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A few minutes later, Aston walked beside Maxim toward her apartment. “I could have stayed and put that together.”
“You could have. But I can also see how tired you are. And you’ve done enough.”
“But you don’t need to go back there tomorrow. I’ll do it.”
He sighed and stopped outside her door. “You’re not the only person who can help others, Aston.”
“Well, of course not. It’s just . . . have you ever been interested in helping your neighbors before?”
“Hmm. Just one.” He winked at her, then ran a finger down her cheek.
It seemed silly to blush, but she still felt her cheeks heat.
“Open up. We need to talk before I head into work.”
She sighed. “So bossy.” Still, she searched through her bag and was drawing out her keys just as Eva opened the door.
Man, that was all she needed.
She’d looked after the kids last night while Eva and Dan went out drinking and Maxim was working. But tonight, she was done. Exhaustion was quicksand around her feet, ready to drag her down.
Aston never usually slept well, and every so often, that would catch up to her and she’d end up sleeping all day.
She could feel herself reaching that point.
“Oh, hi, Maxim,” Eva said.
Grr. Eva really needed to stop looking at him. Aston’s free hand fisted, and she had to take a deep breath to try and calm herself.
“Eva.” He took the keys from Aston.
“Hey, Aston, you ready to take care of the kids now, or do you need a moment?”
“You’re looking after the kids tonight?” Maxim asked her. “I thought you did that last night.”
“I did.”
“Oh yeah, you did.” Eva nodded. “But I thought you’d do tonight too?”
“No.”
Both women stared at Maxim in surprise.
“Oh, um, Aston?” Eva asked.
“I said no. Even if Aston says yes, which she’s not going to, it’s a no.”
“Maxim,” she whispered. Wow, that was rude.
“Baby, you don’t want to take care of the kids. You want to go inside, shower, eat, and veg out. I know it and you know it. She knows it, too, but she doesn’t want to admit it because she likes having a free babysitter so she can go out and get shit-faced with her husband.”
“What the hell?” Eva screeched, making the baby in her arms cry.
Aston gaped at Maxim.
“Look, Eva, I get that being a parent must be hard. And it must be great to get a night off. But you need to find a babysitter. A paid one. Because your days of taking advantage of Aston’s kind nature are over. Baby, inside. Now.”
18
Maxim braced himself for her anger. He figured she would fire up at him for interfering in her life. But over the last couple of weeks, he’d learned a lot about Aston Symonds.
He’d learned that she didn’t like to talk about her past. She rarely said anything about her brothers, and what she did say was never good.
He’d discovered that the people in this building took advantage of her good nature. And that didn’t sit well with him.
At. All.
But lucky for Aston, she was his girl now. And he would take care of her.
Asking for help wasn’t something that she seemed to know how to do. Aston was on a mission to help this entire building, but she was letting all of them to walk all over her. Yet, ask for help for herself?
Nope. She didn’t seem to be able to do it.
So he was going to have to teach her how.
He stepped into the lounge and waited for her to blast him over the way he’d treated her neighbor. She was the worst one at taking advantage. He understood it had to be hard, staying home with two little kids all day. But did she ever say thank you? Did she ever even ask? She just seemed to think that Aston would help her.
Well, he’d made clear that Aston wouldn’t be pushed around anymore.
He stared down at her as she sat on the sofa.
Then he gaped at her in shock as she burst into laughter.
That was . . . not what he’d been expecting would happen. Was she all right?
“Aston?”
“I can’t believe you just said that to her.”
“She deserved it. She’s taking advantage of you. And that’s not acceptable.”
“She totally is. And she really did. And I . . .” She stared up at him, looking dazed and tired. “Thank you.”
He came and sat next to her. “Well, you just shocked the shit out of me. I thought you’d get mad.”
Turning, she grinned at him.
A man would do a lot to see that smile every day. To wake up to it each morning. Go to sleep with it every night.
“You’ve got the prettiest smile, baby.”
Her smile dropped away, but not because she was unhappy. It was replaced by a look of lust.
“Yeah?” she said huskily.
“Yeah. I’m sitting, Aston.”
