“Probably because these are his clothes.” I grabbed a coffee and tossed a mouthful down my throat. I made a face ‘cause it was too damned hot. When were the kids going to stop? Theron wasn’t looking at me, and whatever he was cooking was well stirred.
“No.” Skye tilted her head. “Yousmell like him.”
I plonked myself on a stool and told the kids to hurry or they’d be late for school while sending glances at my boss. He finally turned around, but whatever was on the stove stayedthere. He caught my eye, but his expression didn’t give much away.
I couldn’t expect a hug and kiss or the kids would know something was up. But as he didn’t speak other than to greet me, I was interpreting his body language.
But he stared at me—no, right through me—and I squirmed. I wanted to reach for the same cup, or for us to say the same thing or for both of us to squeeze through the door at the same time.
I drove the kids to school because that was my job and because pretending today was a normal day felt important, even though nothing was normal. Fraser talked about his chili plants the entire way and how he was going to grow the hottest chili in the world and enter a competition. Rory corrected his pronunciation of "jalapeño" twice. Skye sat quietly in the back, and when I glanced in the rearview mirror, she was watching me.
“You're happy today, Ledger.” She grinned. “Your eyes are smiley.”
“So are yours, pumpkin.” That was the term of endearment we’d settled on, because while Fraser was all about chili, Skye wanted to grow pumpkins so she could make a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. Her first choice was dragon’s fruit, but Theron said they’d need a greenhouse, as it got too cold here in winter.
When I got back to the house, I sat in the car, wondering if I’d still have a job when I walked through the doors. Or would my boss sweep me into his arms and declare undying love for me? I hadn’t given myself time to think about the implications of last night.
I lusted after my boss and was teetering close to being in love with him. But his first consideration had to be the children. How did I figure into that? Maybe I didn’t. Or perhaps he slept with all his mannies and that was why they left.
When I walked in, Theron was loitering near the bottom of the stairs.
“Ledger.”
Gods, no, not my name. I had a list of questions to ask, but by using my name, he’d befuddled me, and I couldn’t think straight.
“That’s me.”
Theron studied his hands.
“Do you do that deliberately?” I was scared, so I needled him when I should have said how much I loved being with him last night.
He head shot up, and I wanted to take back my snarky question. He looked distraught, with pale cheeks, something I’d never seen, and he’d bitten his nails.
“Say my name like that as if it’s on a slow boat meandering along a stream.”
“Huh?”
Poor guy, I’d bamboozled him.
“What I want you to say is that last night meant something and it wasn’t a mistake and?—”
“No mistake. Never.”
I sagged against the wall, but Theron caught me before I slid onto the floor. He kissed the top of my head.
“The mistake I made was ignoring you in the kitchen earlier, but my children are very perceptive, as you witnessed.”
“You’re my boss and we live in the same house. You have three kids.”
“Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”
I whacked his butt. “Hey, I’m the snarky one.”
“Oops, sorry.”
We sat on the stairs with Theron’s arm around me. We didn’t have to work out every little detail about how to move forward. Maybe if we took one step at a time, but I had to know if this, whatever this was, was serious.
“No, I’ve never slept with any of the other mannies.”
