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Tonight, though, I didn’t have to work at the pub. Kieran had seen to that.
I did one last walkthrough to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything before I went back to the sitting room to find Kieran and Emma finishing up another Disney movie.
“Is she torturing you withFrozennow?” I quipped.
“Let it go, let it go! Can’t hold it back anymore!” he sang, his eyes sparkling with joyful amusement. His voice radiated throughout the room, and I couldn’t help but giggle quietly at his contagious energy. He winked in my direction.
“Great. I only just got that song out of my head,” I smirked.
“It’ll be like your own personal radio on your walk home today,” he laughed. I shook my head, a smile plastered all over my face. He winked again, his own grin broadening as I laughed again.
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” I teased.
He chuckled, his eyes sparkling as if I’d just given him the most intriguing dare of his life.
“Well, I should probably get this girl home so I can feed her some dinner,” I said, a bit saddened that my time with him had ended and now I needed to go home. I stalled for a moment, fiddling with my hands and looking down at the floor.
“You did a fantastic job today. I’ll be sure to let the agency know how well you did,” he offered lightly.
“You haven’t even looked yet,” I blushed. His praise had caught me by surprise.
He simply smiled and it said everything.
He didn’t need to look because he knew I’d done a good job, that I was a hard worker, and that I wanted to impress him maybe in a small way.
The tablet chose that exact moment to run out of battery and with it came the most dramatic sigh from my daughter’s lips.
“Mom… It died again,” she whined. Her lower lip protruded as she performed the most overdramatic pout in all history of her young life.
“It’s time to head home, sweetie,” I answered, trying to keep a serious face but I couldn’t really hold it steady for long.
“I don’t want to go,” she sighed. Kieran glanced down at the floor, trying to hide his own smirk, and failing. My heart warmed. She had really taken to him and that was saying something. Emma was a very shy girl. I’d been working with her quite a bit over the last year or so to break her out of her shell and this man had crushed through it in a single afternoon.
It was so very sweet.
“I’m sure I’ll see you again sometime, Emma,” he added, his tone light.
“Fiiiiiiine,” she sighed.
I was absolutely screwed when she grew up to be a teenager with that starting already. Kieran grinned as if he knew what I was thinking. I shook my head and held out my hand. Emma hopped off the couch to me and took it.
“What’s for dinner, Mom? I’m hungry,” she asked.
“It’s a surprise,” I told her, mainly because I hadn’t the slightest clue what I wanted to cook since I had a kitchen full of more groceries than I’d ever had the privilege to work through in my life. I was going to need a minute to really take stock before I decided what to do.
Honestly, I was looking forward to it. I hadn’t had a relaxing evening with my daughter without work getting in the way in a long while.
I looked up, just catching Kieran’s glance for a moment and I paused.
I didn’t really want to leave. I kind of wanted to stay for a little while longer too. I didn’t move for a second, almost feeling like I was hovering and waiting for him to say something, anything really. Would he say anything more about what happened in his bedroom? Would he even want me to stay?
“I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon, Leah,” his voice rumbled.
“Mr. Murphy.” I dipped my head.
“Call me Kieran,” he answered lightly. There was something else in his tone that told me that wasn’t just a suggestion, but more of a command.
I blushed.
