Rachel couldn’t help but stare as the girls snuggled up to him, talking over each other to provide a play-by-play of the story. She hadn’t realized she’d given Mick a test until he’d aced it, pointing out the characters on the screen and asking more questions.
During a pause, Mick glanced over at her. “Aren’t you going to join us?”
“Yeah, Mom.” Carly waved her over. “Come watch with us.”
“I’ll be just a minute.”
She hurried upstairs and put on a bra under her pajama top. Then, for good measure, she zipped on her University of Michigan hoodie. When she returned and slid into the empty spot near the arm of the couch, Carissa lifted the corner of the blanket. Rachel shook her head. As if she weren’t already too warm in the sweater, the image in her head of the four of them cuddled together—like a family—made her long for a breeze from the ceiling fan above them. The one the landlord still hadn’t fixed.
Mick pretended to be watching the movie instead of her, but the side of his mouth lifted in one of his annoying grins.
“You almost missed the best part, Mommy,” Carissa said.
“I like the part where the hero comes to the rescue, too.” Mick slid a glance Rachel’s way, still smiling.
“I’m sure you do.” Her frown did nothing to change his expression. “But not all princesses need to be rescued. Ariel saves Prince Eric from drowning. And Rapunzel heals Flynn with her magic hair and, later, with her tears.”
Rachel would have kept on listing if Mick’s grin hadn’t turned to a chuckle. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
“Drowning? Magic hair? What are you talking about?”
“Strong heroines. Forget it.” Guys like him probably would never understand the type of competent women she was encouraging her daughters to be. She turned back to the screen in time to see Prince Phillip give Princess Aurora what must have been one doozy of a kiss to awaken her from a coma. Just her luck that her daughters had chosenSleeping Beautywith the most passive heroine ever.
She peeked over to find Mick watching her again, still smiling.
“It’s bedtime, girls.”
After a chorus of whines, the twins trailed behind her toward the stairs. At the landing, she turned back to Mick, who sat on the sofa, the blanket still on his lap.
“How about I just call you tomorrow? We can look at the stuff on the computer then.” Since she had no intention of really phoning, she didn’t worry about the rest.
“I’ll wait.”
“Really. It’s late. And I have a lot of computer work to catch up on, so…” She hoped he would take the hint this time, even if she was the one reneging on the plan.
“Still, I think I’ll wait.”
Her jaw flexed at his closed-lipped smile. Who did he think he was, making this so hard on her? But she was stuck. The girls would think she was a worse villain than the evil Maleficent in the movie they’d just watched if she tossed their cool new friend out the door.
“Fine. Then stay.” She turned back to the twins. “Girls, tell Mr. Mick good-night.”
She ushered the girls upstairs for teeth brushing and chose not to rush with bedtime reading. If he got sick of waiting, he knew where the door was and how to use it. She hated to admit that a small part of her—unfortunately more Aurora than Rapunzel—hoped he would stay.
Chapter 8
Mick flipped the wall switch to light the rickety chandelier and rested in the one chair at Rachel’s table that offered a good view of the staircase. Then he folded his hands and waited. And waited.
By the time the stairs creaked, he’d already convinced himself she would stay up there until he shut off the lights and headed back to his apartment. Rachel stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She still wore those soft-looking pj’s, along with the unwelcome sweatshirt and bra that obscured the enjoyable silhouette from when he’d first arrived.
With folded arms, she watched him from across the room, tapping the tip of one fuzzy slipper with the toe of the other in a muffled beat. Then she walked over and gripped the back of the chair where her closed laptop rested.
“What was that about earlier? What did you mean, ‘I’ll wait’?”
He glanced down at the table and back up again to state the obvious that he’d done just as he’d promised. “I was going to askyouabout your sudden change of plans. Why were you trying to back out of showing me the emails?”
She shook her head as though even she wasn’t sure.
“Let’s get this over with, so you can go home, and I can get to bed.”
