I won’t let them down.Her vow didn’t chase away all her confusion surrounding Christian, but it would have to be enough for now.
A week into their arrangement, Hallie stood in Christian’s empty kitchen while the girls were at school, piping purple macaron batter into circles on a baking sheet. She’d texted him a few hours ago for permission to use his oven to test a new recipe she’d created. Her food handler’s permit only allowed her to sell products baked in her own kitchen, but it didn’t prevent her from experimenting elsewhere.
And as her own countertops were currently occupied with supplies for his cake order and the Hawthornes’ Halloween party, Beej, Kendall, and McKenzie were already threatening to force her out of the house if she tried to cram one more thing into the kitchen.
They wouldn’t really, but Hallie sympathized with how annoying her business could be for her roommates.
Taylor Swift’s musical genius accompanied her while she worked, and she stopped piping batter long enough to turn up the volume on her phone. Mumbling along to the lyrics, she bopped her head to the beat as she returned to her task.
There was something freeing about being here alone. She thrived on rational, logical conclusions to all of life’s problems. It had served her well.
Yet lately, that personality trait had fled to who knew where, leaving chaos and confusion in its wake. Her feelings for Christian were anything but rational, and the speed at which she’d become attached to his girls after insisting she couldn’t relate to them didn’t make any sense at all. Even her struggling business and lack of job prospects were giving her more unresolved questions and not enough answers.
But none of that mattered in this empty kitchen. The girls still had a few hours left of school, and Christian wouldn’t be home fromwork until at least five. For the moment, Hallie could do what she loved with no complications.
With the baking sheet full, she set the piping bag down on the granite countertop. She added a little shoulder shimmy to her head bop as she slid the macarons inside the oven. After setting the timer on the stove, she moonwalked over to the table to pick up the bowl of French buttercream she’d whipped up earlier.
Her movement brought her attention to the rest of the room, and her heart skidded to a stop at the figure leaning against the entryway between the kitchen and living room.
“Christian!” She pressed a hand to her chest to suppress the sudden panic surging through it. The bowl clattered back onto the table. “You’re not supposed to be here. I mean, you’re allowed to be here, of course. It’s your house. You just … surprised me.”
He splayed his hands out in apology, though his mouth stretched into the widest grin she’d ever seen on his face. “Sorry to startle you. But I have to admit, that reaction was probably my favorite ever.”
She tossed a side eye in his direction, which lost its edge as he sauntered into the kitchen, his steps transforming effortlessly into a flirty cha cha, complete with flowing arm movements. Hallie’s eyes slid to the rhythmic sway of his hips before she caught herself and snapped her focus back to the charm decorating his handsome face.
The dancing world was robbed of a lot of talent. She could watch him all day, as evidenced by the rabbit hole she’d fallen down last week while obsessively stalking every YouTube video she could find of him. But seeing him dance in person was so much better. It was like a private show meant only for her. One she didn’t intend to share.
Boundaries, Hal.Yes, she needed to remember them. Now that Christian was paying her to watch his kids, she had more reason to keep her feelings in check. If the rest of her red flags didn’t do the trick, the ethical ramifications of getting involved with a man who was technically her boss absolutely had to.
He added a casual spin to end his performance, complete with popping the collar of his pressed white dress shirt. “Oh, yeah, I’ve still got it,” he said with a cheeky smirk.
He certainly did. A little too much.
And not only with his dancing skills. She shouldn’t enjoy seeing him like this. He almost seemed like a different person since she’d started watching the girls. Like he didn’t constantly have the weight of the world on his shoulders. She wasn’t naïve to think that his troubles were over simply because she’d eased this one burden, but she had to admit, it was nice seeing him lower his guard a little.
And she couldn’t stress enough how much she loved his smile. He could woo any woman he wanted with the level of charm he displayed now. If only she could be that lucky lady.
She was playing with fire by even entertaining the idea.
Space. She needed space.
Stepping around him, she made a beeline for her phone to pause the music. “With moves like that, I find it hard to believe you weren’t the one that hung the disco ball in my bedroom.”
“I already told you. Brad did that.”
“Uh huh.” She willed her face to cool down. “What’s the real story?”
He chuckled, the lighthearted response disarming her further. “He put it up the day after watching one of my performances on campus. We did this disco number to Bruno Mars complete with a white, sequined bodysuit. I didn’t live that down for weeks.”
“Oooh, I saw that one.” Hallie almost slapped her hand to her mouth.
Christian arched an eyebrow. “Uh … what?”
She wasn’t about to admit that she’d watched that video three times because of the amount of screen time he’d received. That information was classified.
“So Brad loved it so much he honored you with a disco ball?”
Each second he studied her turned up Hallie’s internal thermostat. She avoided eye contact, afraid that if she looked at him, he’d be able to tell how hard she was working to keep her feelings from showing.
