“I missed you, Brooke,” Sydney said.
I closed my eyes and held her close as a pair of heavy footfalls approached the door.
“Come on, kids. Let’s let Brooke get inside,” Kevin said.
I looked up into his eyes and he smiled at me.
“Hey there, Brooke.”
“Hey there, Kevin.”
Staring into his eyes made my heart skip a beat. My palms began to sweat, and my knees grew weak. I set Sydney down on her feet and the kids took off, and I stood there staring at the beautiful man in front of me, with his button-down shirt clinging to his chiseled chest, and the dark washed jeans framing his sculpted ass. He offered his hand to me and I took it as fire shot through my veins.
He helped me up the last step into the house before he closed the door behind me.
The place was massive, but I honestly didn’t expect anything less. Sydney and Daniel’s voices echoed throughout the hallways as they yelled for me to follow them. I walked through the foyer and followed the smells of a wonderful dinner cooking.
Soon, we all sat down to eat, and the kids kept talking my ear off. They told me all about how Kevin had taken off work and they were out of school all week to be with him. They told me about the games of tag they’d played in the backyard and the outdoor concerts they’d gone to. How they went swimming and jumped into a hot tub and spent a day on the beach yesterday. They were beaming from ear to ear, trying to fill me in on everything I had missed.
It felt almost like a family.
“Sounds like you guys have had a good time,” I said.
“We missed you though,” Daniel said.
“Yeah. You should come to the beach,” Sydney said.
“Well, your father might not be working, but I am,” I said.
“Speaking of,” Kevin said. “Hold on a second.”
I watched him wipe his mouth before he got up from the table.
He walked over to his wallet and pulled out a check. He walked over to me, his fingers extending the little piece of paper. Relief flooded my veins that I wouldn’t have to find an awkward way to broach the subject during our nice visit.
But when I opened the check and saw how much it was for, I balked.
“Oh no,” I said.
“I should be giving you a lot more,” Kevin said.
“No. I’m not taking this,” I said.
“You are, and you will,” he said.
“Kevin, this is way too much. No. It’s not happening.”
He took my hands in his and my eyes whipped up to his face. He was completely serious. His eyes were set in stone and his face was hardened. He was actually about to hand me eight hundred thousand dollars for watching his kids for a week.
A damn week.
“You saved my daughter,” Kevin said. “What I should pay you is easily everything I’m worth.”
“I can’t take this,” I said breathlessly.
“You will. And if it isn’t cashed within the week, I’m tracking you down and handing you another check. And I’ll keep doing it until you do cash it. That’s my promise to you.”
I looked down at the little slip of paper in my hands that held the kind of money that could change everything for me.