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She placed her hand on her stomach. That ache was intensifying.
“She looks after your sons while you work?”
“She doesn’t drink while she’s taking care of them,” she snapped back defensively. There was no way she’d let anyone accuse her of not taking care of her boys. “She only goes out on the nights when I have the next day off. And Mrs. Peterson comes over to check on them regularly. Unfortunately, she can’t take care of them on her own.”
His eyes widened. “Old Man Peterson has a wife?”
“Actually, it’s his mother.” And if she wasn’t getting on in years, she’d ask her to do more.
“Never knew he had a mother.”
“Everyone’s got one, right? Some are just better than others.”
“I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t taking care of your sons, Aspen,” he said quietly.
She nodded.
Saxon had turned to look at the door. “There’s no deadbolt? Just this lock?” The last word was said with scorn. She understood how he felt. The lack of security had given her a few nightmares, but this place was so isolated, and it wasn’t like they had anything worth taking.
“Nothing of value here to steal.”
“You’ve got children to protect,” he pointed out. “And it sounds like you’re here alone with them at night. I’d say that warrants something more than this flimsy lock.”
Guilt filled her. He was right.
He opened his mouth to say something when the car horn beeped.
Mortification warred with anger. “Oh, God, she’ll damn well wake the boys.” She rushed towards the front door, but he grabbed her arm.
“I’ll go. You stay and make sure they haven’t woken.” Then he shocked her by placing a kiss on her forehead. “Go to bed. Get some sleep. And as soon as I shut that door, lock it. It’s better than nothing.”
She stood in that same spot as he walked to the door. The spot where he’d touched her tingled, sending heat throughout her body.
Yet, the kiss wasn’t the slightest bit sexual. He was just doing what any male resident of Haven would do. Looking out for her. He wasn’t interested in her. She needed to squash her budding attraction before it became anything more.
He turned back at the door. “And make sure you call Matt about your car. If you need a ride anywhere, you call me. I left my card on the kitchen counter. Oh, and Aspen? Try to hitch or walk and you’re going to find yourself over my knee.”
She gaped at him.
“Good night, Aspen. Sweet dreams.”
Oh, they’d be sweet all right, considering she intended to dream about wiping that smug grin off his face. Over his knee, indeed.
2
“That man is a complete ogre. He’s a temperamental, egotistical and a prick. I quit!”
Saxon watched in resignation as his pastry chef turned and stormed out of his office. That was the third one in two
months to quit. All because none of them could stand to work with his asshole head chef. He was beginning to think that opening a restaurant was not his smartest idea ever.
Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the soft leather of his chair. He guessed he needed to consider ordering in baked goods and desserts. He squeezed the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache starting to form. He was probably crazy for keeping Renard on, but the man was a culinary genius. Even if he was the grumpiest bastard to walk the Earth. How was he going to manage to keep any staff with Renard running them all off, though? Even genius had its limits.
He was going to have to put his foot down. He grimaced. Normally, he didn’t hesitate to make tough decisions and act on them. But there were special circumstances here.
He headed towards the restaurant, which was next door to the club in what had been a run-down, clapboard, two-story house. He’d had it gutted, and it was now being renovated into an attractive, upscale space for a restaurant. Originally, he’d considered opening something just for the members of the club, but it had gradually grown bigger than that.
If only he could rein in Renard. Too bad he wasn’t an unruly sub he could threaten to put in the stocks. He could imagine Renard’s reaction to that. The other man was a sadist, but he hadn’t played for a long time. He was letting the demons from his past get in the way of truly finding the peace he desired.
