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Breathing out a sigh of relief, I followed him inside. After the interview, this was my biggest hurdle. It would be easy to care for Lexi and prove myself useful now that he'd let me into his home. How long it would take for him to let me into his heart was another story, but I was here for the long haul.
“Why don’t I show you where to put your stuff?”
“Sounds good.” The sooner we made it through this part, the better odds I had that he’d let me stay.
He eyed my duffle bag, backpack, and rolling suitcase. “I expected you to have more stuff.”
“If I need anything else, I can grab it from my folks’ house on my day off. This should be fine, though.”
He stared at me like I was a foreign object, then huffed. “Yeah, okay.” He ran his hand through his hair, then held out a hand. “Let me take something for you.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I insist.”
I stared into his beautiful green irises and saw his resolve. What a freakin’ gentleman. So swoony. “Thank you,” I said, handing over my duffle.
He averted his gaze and held out his other hand to Lexi. “Come on, Lex-Lex. We need to show CJ his room.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she yelled. “Come on, CJ.”
I followed them up the stairs, and Kevin pointed to a closed door on the left. “My room is in there.”
I nodded in acknowledgment as he turned right into the hall and pointed to another room on the left. It didn’t take the little girl shrieking, “Tat’s my room, CJ,” for me to know it was hers. The room was a flurry of pinks and reds, with the exception of the different colored truck decals on the walls.
“You really like trucks, huh?” I asked, looking down at the little girl.
She nodded, and I was completely charmed watching her curls bounce around her cherub face. “Tay ta best!” She threw her arms open like she was trying to encompass the whole world. Goodness, between her enthusiasm and not being able to make the th sound, she had to be the cutest toddler I’d ever met. Which was really saying something since I’d adored every child who’d ever been in my charge.
Kevin smiled fondly at his daughter, then pointed to the bathroom across the hall from her room. “You saw the half-bath downstairs yesterday, but you have a full bath here.” He scrunched up his face. “You’ll have to share with Lexi, so I’ll, uh, have to clean up her bath toys.”
Placing my hand on his arm gently, I said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. It’s what I’m here for.” He stared down at my hand, and I swear I felt him shiver.
“Straightening my daughter’s bathroom?” he finally asked.
Reluctantly, I dropped my hand. He sounded so confused, and I didn’t want to make this awkward. “No. Well, yes, in a way. I meant I’m here to make your life easier.”
He glanced past me down the hall, then nodded and blew out a breath. “Then I guess I need to show you your room.” We continued down the hall, and he pointed out another room on the left. “That’s my home office.”
It was the first room I’d seen in the house that wasn’t filled with toddler toys. In fact, it looked unused. “Do you actually work in there?”
Kevin smiled ruefully. “I do, but I keep everything put away in case little hands make their way in there when I’m showering or not paying attention for two-point-two seconds.” We exchanged knowing grins. Little ones moved fast when they were on a mission to touch something they knew not to. “Plus, working from home, I need everything as organized as possible.”
“That makes sense.”
He walked straight ahead into the last room and flipped on the light. I found myself in a floral paradise of peaches and cream. Everything from the comforter on the queen-sized to the lampshade to the pictures on the wall.
“Tis is Nana’s room,” Lexi said, running up and clamoring up onto the bed.
Kevin cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry about all the…” He trailed off as we gazed around us. “So this is normally my mom’s room for when she’s in town during the summer and for the holidays. I know it’s a bit…”
“Feminine? Flowery? Peach?” I teased. “Don’t worry. All I need is a bed.”
He scrunched up his face. “Yeah, but you should be comfortable if you’re going to live here. Maybe we can?—”
Again, I placed my hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out as I settle in, okay?”
He inhaled sharply, staring down at my hand, then backed up. “Sure. Feel free to make the room your own.”
