Adequate? He should see my cramped apartment with water-stained ceilings. Chloe and I smiled at each other, both thinking the same thing before I responded to Miles. “It’s perfect, as is your home.”
“It doesn’t feel quite like my home. I’m used to living in a flat with views of the city,” he responded wistfully.
I got the feeling he wasn’t planning on making this his permanent residence. Which probably meant I would only be working for him for the year. As dreamy as it sounded to live in London, assuming he would even want me to continue working for him, I wouldn’t put my career over Chloe. Which meant Ineeded to learn everything I could in the coming months to make my resume shine.
As we walked up the floating staircase, the stairs made me nervous for Henry. They weren’t exactly child friendly. He could easily get stuck between the steps or possibly fall through with little effort on his part.
“We can play with my toys,” Henry informed me on the way up the stairs.
“What do you like to play?” I thought that was a good thing to know.
“Trains and puppets!” he shouted, making his voice echo through the open home.
“Henry,” Miles turned around, “what have I told you about shouting inside?”
Henry buried his head in my chest, unwilling to answer him.
Miles’s eyes filled with regret. “It’s hard for me to work if it’s noisy,” Miles felt the need to explain to me.
I kissed the top of Henry’s head. “We will get our shouts out outside, won’t we?”
Henry nodded his head against me.
Miles gave me a grateful smile before leading the way.
I was beginning to see how unprepared Miles was to raise a child. I could see why his sister thought it was important for him to care about someone else besides himself. I believed men in general were selfish by nature. Not to say they were that way on purpose, but for some reason, it seemed like women naturally were able to see what needed to be done and they intuitively knew how to nurture. For men, in my unfortunate experience, it was something they had to learn, and many of them chose not to. There were exceptions.Sawyer, for one, made Emma’s needs a priority. He could even anticipate her wants and needs before she expressed them. My father was another good example, but Mom said it took years for him to get that way. That’s how I saw Brad. He was becoming less selfish since Elliott was born.
I hoped Miles would allow Henry to change him.
I stopped in my tracks when we got to the nursery. The walls came alive with a scene of dancing trees, perched owls watching over the children, and an enchanted forest in the depths beyond. I even spied a tiny boat full of red-tailed foxes floating down a winding river.
Henry wriggled out of my arms and took Chloe’s hand to show her his collection of books and his wooden train set displayed on a large wood table. He showed Chloe how to push the train and make choo choo noises, and was delighted when Chloe mimicked him. His giggle was intoxicating.
Miles spoke, drawing my attention back to him. He kept his distance with his hands in his pockets. An unspoken uneasiness lingered between us. Maybe he was embarrassed for sharing so much about his family. Or perhaps he regretted telling me that he found me fetching.
“Do you think Chloe could watch Henry for a few minutes while I speak to you in my office?”
I didn’t think that would be an issue other than I feared to be alone with him. He made all my dormant senses flicker back on—like he pushed the power button on an old computer and my operating systems were slowly but surely coming back online. My brain was trying desperately to manually override the system. I didn’t have any use for flutters and raised pulses. I certainly didn’t need the longing for slow kisses. I had forgotten how much I missed them. I needed it tostay that way, but every time I looked at Miles, I found myself aching for warm lips—his lips.
No. No. I couldn’t afford to think like that. I wouldn’t think it.
“Sure,” I stammered, trying to get thoughts of kissing Miles out of my head. “Chloe, would you mind playing with Henry for a bit?”
She looked up from the train wreck Henry just initiated and grinned. “Nope.”
“Thank you, we won’t be long,” Miles added.
I followed Miles out the door and down the hall, taking note of all the black and white photographs of London that graced the walls. “Are these yours?” I asked.
Miles stopped and admired one of the River Thames. “They are. Myfriendtook these and gifted them to me before I left.”
Friend? Was this a woman friend? “Sounds like a good friend.”
He rubbed his lips together. “She can be when she chooses.”
So itwasa she. I got the feeling there was more to the story, but I didn’t ask. I was determined to not only keep our relationship all business, but I meant to keep him at arms-length, just like every other man in existence.
He gave the picture one more good look and sighed absentmindedly. “Shall we head to my office?”
