Eliza huffed. She had meant to. It wasn’t like her to drop balls like that—she was thorough in all of her decision making. She had trusted Henry with this one because honestly, it was one ball too many to keep juggling, and he was less likely to find fault with someone as quickly as she was.
“I skimmed it. Jesus, Henry. We’re leaving our kids with someone in their twenties. Do you remember your twenties? Your brain’s barely finished forming by then.”
“You leave them with me and I’m sure mine’s not done either,” Henry quipped.
Truth was, Henry was a great father. If there was one decision Eliza made right in her life, it was choosing to have kids with him. Eliza was absolutely sure about his ability to care for them. Her own, though? That was a different question.
“I leave them with you because your mom lives next door and knows how to work an oven,” Eliza said without a hint of a smile.
Just because Henry was a great father doesn’t mean he needed an ego boost. Plus, he already knew it.
“Love you too, Eliza. I need to head off, so good luck with thekids. All three of them,” Henry said with a wink.
He laughed at her scowl as he walked out the front door, leaving Eliza standing in the hallway wondering what the hell she was going to do. In that moment, she had never felt more like a walking cliché. She was in a situation she had no idea how to handle, or who she could even talk it through with. What was she supposed to say? “I screwed the nanny and nowI’mscrewed”?
Eliza took a deep breath and then steeled herself to go back into that room and do what she always did, deal with it and move forward. Rowyn was willing to put it behind them and do her job, so Eliza could do the same. She walked back into the kitchen and looked down to where Rowyn was bent over the table scribbling on something with no kids to be seen. Eliza’s eyes immediately made their way to Rowyn’s ass, clad in tight jeans, and her breath hitched involuntarily. Images flashed of all the things she’d like to do to Rowyn in exactly that position and her mouth watered.
“You okay there?” Rowyn asked.
Eliza snapped her head up from where she had obviously been ogling Rowyn’s ass. Rowyn’s head was turned back, and she was looking right at Eliza.
Busted.
It was obvious by the twinkle in Rowyn’s eyes that she had a good idea of what Eliza was thinking, and Eliza hesitated between ignoring it or apologizing.
“Mom, Rowyn said she would draw out the colour wheel for us, so we got markers to colour it in after.”
The kids bounded back in excitedly as Amelia spoke.
“You know you’re not allowed to take the markers out of the playroom,” Eliza said as Rowyn stood up.
Amelia’s face fell and Eliza sighed. She didn’t want to be the bad guy, but her surfaces had been covered in marker onso many occasions that the rule had to be enforced. The kids needed clear boundaries, and any bit of deviation from that led to constant arguments.
“That’s my fault, I asked them to get them. I was hoping to spread the paper out, and this table seemed like the best place. I can make sure they go back after?”
Rowyn phrased it as a question, but Eliza had a feeling that was only for the kids’ sake. She appreciated it, nonetheless.
“Okay, but just this once. They have a large art table in their playroom which is more than sufficient for their needs. I’d appreciate it if this table stayed stain free, so please see to that.”
The kids grinned and hopped up onto the chairs excitedly, but Rowyn’s eyes searched Eliza’s as if looking for something.
“We got marker all over the last table and had to get a new one, but we’re bigger now, so we’ll be careful, right, Mila?” Elliot said.
Eliza wasn’t a big fan of shortened names. If she wanted to name her kids something else, she would have. But Elliot and Amelia had been calling each other Eli and Mila for as long as they’d been speaking, and nothing could stop them. It was a battle Eliza had conceded long ago.
“I’ll make sure the table stays pristine,” Rowyn said before turning back to the kids and getting to work.
Eliza frowned as the word hung in the air again, suddenly not having quite the same ring to it as it used to.
Chapter Four
The stairs creaked and Rowyn startled as if caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Familiarizing herself with her new home slash workspace had never been an issue before, but everything was different when you started the job after sleeping with your boss the night before. Elle—no,Elizatiptoed into the kitchen where Rowyn had been surveying the food offerings and sighed in relief.
“Bedtime rarely goes that smoothly. You exhausted them, it seems.”
Eliza gave a stiff smile, and Rowyn had the feeling that was the closest to a compliment this woman gave.
“They have a lot of energy, that’s for sure. Luckily for me, I have about the same amount, so it works out. The backyard is impressive.”
