He led the way.
He actually smiled.
He interacted with the kids.
He didn’t get angry or even raise his voice in front of them. He didn’t offer Austin to the monkeys or try and feed Noel to the tiger who kept prowling from one end of the cage to the other.
All in all, it was a good day.
The time pretty much vanished, and they got back to Curtis’ house right before four. Lexi knew that his sister was due to pick up the kids at five, so she made herself busy packing up their bags, taking down the playpen, gathering everything up. It was a mountain of stuff, and instead of helping her, Curtis actually watched the kids in the living room while she carted it all down. He was pretending to be helpful, but secretly, she thought it was payback of his own for her little stunt.
She was sure she was red in the face when she was finished, and she walked into the living room, huffing and puffing. The kids were engrossed watching a cartoon on a tablet. Of course, Curtis probably had a hundred of them lying around. Of course, he was letting technology do all the work for him. She should have known he wouldn’t actually be interacting with them.
Noel and Austin were on the couch and Curtis was on the loveseat. She didn’t want to sit next to him, but she couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to razz him one more time. At least, that’s what she told herself she was doing when she took the seat right next to him. She definitely was not doing that just to try and see if some of his delicious body heat or his exotic, crisp male scent would reach her. No. Not at all.
It also wasn’t because she was feeling particularly tender after watching Curtis be half decent with the kids at the zoo or nostalgic about anything, irrational or otherwise. But something was malfunctioning, some chemicals in her brain. She needed to retreat, but instead, she waged war. Retreat wasn’t exactly her style.
“Today was pretty fun,” she said in hushed tones. Neither of the kids glanced up from their tablet. “I had a good time. So did the kids.” Curtis didn’t say anything. She didn’t turn to look at him. It was part of her strategy and not because she was afraid what looking at him in this strange moment might do to her. Also, not because she was afraid to see an ounce of softness for those two kids written into his godlike features. “Are you going to be sad to see them go after all?”
Curtis snorted. She refused to look though to see if he was just being an asshole or not. Probably not. He was just one of those guys that actually hated kids. One of those really crazy strange beings that were probably from another planet. “Not a chance.”
“Yeah right. You’re cracking. Admit it. I can tell you had fun today. You’re probably secretly eager to look after the kids again.” She did turn that time, to try and gauge Curtis’ reaction.
“Hell no,” he said with a perfectly straight face. His broad shoulders rose and fell like eye candy. Like he knew exactly what he did to her just by breathing. He’d also worn a pair of faded, old jeans that looked more suited for work around the house or in the yard or something. They were absolutely edible. He made edible denim a thing. In short, he was gorgeous. The zoo animals couldn’t hold her attention the way Curtis did throughout the day. “I’ll be glad when they’re gone.”
Of course, he had to be an asshole and ruin all of it. All those good looks, that gorgeous body, that otherworldly allure, were wasted on him because Curtis James was an asshole. She’d slipped up and for a few hours, she’d forgotten. He was there to remind her, in hushed tones so the kids wouldn’t hear, that she was a moron of the worst variety.
She wanted to say more, to try and convince him- and herself- that he was just playing her, just trying to piss her off, but the doorbell rang, sending its chiming peals through the house. It sounded different. Expensive. Of course, it was expensive. It was installed next to the gates and it had a camera on it, she’d noticed that much when she’d first arrived here.
A couple of minutes later, a gorgeous goddess, obviously related to Curtis because she was tall, statuesque, and looked like a female version of him with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes, swept into the room.
She went straight to the kids. Noel jumped off the couch, screaming the word, mom, over and over again. Austin raised his hands and screamed the word too. Apparently, he did talk. Of course, mom was in his vocabulary, even if nothing else was.