Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire

by Rebecca M. Avery

  Zach was laughing uncontrollably now and counting with each repetition. His little face was a mere inch or two from the ceiling each time Ian extended his arms up straight. Caleb was counting as well and laughing hysterically.

  Upon seeing her, Ian stopped with his arms extended over his head, holding her little boy high in the air. He was such a large man, but he actually looked like he feared her reaction to what he was doing.

  “Work out time is over, little guy. Your mom’s here,” Ian said, gently lowering Zach to the floor. Looking at her anxiously, he said, “My bad. Sorry.”

  If not for the sheer glee she’d seen on Zach’s face, which had warmed her entire soul, she might have reconsidered her position regarding these guys’ influence on Zach.

  Chapter Six

  Through the week following his shopping adventures with Tori, Seth managed to keep busy. Working for her was turning out to be fun. At least it was now that she seemed to have forgiven him for his rude comment. Even going to the furniture store with her on Sunday to pick out a bed, matching dresser and chest of drawers for the guest bedroom had been a good time.

  Once he assured her that the furniture she liked would work with the pictures and various accessories she had already purchased, she worked with the salesman to pay for the furniture and schedule delivery. Seth and Zach had taken to doing the lumberjack fall onto each of the mattresses the store had on display along one wall. When she finished making her purchases and came back to get them, she had laughed outright at what they were doing. He’d even talked her into trying it once.

  Monday had been delivery day and she’d spent the majority of it in her office while he had taken to hanging pictures and decorating. By dinnertime, he had most of the items situated and she had gone from room to room with her mouth hanging open looking at what he’d done. That made his knack for enhancing the appearance and feel of a room well worth being the butt of jokes. Then she had blessed him with a smile that had stayed with him during the rest of the week as he organized the place, including the new furniture for the guest room that her sister would be staying in during her visit.

  Seth, Ian, Ronnie and Rusty had taken Zach with them to the gym both Tuesday and Wednesday evening and then last night, as well. The little guy was an ego booster for them all when he wasn’t preoccupied with Sergeant Buck, the retired military dog that Ronnie had adopted when they all got out of the service. Having Zach gone during the evening had allowed Tori to finish up the things she wanted to accomplish in her job before her sister arrived today.

  After his morning workout, Seth showered and left for Tori’s house. Walking through the door, he had to pat himself on the back for how sweet the place looked. The woman worked hard and deserved an environment that was cozy and inviting. The guys could tease him all they wanted. He didn’t need their manly seal of approval anyway.

  Tori came out of the kitchen carrying Zach’s book bag. Her house wasn’t the only thing that had gone through a transformation over the course of the past couple of weeks. The woman herself had gone from outdated dress pants and overly large sweaters to jeans and shirts that showed off her slender form. He hadn’t thought she could top the jeans and tank top that played right into his fantasies, but each day she looked better and better. He was a complete idiot for ever thinking she was unattractive.

  “I am going straight to the airport to pick up Kara after I drop off Zach at school,” she said, obviously stressed.

  “I could take my man to school if that would help,” he offered, holding his hand out for Zach to give him five.

  Zach slapped Seth’s hand and then looked to his mom with hopeful eyes. Tori looked at Zach first and then met Seth’s gaze and said, “You are a life saver. That would be so great. I just need to get his seat out of my car.”

  “Not a life saver, just a friend. That’s what friends do. All you have to do is ask for what you want or need. As for the seat, I can get it. Get your bag, Zach. Let’s hit the road, Jack.” Zach grabbed his bag from Tori and took off at a run for the garage.

  Seth followed Zach and pushed the button to open the bay door. Tori had given him keys to her car and to the house at the beginning of the week when she’d left for a meeting with her boss, so grabbing Zach’s seat out of her car, Seth carried it out of the garage and over to his car. Zach got in and buckled himself in. Seth let Tori back out of the double driveway and take off down the street before he backed out.

  As he drove toward the school, he felt a moment of peaceful domesticity. This was what millions of married couples his age did every day and hated, but he didn’t mind it. He actually liked it. He enjoyed feeling like he was contributing to something and sharing the load. If only Tori had kissed him goodbye. Yeah, right. That was never going to happen.

  Seth had to laugh at his wayward thoughts. Tori had placed him firmly in the friend category and his attempts to flirt with her were usually met with stony silence. At least she allowed him a place in the friend category or his work environment might truly suck. Each day he came home from work, Caleb would jokingly ask him if he’d kissed her yet. It was becoming a standing jest that they both knew was never going to happen.

  Tori was helping Caleb put out résumés in hopes of finding him a job that would allow him to work out of the apartment like she worked from home. It was proving difficult, but she was constantly encouraging Caleb to keep trying. For that, Seth was grateful. If she never kissed him…he would count himself lucky to be her friend, as would Caleb.

  After parking the car, Seth and Zach headed inside the building and down the hall to Zach’s classroom, wearing their sunglasses because they were cool like that. The other kids were quick to say hello and good morning to Zach, who was eating it up, and Seth couldn’t help but smile at the boy. He was quickly coming out of his shell and it was good to see.

  Upon entering the class, he removed his sunglasses and so did Zach, who handed his shades to Seth. The teacher approached Seth and asked to have a word with him in the hall. He followed her to the hallway after saying goodbye to Zach. She walked a few paces away from the door and then turned to him.

  “You must be Seth. Zach talks about you all the time. You’re his stepdad, right? I think that’s what he said. He mentioned you have been working with him on his reading at home. He also sang me a song about letter sounds and told me that you got it from the internet?” the teacher asked.

  “Well, I’m…Yes, I was just trying to help,” he said defensively. His stepdad? Had Zach lied to his teacher or was the woman just assuming?

  “No, no, that’s great! I wish all my parents were so creative with helping their students learn and have fun doing it. I commend you. It could very well mean the difference between whether or not Zach passes first grade,” she said. “Did your wife mention Zach’s grades and goals for reading?”

  His wife? Seth could only shake his head no. Speaking in coherent and complete sentences at this point was proving impossible.

  “We are providing Zach with an individualized education plan for reading. We set goals for where we would like him to be in his reading skills by the end of the year. Up until this last quarter, he has shown little to no improvement and was being considered for retention. I have discussed Zach’s progress over the past couple of weeks with other members of the teaching staff and we would like to do some testing to see if perhaps he might be ready for second grade after all. We try to provide an environment that will offer the best chance for the student to succeed when taking these types of tests and in Zach’s case, I think a little moral support might make all the difference. Would you be interested in being present next Friday morning when we give him this reading test?” she asked.

  The kid was failing? Why hadn’t Tori said something to Seth about it, he might have been able to help…or something. Zach’s reading was pretty bad, but he was definitely getting better and as long as Seth sat with him, he would read two books a night, not just the one that was required for homework. From the sound o
f it, Seth and Tori had a week to get the kid ready for this test.

  “I’ll be here,” he answered.

  “That’s great. We will start about nine in the morning. Please make sure your wife knows that she is welcome, as well,” the teacher said, shaking his hand. As she started to walk away, it dawned on Seth that there was someone else who might help Zach pass this test.

  “Hey,” he called out. When the teacher stopped walking and turned back to him, he said, “Zach has a special fondness for my buddy’s dog. The dog is a retired military canine and very well trained in obedience amongst other things. Zach likes to read to him. Would it be possible to bring him on Friday?”

  “I don’t think that would be a problem, but let me double check with administration to be sure and I’ll let you know,” she replied and then walked away again.

  Beyond introducing Zach to the letter sound song and suffering through a few books over the past couple of weeks, Seth hadn’t been the biggest help in improving Zach’s reading skills. Ronnie had started working out with the guys again now that he was settling into married life and baseball season was underway. Sergeant Buck went everywhere with Ronnie, including to the gym. Zach had been completely drawn in by the dog’s big, sad eyes.

  When Seth and the guys were ready to really focus on lifting, he would ask Zach to read to Sergeant Buck as a way to keep the kid out from under foot and to put the other gym patrons at ease around the large dog. Zach had improved so much over the past couple of weeks that he could read one and sometimes two books while they worked out. Sergeant Buck would sit right beside Zach the entire time and seemed to actually enjoy the boy’s reading…unlike Seth.

  Upon returning from dropping off Zach at school, Seth set to work tidying up the place for the arrival of Tori’s sister. He got the impression that rather than being excited about her sister’s visit, Tori was almost dreading it. He and Caleb had always been really close, but that did not appear to be the case where Tori and her sister were concerned. If attempting to make everything perfect for this visit would help Tori calm down, he would make every effort.

  Just as he finished up, he heard Tori’s car pulling into the garage. When the car shut off, he walked out to the garage to start pulling luggage out of the trunk to carry up to the guest bedroom. When Tori’s sister stepped out of the vehicle, he couldn’t help but notice the differences between the two women.

  Where he and Caleb resembled each other so much that they were occasionally mistaken for twins, Tori and Kara were complete opposites. Where Tori was short, Kara was tall. Tori had brown hair, Kara had blonde. Where Kara was the type of woman that Seth normally went for, her bold assessing gaze did nothing for him. While the anxious look Tori gave him as she moved to the back of the car and out of Kara’s eyesight made him want to hug her and assure her that everything would be okay.

  When she reached in to grab one of her sister’s bags, he stopped her with a hand on her arm and whispered, “Leave it for the hired help.”

  Then he smiled and winked at her and she actually giggled before continuing on around the back of the car and over to her sister. He managed the two suitcases and the carry-on bag with no problems. Tori held the door open for him.

  He smiled at her and said, “You want these upstairs, ma’am?”

  Rolling her eyes at him, but then smiling, she said, “Yes, please.”

  He could hear Tori giving Kara a tour of the house as he put the luggage in the guest bedroom. As he started back down the stairs, he heard Kara say, “It’s just the right size for you and Zach and you’ve done a fantastic job decorating it, and in such an economical way. I am impressed.”

  Economical? Was that Kara’s way of implying that Tori’s decorations looked cheap? As he made it down the stairs and into the living room, the expression on Tori’s face left little doubt that he had taken Kara’s meaning correctly. He wanted to say something to her, assure her that her house was fine and looked great, but feeling Kara’s scrutiny said instead, “Can I get you both something to drink?”

  “Oh, some wine would be wonderful. My flight was horrid, complete with screaming infant and an oversized businessman all in my section,” Kara replied with a disgruntled smile.

  As he made his way into the kitchen, he heard Kara laugh and then say, “If your housekeeper is any indicator, I believe I can finally see what lured you to Ohio of all places. My goodness.”

  For the first time in his life, he didn’t like being referred to as eye candy, especially not to Tori. Kara made it sound like she thought Tori only hired him based on how he looked. Tori might be a lot of things—a nerd being at the top of that list—but shallow she was not. That was apparently another difference between her and Kara.

  He quickly dropped off two glasses of wine for them in the living room and went back to the kitchen to work on a shopping list for the following day. Zach liked hanging out with him and wanted to go to the gym with him in the morning, so Seth had agreed as long as the boy helped him get groceries afterwards. The task of creating the list was something he was grateful for as it gave him a reason to be anywhere else besides near Kara.

  He knew her type. Kara was obviously wealthy, a judgment he made based solely on the mass amounts of high-dollar jewelry she wore. She’d be a big tipper who’d expect a little something extra at closing time. Turning them down was usually an ugly affair, which he would normally try to avoid if it weren’t for the fact that he needed the money so badly right now.

  He only halfheartedly listened to Kara filling Tori in on different people that he could only assume were friends or family of theirs. After serving them both a salad for lunch, he went up to Zach’s room to make sure everything was picked up in case Aunt Kara should happen to look in there or take any interest in something other than herself. As the time to pick up Zach from school got closer, he wondered if he should offer to go.

  “I’m getting ready to go get Zach. Can I pick up anything for either one of you while I am out?” he asked.

  A look of quiet gratitude shown on Tori’s face for a brief moment until Kara said, “I don’t need anything, but I was hoping to take my sister out for a night on the town. Since you have to pick up Zach anyway, perhaps you could watch him for us this evening.”

  The look of shock and horror on Tori’s face said more than her words ever could. She looked guilty and apologetic, but hopeful at the same time. It was as if she hoped he would agree so she didn’t have to explain to Kara why the housekeeper was only part time and not at her beck and call. With a smile to let Tori know he understood and had her back, he found himself saying, “Yeah, sure. No problem.”

  He had to work tonight and Tori knew that, but he would figure out something for Zach. Chances were good he would end up at the apartment with Addie, Ronnie’s stepdaughter, watching him and Seth could let Tori know later on one of his breaks. Tori sighed with relief and then smiled, rolled her eyes, and mouthed the words “thank you” at him when Kara turned in her seat to set her wineglass on the end table.

  The ability to carry on a whole conversation with nothing more than facial expressions was a talent he thought only he and Caleb possessed. Tori had yet again proven him wrong.

  He spent the drive to the school calling Ronnie and Kayla’s house to see if Addie could watch Zach. Several phone calls later, he had a game plan mapped out and had to sigh in frustration that a network of three different people would be needed to ensure one six-year-old little boy was supervised to accommodate Kara’s wishes. A new respect for his own mother came to mind since she’d had two boys to find a sitter for.

  Addie would watch Zach at the apartment until eight in the evening, then Caleb would watch him until Ian could get there between eight thirty and nine o’clock. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Zach with Caleb, even though his brother was getting around a little bit better every day. Seth almost called Rusty to fill the half hour gap between Addie and Ian until, in a defensive huff, Caleb said, “She’s my friend, too. Let me
help. I’m not completely worthless. I can handle a six-year-old for less than an hour!”

  Ian had almost sounded relieved to be asked to help babysit. He went on to explain that though Zach seemed to like him, he was almost certain he’d offended Tori by bench pressing the boy. Allowing Ian to watch her son was an indicator that she didn’t harbor ill feelings toward him. After hearing the explanation, Seth didn’t have the heart to tell Ian that it wasn’t Tori’s idea. By the time he had the plan mapped out, he couldn’t help but wonder if all single moms had as much trouble trying to cover babysitting when last minute things sprang up.

  He figured worst case scenario, he could always take Zach back to Tori’s house when he got off work, since he was dancing locally, even though it would be really late. Then Kara would be none the wiser that he hadn’t been the one actually watching Zach or that he wasn’t always available to do Tori’s bidding.

  The biggest difference between Tori and Kara was that even now Tori was probably worrying about who would watch Zach, while Kara thought nothing of the impact of her request. It made Seth wonder about Tori’s family, and about the boy’s real father. In the two weeks he’d been working for Tori, he hadn’t heard her mention Zach’s father nor had Zach mentioned a fatherly figure in his life. The thought that the man had ditched both Tori and Zach kind of made Seth want to send Ian after the bastard.

  When Seth entered the classroom, the teacher smiled. “I think we are all set for you to bring your friend’s pet next Friday for Zach’s test. I am really glad to see you actively participating in his education.”

  At least one thing was going well today. Kara had come in like a whirlwind, upsetting everything. The tension between the two women was nearly visible it was so thick and Seth felt bad for Tori. He had his mom and his blood brother along with his brothers in arms. Other than Kayla, Tori didn’t seem to have anyone.