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“Who are you assigning to him?” Olivia asked.
“I haven’t found someone yet. I want it to be someone who will really give him what he needs, you know?”
“Does he need something weird?” Olivia asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You make it sound like it’s hard to find someone for him, because he has special needs or something.”
“Oh, no…I just want to make sure he ends up with the right person.”
Olivia snorted. “Since when have you cared so much about the clients?”
“I don’t,” I said quickly. “I mean, I always care because the kids are important, but I don’t care more than I should…I’m just trying to do my job well. You know, for Hannah.”
“Right,” Olivia said, and heard the smile in her voice. “Not because he’s hot or anything.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was an email addressed to Hannah; he doesn’t even know that I read the thing. It’s not about how hot he is, even if he is drop-dead gorgeous.”
Olivia giggled. “Don’t you just wish you were on the other end of it now, an au pair rather than the one dishing them out? Imagine working for him.”
I sighed. “Yeah, that would be dreamy.”
“I have to go,” Olivia said. “Evan is coming in tonight, and I have to be on my best behavior.”
“Evan loves you. He would never have an issue with you being on the phone.”
“I know, but still. I’ll talk to you later,” Olivia said and ended the call.
I pulled into my parking spot opposite my apartment and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. I unlocked the door, flipped on the light switches, and opened the freezer to look for a ready-made meal. After heating up a frozen lasagna, I sat in front of the television and flipped through the channels, but I didn’t take anything in. Instead, my mind drifted to Aaron Steele.
What would have happened to make him a single father? Did he lose his wife in an accident? Did she get sick? Or was she incapable of taking care of the child, so Aaron was awarded sole custody?
My mind was full of him. Even though I’d never met the man, my heart went out to him. It had to be tough being a single parent. Olivia was probably right, though. He had someone in his life––a man like Aaron wouldn’t be single. He was hot; he had money, and a woman would take on a kid if it meant she got so much out of the deal.
I pushed the thoughts away. What was I thinking?
“You’re obsessing,” I told myself. “You’re bored and have nothing better to do with your time.” It would have been better if I could think of something to do with my life, find something to build a career on, open my own business…anything other than obsessing over someone I didn’t know and never would.
After eating my supper and flipping around the television channels for a while, I switched off all the lights, undressed, and got into bed. I was tired, and tomorrow, I could relax.
I closed my eyes, but the weather was strange, hot, and humid in my room. A storm was building––I could feel it in the air––but the relief of rain didn’t come yet.
I tossed and turned, finally falling into a fitful sleep.
“Aaron,” I breathed when he appeared before me. “What are you doing here?” We were alone in a room. I didn’t recognize the room, but knew we were in a hotel.
“I just needed to get away for a while,” he said. “It’s tough, you know?”
I nodded. “I can just imagine. You have a lot on your plate.”
He leaned his head on my shoulder. He was a lot taller than I was, his shoulders broad, and when he hunched over like that, I felt delicate. The smell of his cologne and the musky scent of pure male beneath it filled my nostrils, and heat flooded my body.
“I’m here for you,” I said. “You can talk to me.” If Aaron needed a shoulder to cry on, I would be that for him.
“I don’t need to talk,” Aaron said in a husky voice and lifted his head. He looked at me, and in his eyes, I saw desire. “I need to feel alive again for a change.” He took a step closer, his body curling around mine when he dipped his head so our lips brushed together. “I need to feel something…something that’s only for me.”
My breath caught in my throat, and my mind blanked when I tried to think of something to say. Aaron didn’t let me. He closed the short distance between us and brushed his lips against mine. The contact was electric. He cupped my naked breast––where had my clothes gone?––and I moaned softly.
