Josie bustled back into the room and started clearing the table, so I jumped up to help.
“Oh, you stop doing that, there’s no need. I’ve got this,” she scolded me gently.
I opened my mouth to protest and realized that this was her job. It was going to take time for me to get used to having help on call.
In fact, I was going to have to completely retrain myself during my stay at Chez Ashford, because the impulse to pitch in was part of my marrow. If I was the one to scrub out the greasy pots and pans, clean the litterbox, and mop the floor, there was nowayI could be considered an imposition. Folks would want to keep me around because I was just so darn helpful.
Logan pushed back from the table. “I need to follow up on some work stuff, but you two go have fun. Noey, why don’t you take Nina on a tour of the yard and show her your playset?”
“Okay!”
He hopped off his chair, leaned down to pet Ariel on the head, and then took off running.
“C’mon!” His little voice echoed down the hallway.
I glanced at Logan. “I’m assuming that you have a daily schedule for him, so maybe I should take a look?—”
“Not yet,” Logan interrupted. “I thought it might be better for the two of you to acclimate to this new normal for the week, to come down from the vacation vibes, and then we can map out his new schedule together.”
“Hold on, did you get body-snatched last night?” I joked. “You’re giving your over-scheduled son…free time?”
He smirked at me. “Please. It might come as a surprise, but I know when to listen to an expert.”
My cheeks went hot. Was that a full-on compliment?
“Okay then. I guess we’ll go have fun!”
“You do that,” Logan agreed.
We both paused, like we needed to address the Austen-inspired make-out session from the night before. But what was there to say?
That I had naked and sweaty dreams about him once I finally fell asleep?
Nope, I would definitelynotbe bringing that up.
It was best to keep all of that ridiculousness in my head, because a true relationship with Logan was surely impossible.
I needed to keep reminding myself of that fact, because the way he was smiling at me right now made me want to tear down all of my walls.
“What?” I demanded.
“I’m just feeling really positive about how things are going to go with Noah. For the first time in a long time, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for him.” His smile widened. “You, here? This is good.”
“Thank you. Agreed,” I replied quickly.
Yes, the way through my dumb attraction to my boss was to shift my focus to the actual reason I was under his roof.
“Neeeeenah!”
I laughed at the little voice echoing down to us. “Duty calls.”
“Have fun,” Logan said.
I found my way to where Noah was waiting for me.
“Come on!”
He opened the door and raced out to a field of grass that looked like it had been painted the perfect shade of green and precision-trimmed with scissors.
