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I wouldn’t admit it to either of my sisters, but I was already looking forward to the time I would be spending around Alex. Of course, it was to take care of Lucy, and for all I knew, he was going to be incredibly busy with the life he lived while I took care of his daughter. That didn’t quite line up with how he had made it clear to me that she was the center of his life, but I still didn’t want my imagination to get the better of me.
All I knew was that it had to be fate that had brought me to this point rather than Angela, and with opportunity knocking, I wasn’t about to let this moment pass by.
That money would be life changing.
And I had a feeling being around such a man would be pretty nice, too.
Chapter Eight – Two Weeks Later
Alex
Ihad no idea time could pass so quickly, but the first two weeks with Cassie taking care of Lucy sailed by in an outright blur.
It was nice to be able to spend the time focusing on what I had to do – along with what I wanted to do. But what struck me most about having Cassie around was the fact that we had been missing a woman’s touch in our lives.
Lucy hadn’t known what she was missing, but I did.
And I hadn’t even realized how much I had missed the companionship and partnership of having a woman in my life until all the little moments when I was passing through the house and found Cassie either in the kitchen making snacks for Lucy, or when I caught her doing the little chores around the place like the laundry or the dishes. Most of all, I loved to hearher laughter ring out through the house while she was playing with Lucy.
“You know it’s not in your job description to have to take care of the dishes on top of everything else you’re doing, right?” I asked.
“I know,” she said. “But it clearly needs to be done, and why not just take care of it when we’re done with lunch or snacks? It’s not like it’s taking much out of my day to handle it.”
“The same goes for the laundry,” I told her. “While we’re on the topic of you doing the dishes, I wanted to point out the other day that I’m grateful to you for doing the clothes, but you don’t have to. I can handle that myself at night.”
“Again, what difference does it make in my day?” Cassie asked with a giggle. “I’m here. Lucy doesn’t need me every moment, and I’m working, so why not add on a few of the household things?”
“I don’t want you to feel like the maid,” I told her.
“And I don’t,” she said. “I feel like I’m the nanny, and my job is to take care of the little girl who lives here. Part of taking care of her is making sure her things are clean and ready to go when she needs them, right?”
“I like your thinking, but I don’t want you to feel obligated,” I told her with a chuckle.
“It’s all in the job description,” she said. “If it’s not explicitly, then I do it because it needs to be done.”
“It’s no wonder to me how you got such a good reference from my friend’s brother,” I told her. “You have a very good business mentality and work ethic combo that I find really admirable.” I said.
I hadn’t expected her to blush with the compliment, but she turned a scarlet red.
“Thank you,” she said. “As I’ve mentioned already, it means a lot to me to make this business work. My grandmother reallygave it her all when she started, and I want to make her proud now.”
“I’m sure she’s very proud,” I said. “Really.”
She gave me one of her warm smiles, and I could tell she wanted to drop the subject.
I was okay with that, though I did have questions. I found myself having a lot of questions about her, really. I wanted to know more and more as the days passed. She was on my mind more often than not, and I was thinking about her in increasingly less professional ways.
It had been two weeks exactly when I finally allowed myself to cross that line. It was only in my mind, but still. I wasn’t the guy to fantasize about someone I worked with, let alone someone I had hired to work for me.
But that night, I’d asked Cassie to stay over.
“I know it’s not part of the contract,” I said. “And I hate to ask you to do it at all. It’s just that I’ve got work all day, and then one of my recent clients has asked if I could meet them for dinner to go over a few things. By the time I get home, it’s going to be late, and I’ve still got a few more things to do in the office before I can call it a night myself.”
“Alright, I’ll do it,” Cassie had told me. There had been a brief amount of hesitation before she agreed, and I chalked it up to her wanting to be professional and stick with the contract.
But I was more relieved with her agreeing to do so than anything, so I assured her I would provide dinner, along with paying her extra for the trouble.
When I came home that night, she was curled up on the floor with Lucy, and the two of them were watching a new movie Lucy had been wanting to see.
