbows exposing long, sinewy forearms decorated with dark swirls of ink.
His eyes fall on me and his penetrating stare seeps through my skin, all the way into my bones. And now, words are spilling from my mouth. Spontaneous words. Words that have not been authorized by my brain.
“I-I can watch Brenton after school…”
Leo gives me a skeptical look and I instantly feel the need to defend my offer.
“No reason I couldn’t pick him up. I mean, I finish work at two o’clock and then, I usually just come straight home and watch re-runs of Floribama Shore or Teen Mom 2.” I chuckle under my breath. “Actually, most days any MTV reality show will do…Entertaining stuff.” I’m incredibly intrigued by dysfunctional exhibitionists who broadcast their impairments on cable TV in exchange for a paycheck. I can’t lie.
The look he’s giving me says he’s having serious doubts about my life choices right now.
“Um, sometimes I do the Soduko puzzle at the back of the newspaper, instead…” I say it as a defense.
His reservations don’t seem to ease up one bit. In fact, his brows furrow deeper.
“Y-you know what they say—Sudoko is like yoga for the brain.”
He’s still staring wordlessly. Now, I’m starting to doubt my life choices.
God, this is a disaster.
“Daddy, I wanna stay with Reese after school!” Brenton pleads.
Completely silent, the protective father watches me. His gaze is severe, intense. My cheeks prickle with awareness of it.
“I know you don’t want to leave him with a stranger and technically that’s what I am, but—” I lean in and cup a hand around my mouth teasingly, “—you know where I live.”
At that, a smile flashes across Leo’s face. It’s like lightning. For one brief second, it lights up the sky—oh god, he’s breathtaking—and then just like that, it’s gone.
My tummy flip-flops.
“It’s just an offer,” I say placatingly. “Of course, you can say no if you don’t feel comfortable. I know that you don’t know me very well and I may not look like the type of person who’d be good with kids but—”
His gritty voice interrupts my monologue. “You don’t have to help me, Reese. I mean—I don’t want you to feel obligated. And honestly, Brent’s a bit of a handful.”
The little boy stands in the middle, eager eyes darting between the faces of the adults as we speak.
My asshole brother snorts as he sandwiches a hamburger patty between the open slices of a bun. “Saving people is what my sister does best.” He squeezes a big dollop of mustard onto the burger. “She can’t function unless she’s in savior mode.”
I reach for the plate that he’s handing me. “Charlie, don’t—”
He cuts me off as he shoves a plate in Leo’s direction. “Reese absolutely loves to help. Tell him the bumblebee story.”
I cringe. Not the bumblebee story. “Charlie!” I say sternly.
He just laughs. “When she was like seven, we were at the park and this bumblebee got really too close for comfort. So, like any person with half a brain, I swatted it out of the air as it was trying to sting me. It fell to the ground. This genius—” He jams a finger over his shoulder in my direction. “—decides that it’s her duty to save the thing! So, she picks it up and starts to pet over it. I’ve never seen so much affection in my life. I warned her not to but she didn’t listen. And what’d ya know—it zooms out of her hands and stings her. In the eye. She couldn’t see a thing for like a week.”
Brenton giggles hysterically along with Charlie. Despite the amusement in Leo’s eyes, he’s kind enough not to laugh out loud.
I’m red now. Pontsettia red, I’m sure.
I look away and grumble. “Charlie’s exaggerating.”
When the laughter dies down, Leo exhales roughly. “Okay then, Reese. If you’re able to watch Brenton after school then we’d like that, wouldn’t we?” He ruffles his son’s unruly hair.
“Yay! Reese!” the boy shouts. He wraps his arms around my legs, celebrating the victory. I laugh and hug him back. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”
I glance over at Leo and he’s grinning too although I can tell he’s fighting his darnedest not to.
Oh god—I think I just ovulated. I really, really like his smile.
Charlie’s groan takes us out of the moment. “You didn’t bring hot dog buns, Reese. Please tell me you have some at home.”
I knew I forgot something when I went to the grocery store yesterday. “Oops! I ran out. Sorry.”
My brother gives me a hard stare as he steps away from the grill. “I’ll run down to the store to get some.” He checks his back pocket for his wallet and his keys then he’s jogging down the stairs. “Keep an eye on the grill.”
Brent follows after him. “I’m going, too,” the boy announces.
Leo calls out as they go. “Be careful, Brenton. And no candy.”
“Okay, daddy,” the child shouts over his shoulder.
Charlie pulls the car seat out of Leo’s car then he straps Brenton into his truck. He backs out of the driveway, his tires digging grooves into the gravel.
Now, Leo and I are lingering here on the deck. Alone. I feel like an awkward misfit at a school dance who somehow finds herself standing next to her crush. My heart riots, a crazed animal struggling against its cage. I venture a peek over at Leo. He leans casually against the wooden banister eating his burger, completely obliv
ious to my inner havoc.
I glance down at the burger in my hand. It smells so good. Too bad I have a boulder the size of New Zealand lodged in my throat.
“So, how much will I owe you?” he asks, his deep baritone suddenly breaking through the silence.
I jolt. “What?”
“How much will I owe you for watching Brent after school?”
I shake my head vigorously. “Oh, I can’t charge you.”
He furrows his brow. “Of course you can charge me. Just tell me how much.” He gives me a long stare, the heat of it crawls across my skin.
“No. It’s okay. It’ll be fun hanging out with Brenton everyday. I need a break from reality TV, anyway. It’s frying my brain cells one by—”
His gaze sharpens with persistence. “Reese, you’ll be performing a service and I’ll pay you.” He brings his burger to his mouth and a little pleasure sound bursts out of him as he chews.
That tiny noise rings a bell in the area between my thighs. Oh Jesus. I momentarily considering requesting payment in the form of illicit sex acts. Plain, ol’ legal tender just won’t satisfy this hankering throb at my core.
Seriously, Reese? That’s just crude!
Guilt shoots into my mind and words come tumbling free. “Fine. You can pay me…In American currency.”
Leo gives me a baffled look. “Of course,” he speaks slowly and carefully, formulating the words properly, because obviously, I’m not too bright. “In American currency…because we’re in America.”
Now, my gaze is transfixed to his lips as he takes another bite. I’m pretty sure that chewing isn’t supposed to be this sexy. “I love American currency,” I say breathily, “Best currency around.”
Oh shut up, Reese. Please. I carelessly stuff my burger into my mouth.
In hindsight, that may not have been the smartest move because mustard comes sliding over the side of the bun and falls—splat!—into my cleavage.
“Oh shit…”
My cheeks are so hot there must be grill marks on them. But before I can beg the earth to open up and swallow me whole, Leo drops his plate onto the table, grabs a wad of napkins and lunges at my breasts, swiping the paper through the valley between my tits like he’s saving my life.
Both shocked, we freeze.
And stare at each other.
His eyes bulge out of his face and his jaw hangs loose. Meanwhile, goosebumps sprout up across my chest and my nipples go hard beneath my dress, straining against the fabric like unpitted olives. I’m sure he can hear the erratic thump of my heart gallivanting in my chest.
He clasps his hands in front of his chest. “I am so sorry…”
His apology hangs heavily in the air as I stand paralyzed, speechless.
And then…we explode into roaring laughter.
It rolls on and on between us. Manic. Uncontainable. Shattering the tension that’s buzzed around us since the day we met. Leo crouches forward and slaps his thigh as I wipe tears from my eyes. The sound of our amusement fills the air and carries on the wind for a long time.
Just as it begins to die down, Brenton comes charging up the stairs with chocolate smeared all over his chin. Charlie follows behind with a few grocery bags.
“What’s so funny?” Brenton asks innocently but we’re still too choked up to respond.
Charile’s glare moves from us to the smoking grill. “I told you two to watch the hot dogs!”
Leo and I glance at the charred sausages then back at each other and then explode into hysterics again.
But really, this situation is far from funny.
I can hardly stand to be within fifty yards of this man without making a fool of myself. And now, I’ll be babysitting his kid every afternoon after school.
If this isn’t a disaster waiting to happen, I don’t know what is.
Chapter 11
Leo
I press my finger to the doorbell and glare down at my grimy fingernails. It seems I only notice how dirty my nails are when I’m standing on her doorstep. My clothes are no better. Stained with paint and smelling of varnish after a long, hard day. Suddenly, I wish I’d slipped on a clean shirt after work.
When I’m around her, that’s the only time I even care how I look.
It’s my first day leaving Brent with my neighbor and I’m anxious to see what state I’ll find them in. Honestly, it’s not Reese I don’t trust. I know that my boy can be a handful. That’s why I was hesitant to take her up on her offer to watch him after school. I just hope he didn’t run that beautiful girl into the ground. Let’s see if he gets an invitation to come back tomorrow.
She pulls open the door and looks up at me from under her long, dark lashes, batting her eyes at me like I’m that suit-wearing fucker from Fifty Shades of Grey. Somehow, she doesn’t seem to see the grime and smell the chemicals and sweat on my skin.
“Hey…” she says all breathily.
In that moment, it hits me—she likes me. How did I not realize it before?
I can’t plead ignorance any more. I can’t pretend that I don’t know she’s interested in me. And I actually like it. It does something inexplicable to me. In the midst of all that’s going on in my life, it’s nice to have something pure and simple. She likes me…
I hate admitting to myself that I like her, too. I’m not in a place in my life where I can focus on being with a woman in any serious kind of way. I’m very aware of that. I just came back from the warzone and moved across the country. My divorce is working its way through the courts and my kid is still trying to figure out what to make of it. I don’t have time for a new woman.
But her eyes on me feels good…like having the sun on my skin after far too many cold days. And when she smiles, it unlocks a strange sort of possessiveness in my chest. I don’t want her sharing that pretty smile with any other man. I want that smile all to myself. I must be losing my mind because wanting her is wrong. I’ve already established that. So why does my brain insist on pushing the issue?
I yank myself back into the present. “Hey…”
My gaze bumps down her face, exploring her bold features—the bright eyes, the prominent cheekbones, the bone-straight bridge of her nose—before lingering on those damn full lips. My mouth salivates for a taste of her.
She’s wearing a simple white blouse that ends mid-thigh and gray capris. Her feet are bare, the neat little toes painted in a deep red shade. Her thick hair is pulled back gracefully with little clips and falls over her shoulders. She looks so pristine. I just want to put my filthy hands on her. Smear her skin with my dirt-stained palms. Slide my grubby fingers into her hair until it’s tangled. I want to rub my pain all over her and let her take it away.
I immediately feel guilty for the thought.
Chastising myself inwardly, I try to shepherd my thoughts into neutral, neighborly territory. I try. And I fail. Because she’s so fucking beautiful and distracting. Utter temptation. I find myself thinking of the way my fingers skimmed her breasts the other day. The way she’d shivered at my touch. The way her pupils had dilated. I can’t help but wonder what she must have been—
A little boy bounds down the hall and swerves right around her. “Daddy! Daddy!” He leaps on me and climbs me like a tree.
I blink hard, barely even recognizing my own child. My unbelieving eyes shoot to Reese. “What did you do to my son?!”
Her eyes go wide and she winces, taking a quick step backward. “Uh…I…”
I shake my head, feeling embarrassed by my outburst. I’m just a bit shocked right now. “I’m sorry—that was rude. I just mean, this isn’t the kid I dropped off at preschool this morning.”
Brenton’s overlong hair is parted down the side and combed neatly. I think there might even be some hair gel in it. His face is clean. His nails are trimmed. His clothes are washed.
He smells like fabric softener!
Reese’s cheeks grow red. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have. It’s just, I had to give him a bath because he was covere
d in mud when I picked him up from school. Then he got to playing in the tub and he really wasn’t ready to get out so I decided to wash his clothes while I waited. And when he was done bathing, I wasn’t sure what to do with his hair. At first I brushed it back off of his face but then he sort of looked like Scott Disick and I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with that. So, I—”
I stick out a hand to calm her. “Reese, it’s okay. You did good. Thank you.”
“Really?” she squeaks out. She traps her lower lip between her teeth. I struggle not to be sidetracked by the maddeningly sexy gesture.
I bob my head. “Really.”
She hesitates for a moment then lets out a sigh of relief.
I have no clue who the hell Scott Disick is. All I know is that my kid looks like he tumbled out of a Target catalogue. It’s a bit disorienting.
Reese blushes as I look her over with fresh eyes. The girl is a modern day Mary Poppins. I just want to pin her to the wall and fuck the sweetness right out of her.
I’m a deranged fucker.
Setting aside my crazy imaginings, I turn my attention to my son. “Hi buddy! Were you a good boy for Reese today?”
He twists his mouth to the side and glances at Reese over his shoulder. She tips her head back and laughs.
I get a glimpse of her slender neck at the collar of her blouse. I imagine pulling her hair back roughly for better access to that long, sexy column. Running my mouth along the sensitive flesh, bruising her with my stubble.
Jesus! I’m getting hard.
She smooths down the boy’s already-smooth hair and looks at me. “He wasn’t that bad.” She winks at him and he grins. His secret is safe.
I’m too tired and distracted by my inappropriate thoughts to interrogate them. Besides, they’ve already teamed up and I know that my questions won’t get me answers, anyway.
“So, can I count on you to pick him up tomorrow?” I ask hopefully.
“Of course.” Her voice is so soft, so melodic.
A weight rolls off my shoulders. “Thanks, Reese. I really appreciate it.” I hoist the child up on my hip.
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