Maid to Fit

by Rebecca Avery

  “Long day. My mother apparently fell and busted her face. The nursing home didn’t call and let me know,” she said.

  He studied her a little longer. “Did you eat the dinner I left for you?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she said just as the halftime buzzer rang. “You can leave now, if you want. I appreciate you bringing Addie and staying to support her.”

  Addie ran up the steps of the bleachers with one of her friends and stopped in front of Kayla and Ronnie. The smile Addie wore had Kayla wanting to thank Ronnie again for stepping in and picking up her slack.

  “I’m going to get a soda from the concession stand. Would either of you like anything?” Addie asked politely.

  “I’d like your coach to pay attention and actually coach you guys,” Ronnie said sarcastically. Again, the man next to him snickered.

  When Addie looked at him in confusion, he sighed and said, “You guys are cheering defense cheers at the wrong times and offense cheers when the other team has the ball. Can’t you see what’s going on out on the field?”

  Addie and her friend looked at each other and then looked back to him. “It’s confusing.”

  “What’s confusing?” he asked.

  “Football,” Addie’s friend supplied.

  Ronnie looked at them like he was waiting for them to tell him they were just joking. When the admission never came and the two girls continued to stare at him, he wiped his hand down his face. Even frustrated he was way too good-looking. Each new look she discovered only made Kayla’s imagination run wilder.

  “You know the difference between what an offensive cheer is and what a defensive cheer is, right?” he asked.

  “Yes,” the girls replied in unison.

  “Fine. During the second half I want you to check with me before you start each cheer. I will hold up one finger if you should be doing an offensive cheer and two fingers for a defensive one. Got it? One for offense, two for defense,” he said.

  “Okay,” Addie replied.

  Then he stood up and fished a ten-dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Addie. “Get water bottles for each girl on the team. No soda.”

  “Thanks, Ronnie,” Addie said with a smile. She grabbed the money from him and the two girls headed down to the concession stand.

  Sitting back down, he said, “So is your mama going to be okay?”

  Kayla couldn’t get over how quickly Addie had come to trust Ronnie. How quickly they both had come to rely on him…

  “You in there?” he asked, waving his hand in front of her face and then leaning close to look her in the eye.

  God, he was handsome.

  “Yeah,” she said, trying to shake off her attraction to him. “I asked that they have the doctor look at her and then call me. The attendant said she fell, but my mom said a woman hit her. Even though I know confusion is one of her symptoms, thinking people might be hurting her… What if she’s actually telling the truth? What if she is remembering what truly happened?”

  “If you’re in doubt why don’t you set up one of those nanny cams in her room?” he asked.

  Why hadn’t she thought of that? Last year when her mother had broken her finger, Kayla had worried then if perhaps her mother was being mistreated. The news was full of horror stories regarding elderly people being abused. Though she knew her anxiety probably stemmed from all the negative publicity, every time she read a story or saw a report on TV, she worried all the more.

  “Sergeant Hawkins can probably hook you up with something you could use, if you’re interested,” Ronnie offered.

  “That would be great. It’s probably nothing, but it would put my mind at ease to know for sure,” she said.

  “I aim to please,” he said with a grin and a wink. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth. Slowly, he reached out and touched her bottom lip with his index finger. He looked back into her eyes, still touching her lip. “Smile for me,” he said.

  Something like an electric current traveled from the gentle tug of his finger through her entire body. The feeling made her gasp. At the sound, his look changed from one of leisurely flirtation to one of raw hunger.

  He leaned closer, almost as though he meant to kiss her, when suddenly two boys walking past yelled, “Hey, Sergeant, where’s Sergeant Buck?”

  Ronnie jumped back from her as though he’d been caught stealing and smiled at the boys, who quickly took off with another group of kids. Ronnie cleared his throat and ran his hands down the length of his thighs. He sat up a little straighter and glanced guiltily at her.

  He smelled like soap…and man…and Kayla didn’t realize she was still staring at him until she jumped at the sound of Addie’s voice.

  “How was work, Mom?”

  Addie had returned, water bottle in hand. Kayla cleared her throat and turned to focus on her daughter. “It was good. How was your day, honey?”

  “Good. I’ll tell you more later. Halftime’s almost over,” Addie said cheerfully. With that, she bounded back down the bleacher stairs to join her teammates, who were all now sporting water bottles.

  “You didn’t have to spend your money on her,” Kayla said, looking back at Ronnie.

  “I’ve got this good-lookin’ woman that pays for my…services. So don’t worry. I can afford it,” he said with a lopsided grin.

  Oh, that grin.

  She turned away quickly as the second half of the game started and watched Addie and her friend look toward Ronnie before starting each new cheer. It didn’t take long for the other girls on the team to figure out what was going on and soon they would all look at him before starting a new cheer. The crowd responded well to their more effective cheers and the girls looked more and more excited and confident as the game went on.

  When the game ended, the man sitting next to Ronnie smacked him on the shoulder and said, “Well done, buddy.”

  The girls huddled together and then headed straight toward Ronnie and Kayla like a pack of overexcited puppies. Addie was right in the middle of the group and looked to be on cloud nine.

  “Mom, can they stay overnight? We need to work on cheers for next week. We’ll stay in the basement and try to keep it down,” Addie begged.

  For once the house was clean enough for guests, if only she hadn’t agreed to go into the office early tomorrow morning for a video conference with a client. Kayla hated to disappoint Addie just when her daughter finally seemed to be snapping out of her attitude and getting back to the girl Kayla knew and loved.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to work for a few hours really early in the morning and I am not about to leave a bunch of other people’s kids alone, even if you’re all still sleeping,” she said.

  “Couldn’t Ronnie come over and stay with us in the morning?” Addie begged. “Please, Ronnie?”

  “Addison, Ronnie doesn’t work weekends. That wasn’t part of the deal,” she admonished.

  “I need to spend some time with Sergeant Buck tomorrow, too,” Ronnie said.

  “Bring him with you then. Please, Mom? We need to start planning for competition, too.”

  She couldn’t remember the last time Addie had had a friend over and she hadn’t even asked since the past school year. But they had already eaten into Ronnie’s weekend. It was one thing for him to help out through the week, doing the extra little things that made him so special, but Ronnie having to bring friends to his job in order to spend time with them only made Kayla feel like her job was ruining not only her own life, but his as well. She glanced at Ronnie, and he gave her a look that said he didn’t care either way.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked him.

  He shook his head and the girls began to squeal. They headed back down the bleachers to talk to the other parents who were waiting for their cheerleaders.

  Glancing back at Ronnie, she said, “I appreciate you helping me out so early on a Saturday.”

  “You sure you don’t mind if I bring Sergeant Buck with me?” he asked.

  “No, by all mean
s. I don’t want to ruin your plans. I’m just grateful you are willing to do this for her,” she replied.

  He glanced at the circle of girls who were piled around several sets of parents, getting permission. Then he looked back at Kayla with the same intense expression he’d had earlier. His eyes seemed to be devouring her! It was a crazy thought, but she felt the intensity of his gaze. Then he leaned in close to her and whispered, “I’ll see you in the morning, Kayla.”

  He stood and headed down the bleachers. She sat there just enjoying the sensation his look had created, appreciating the sight of him casually strolling toward the main steps. Just as he made it to the stairs, the group of cheerleaders turned and yelled, “Bye, Sergeant Brown!”

  He waved his acknowledgment behind his head and continued down the stairs. She watched as he walked toward the exit gate and she couldn’t help but appreciate the backside of him just as much as she had admired the front view.

  Looking back toward the girls, she noticed that all the other parents had left, and that’s when it hit her: she could only fit five people, six people max, in her car. There were nine people total, including her. Standing up, she looked for Ronnie, but he was halfway across the parking lot. Crap! She dug out her cell phone and called his.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “I need your help,” she said.

  “You have a lot of needs, Kayla. What service can I perform for you now?” he asked.

  He so shouldn’t have said that! His slight touch against her mouth earlier seemed to have woken a sleeping tiger inside her. But instead of responding to his evocative comment, she explained the situation, hung up the phone and turned to Addie.

  “Take two girls with you and head to Ronnie’s truck. I’ll take the rest of the girls with me in my car,” she said.

  Soon enough Addie and two of her friends were headed across the parking lot toward Ronnie’s truck while Kayla and five other girls headed for her Lexus. No good deed goes unpunished, she thought. After that intense goodbye from Ronnie, she hoped he dropped off the girls and headed straight home. She needed time to recover her equilibrium.

  The group of girls riding with her chatted among themselves as though she wasn’t even there. They talked excitedly about the crowd’s responses to their cheers during the second half of the game and about ideas for songs for their upcoming cheer competition.

  As Kayla pulled into the garage she looked in her rearview mirror to see Ronnie’s truck pulling into the driveway behind her. The girls piled out of the passenger side of the truck and she heard them saying, “Come on, Sergeant Brown, it’s the least we can do. Yeah, it’s like a thank-you for helping the team.”

  What were they up to now?

  Addie informed the girls from Kayla’s car that they were going to order pizza and watch a movie before getting down to business. And they’d invited Ronnie to stay.

  Kayla caught Ronnie’s bold stare through the window. He smiled at her and then shut off his truck. The girls gave a cheer and headed inside, leaving Kayla alone with him. As he approached her, his gaze drifted between her eyes and her mouth as his sexy grin widened even more.

  “I’m in for pizza but I draw the line at the slumber party, unless you’re the one who invites me.” He grinned and touched his large hand to the side of her face, his thumb running gently across her bottom lip. Before she could respond, he released her and headed inside.

  Good God, his touch was like being struck by lightning.

  But she was his boss, and she needed to pull herself together. Doing her best, she went inside. Addison and her friend Kaitlyn were convincing Ronnie to call in pizza for them so Kayla went through the mail. Once the pizzas were ordered, the girls went into the living room to pick a movie and Ronnie came into the kitchen. He pulled out a couple of two-liter bottles of soda from the pantry as well as several cups out of a cabinet.

  She could feel his eyes on her as he made himself at home in her kitchen.

  Mmm… Just breathe.

  After finishing up with the mail, Kayla headed into the laundry room. She could hear the girls down the hallway laughing and talking. She made her way over to the counter, where Ronnie had in fact laid out her more delicate items. She picked up a pair of panties and then a second pair.

  “Those are my favorites,” he said from right behind her.

  She whirled around and put her hands, still holding the panties, behind her back. Jeez, he looked so good… And that grin.

  “Of course, I haven’t seen the ones you’re wearing right now,” he said, his grin widening.

  If she were younger, skinnier and didn’t have a houseful of giggling teenage girls, she might have said what she was thinking just to shock the hell out of him.

  What had happened to the serious man from two weeks ago? This flirtatious Ronnie was damn near irresistible.

  Leaning in, he whispered, “Say it. Whatever it is that’s making those brown eyes twinkle…say it.”

  She studied him for a minute. His brown hair had grown out a little over the past couple of weeks. It was starting to curl. And his blue eyes… A woman could get lost in them. He wore a grin that could make a saint into a sinner and enough of a five o’clock shadow to completely turn her belly into a tingly mass of excitement.

  He moved closer to her, caging her in.

  “How do you know I’m wearing any right now?” she replied with all the daring she could muster.

  Placing his hands on either side of her, leaning his weight against the counter behind her, effectively trapping her between his arms, he put his lips a mere whisper from her own. “Then I take back what I said earlier. The ones you have on now are my favorites.”

  “Mom! Where are you?” Addison yelled from the kitchen.

  Kayla couldn’t help but laugh right along with Ronnie when they both jumped at Addie’s question.

  “You are lucky your kid has such good timing. Didn’t anyone tell you not to feed wild animals?” he said quietly, backing away from her. “We’re in here, Addie,” he said more loudly.

  Ronnie stayed long enough to eat a slice of pizza and ensure the girls were engrossed in their movie before he left. Then Kayla went upstairs to her room. Alone.

  They weren’t dating or sleeping together. They were just looking and flirting, but damn if Ronnie didn’t bring out something wild in her. His grin, his good looks and his way with words were the only seduction techniques he needed to get a woman into his bed.

  So why was he messing with her?

  Probably because over the past couple of weeks she’d been constantly calling and asking him to pick up Addie, to pick up something from the store, to take Addie to the football game, to pay a bill she’d forgotten about, to watch Addie and her friends while she was the only one at the office on a Saturday morning. Kayla was effectively eating up every spare minute of the man’s time. He very well might have cancelled a date to take Addie to the football game tonight.

  That was the only thing that made sense. Men like him didn’t date women like her. She wasn’t majorly overweight but she had curves—an extra twenty or thirty pounds worth at least. Men as good-looking as Ronnie dated skinny young girls with big boobs who giggled a lot and carried tiny dogs stuffed into oversize bags. They didn’t hook up with an overweight, thirty-three-year old mother who freaked out in fear when she got close to a dog. Besides not being Ronnie’s type, Kayla didn’t have time to date anyway. And he was an employee!

  This thing that was building between them…it wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t let it happen.

  * * *

  The following morning Kayla had just finished up her shower and pulled on her robe when she heard Ronnie knocking.

  She headed downstairs and saw the mess the girls had left behind before they went down to the basement as she made her way to the front door. She opened the door, ready to apologize for adding to his to-do list again, and nearly screamed out loud.

  A dog the size of a small cow sat on her porch at Ronn
ie’s feet.

  She backed up slowly.

  Dogs had teeth…big teeth that could bite.

  She felt the unhealthy rhythm of her heart and heard herself gasping for breath. She managed to make it over to the couch just as she fainted.

  “Kayla!”

  She blinked her eyes open. Ronnie’s rough hands were on either side of her face and he was looking down at her with worry. Something wet and rough tickled the palm of her hand. She looked down at the large animal licking her and this time she really did cry out, “Oh, God… A dog! Please get it away.”

  “Buck, down,” Ronnie ordered.

  The hulking beast lumbered over and spread himself out on her brand-new rug, letting out a loud sigh as though settling in for a nap.

  “Are you okay?” Ronnie asked.

  “No. I’m terrified of dogs,” she said, moving aside the bottom of her robe to show him the scar on the inside of her knee from when she was eight. “When I was young, a stray dog in the neighborhood wandered into the yard where I was playing. My squeals of fun somehow upset him and the next thing I knew he lunged at me and sank his fangs into my leg. I ended up not only getting stitches, but a series of shots as well. I’ve been terrified of dogs since that day.”

  Then it hit her…Ronnie’s friend Sergeant Buck was a dog!

  Chapter Four

  Never in his whole life had he seen someone faint until just now. Kayla had just passed out from a mere glimpse of Buck.

  After a few minutes, she sat upright as her breathing returned to normal, but he could tell she was still a nervous wreck. She kept a close eye on Buck and looked ready to make a break for it at any moment. Had he known about her fear of dogs, he wouldn’t have brought Buck along today. Kayla had enough on her plate without Buck scaring the life out of her.

  “I can take him back out to the truck,” he offered. Buck whined and covered his nose and one eye with a large paw.

  Glancing at Ronnie and then back to Buck, she said, “Did he understand what you just said?”

  “I would imagine. He saved my life a couple of years back and he’s been with me ever since,” Ronnie replied.