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I clear my throat before taking a step back. “I had better head back.”
He nods, though his eyes don’t meet mine. “Yeah. Thanks, Juliette.”
“You’re welcome,” I tell him with a small smile. “And I promise to help with Mason in any way I can.”
“And we can start our swimming lessons this weekend. I won’t be heading to work on Saturday, so you can come over.”
This time, I can’t help the grin spreading over my face. “I thought you forgot.”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t forget, I was just otherwise preoccupied.”
“Alright. I guess I’ll see you on Saturday.”
He nods, and I begin backing toward the doorway of the kitchen.
“And Juliette?” he calls. “We’re definitely friends.”
I can’t even say anything in reply to that, so I just smile and walk away. The twins and Lisabell are in the exact same position I left them.
“Did you bring my water?” Madison questions and it’s then I realize I forgot.
“Sorry, Mads. It must have skipped my mind.”
“You took a long time coming back. Bob’s dead,” Mason states, alluding to one of the characters in the show.
“What? No!”
“Yep. The monsters ate him. I told you that was going to happen,” Madison says with a smile.
“It was pretty gory. They literally ate his insides,” Mason adds.
I give Lisabell a look. “Are we sure this show is age appropriate?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure you were just up to age-appropriate activities?”
I make sure to flip her off when the kids are watching. But the truth is, I’ve got to face reality. I might have a little crush on the billionaire with barely-there smiles who doesn’t care about anything except his family and his work. Lisabell said it herself, he’s good-looking, and I’m only human. But the worst thing I could possibly do right now is put myself in a position that would end up with me getting my heart broken.
It's too bad that’s exactly the kind of position I mostly tend to find myself in.
CHAPTER8
Xander
“Iwant all the invites for the party sent out by this weekend,” I inform my secretary.
She nods once before exiting the office. My head falls back and I let out a small groan. A part of me understands that I was the one that pushed for an expansion while also planning to take charge of the party, but it’s really starting to feel like too much. I’m exhausted.
I understand people have this stereotype that most CEOs and presidents do a lot of work. We’re glued to our jobs and we barely have time for much else. And yes, that was me for the first few years of my company’s establishment. But they have thrived. I own some of the best hotels in the country.
I’m at the stage of my career where I should be taking a backseat and resting. Declan has had no problem on that front. The bastard’s in Turkey right now on a mid-week vacation. Meanwhile, I’m here at the office at 10 p.m., slaving away. There’s no reason I couldn’t delegate my duties to some of my subordinates, but I might be a little of a perfectionist—and a part of me is worried I’m just using all the extra work as a distraction.
Juliette Landers.
The woman has been quite literally stuck in my head all week. And owing to the fact that I invited her over to my house tomorrow, I’ll have to see her, and that will in no way help my fascination with her. I’ve been around a lot of gorgeous women in my life—supermodels, actresses, princesses. And only one other woman has been able to make me feel alive in the way Juliette has.
My late wife, Kathy.
I refuse to even consider the deeper connotations of that realization.
