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She rolls her eyes, her nostrils flaring. It’s adorable. “This is ridiculous.”
Before I can respond, Leo scuttles back into the living room on all fours, making his best impression of a tiger. Madison feigns a gasp, her eyes wide as she acts scared.
“Oh my goodness! A tiger is in your apartment, Roman! What do we do?”
Leo lets out a guttural belly laugh as he straightens up. “It’s just me, Madison!”
“Phew! Leo! I thought you were a tiger!” Madison places a relieved hand on her chest and then goes to sweep him up.
The world goes fuzzy at the edges as I watch them interact. Maybe I’m doing this to prove her wrong, but I wasn’t lying before. Seeing Leo bonding with someone in a way he never usually does is special. It does something to me, makes the ground beneath my feet feel firmer.
They both come alive in each other’s presence, and today, I want a front-seat ticket to it all. I want my boy to be happy, and he’s happiest when she’s here. I could never take that away from him now.
Madison is here to stay. I’m going to make sure of it.
I have my driver take us to Bronx Zoo, a fact that has Madison rolling her eyes. I don’t know what she expects. Maybe it’s not my wealth she’s rolling her eyes at — maybe it’s just my existence. That I can get any reaction from her at all will remain a feat, so I bask in my arrogance even once we get there, skipping the long queues and earning a wave of complaints behind me.
I pay them no heed, too busy trying to show off in front of a woman who clearly despises my every move.
“What are you doing?” Madison hisses, rushing to keep up with Leo, who is clinging on to her hand.
“Oh, Daddy doesn’t wait,” Leo says with a sincere shake of his head.
“That’s right, Leo.” I flash her a flirtatious smirk, unable to help myself. “Daddy doesn’t wait.”
“You’re insufferable,” she mutters, the insult quiet enough that Leo won’t overhear yet loud enough that I will. My son is already distracted by posters of giraffes, anyway, tugging Madison toward them. While I head to the ticket counter, she wanders with him, the pair animatedly chatting about the animals.
Despite my task, I linger somewhere between them and the counter, watching. I’ve never seen someone get along so well with Leo. Not even me, as much as it shames me. I don’t know what to do with this new swelling in my chest. I don’t know how to make it go down.
I’m not sure I want to.
I convince myself I’m only disconcerted because of the events of last night as I pay for our tickets, plus an extra fifty-dollar tip for letting me skip the queue. The attendant must recognize me because she can barely stutter out a word as she takes my money and offers a set of tiger-striped wristbands.
“Thanks.” Slipping my wallet into the inside pocket of my jacket, I head back towards this new, unlikely duo, wondering what on earth I’m doing. I should be working. Instead, I’m trying not to get tongue-tied around my son’s new nanny, clearly an unnecessary accessory in their fun little universe.
I’m a third wheel. There’s a first time for everything.
Leo is growling out, “Rawr!” like a dinosaur when I reach them.
I chuckle, crouching to help him put on his wristband. “Matches your T-shirt, bud.”
“Yay!” He twirls it around his arm, his eyes as fervent as though the cheap rubber material is made of diamonds. I forgot how easy it is to please him.
Probably because you don’t try often enough.
The voice scolding me isn’t mine; it’s Madison’s. I ignore it, straightening up and beckoning to her with my finger. “Wrist.”
She purses her lips and offers her arm. As I slip the band onto her hand, my knuckles brush against her silky, hair-dusted skin and goose pimples rise against my touch. I almost want to grin at the sight. I did that.
Professional, my ass. This woman wants me and she knows it.
I lock eyes with her pointedly, but she’s mastered a deadpan expression. I want to tell her it doesn’t matter. Even if she won’t react to me, her body will. And, oh, how it did last night.
“Okay. Let’s set some ground rules.” I rub my hands together, getting down to business. “No running off — either of you.”
The corner of her mouth twitches at that, just as I’d hoped it would.
“I think we can manage that, can’t we, Leo?” she asks.
