Stay(31)

He follows me. “It’s really cool. You live in this big house all by yourself?”

“I do.” We walk down the hall toward the stairs, I point up them. “My rooms are up there. My bedroom and my office.”

“You must get pretty lonely.” His backpack is in his hand, and I notice it’s unzipped. The stuffed orca is out, and he’s holding it. “Mom’s place is really small, but I can sleep with her if I get lonely.”

A benefit I’ve been considering myself lately—sleeping with his mother. “I thought it might be fun to have roommates here.”

He nods, but he’s different. He blinks slowly, and looks away toward the blue room.

“Are you okay, Eli?”

Reaching up, he rubs his eye with the heel of his hand. “Oh, yeah!”

He looks tired to me. Emmy didn’t say anything about him napping. Still… he’s only seven. “Why don’t you lie down on the bed and rest. I’ll wake you in an hour so you can do your school work.”

Grateful blue eyes blink up at me. “Thanks, Mr. Hastings.”

“Call me Stephen.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stephen.”

It’s not what I meant, but I’m not going to argue with him right now. I pat his little back and watch as he walks slowly to the nautical room, trailing that long black and white dolphin behind him.

Not once in my life have I given much thought to children. It’s not what I do. I make computer applications and solve problems for major corporations. Now this little boy is here making me wonder if I’ve got it all wrong.

Ridiculous.

I have work to do.





11





Emmy


Stephen’s townhome is even more imposing on the second visit. Probably because I know what’s inside. Or maybe because of what went on inside the last time I was here? With a shiver, I knock on the door.

“You don’t have to knock.” He opens the door, and I’m hit full-force with the intensity of his presence. So imposing, so dominating, so seriously sexy.

I push back on those feelings. “Why are you answering your own door?”

“As you know, I don’t have overnight staff.” His tone matches my impatience.

It’s good. It’s where I need to keep him—in the Not-Friends Zone.

“So how’d it go today?”

“I was about to ask you the same.”

“Busy as every Monday. What have you two been doing all afternoon?”

The pounding of feet on wooden stairs interrupts, and Eli’s voice echoes in the stairwell. “MOM! You should see this room! It has ships on the walls and a compass on the ceiling and a giant ship in a huge bottle…”

Wrinkling my nose, I squint up at Stephen. “I bet nobody is ever that loud in here.”

“I think you were that loud Saturday night.” He gives me a sly grin, and heat flashes from my neck to my cheeks.

I don’t have time for a comeback. Eli is tugging on my hand. “You’ve got to see it!”

“I saw it, baby! I was here Saturday.”

“Mom.” He stops tugging and gives me The Look.

“Sorry! I meant I saw it, Mr. Big Man.”

He rolls his eyes. Stephen slides a hand in his pocket and walks to the kitchen area. “Would you like a drink?”

“No thanks, I’m on the clock.”

He frowns at me, and I tilt my head toward Eli. “I like to be prepared at all times.”

“Oh.” He puts the bottle of wine aside. “He took his medicine.”

“Thanks.” I swing Eli’s hand. “Run get your stuff, now. We have to catch the train home.”

“Okay!” He takes off for the stairs.

Stephen strolls to where I’m waiting just inside the door. “Come in and stay a minute.”

“I can’t. I’ve got to get home, feed Eli, go to bed.” Crossing my arms, I rock on my toes, looking away from his smirk. “Work tomorrow.”

“You seem uncomfortable.”

“Do I?” Uncrossing my arms, I look around. Not at him. “I’m probably just, you know, amped up from a busy day at work.”

“If it’s about our arrangement, I’ve been thinking… I could make a contract if it would make you feel better.”

Now I do meet his eyes. “A contract? Are you worried Eli might break something?”

“No…” He chuckles. “To make it feel more official. You were worried about blurred lines.”

“Oh,” I look down. “It’s okay. I mean, it seems kind of silly to make a contract for house guests.”

“Roommates. And only until you find a better place to live. It’s temporary.”

When he says the word, my stomach sinks. Really, Em? “That’s right. Temporary.”

“Got it, Mom!” Eli walks down the stairs. I notice he’s moving a little slower.

“Let me carry your backpack.”

“I got it.” He looks up at Stephen. “Thanks man, this is a cool place you got here.”

Eli’s grown-man impersonation slays me, but what hits me even more is when Stephen holds out his hand for a high five.