“But it is against families with children,” he said, spreading his arms.
Belle’s eyes widened as the two youngest girls scampered over to Greg. They were dressed in identical outfits with patent leather shoes, knee-high white socks, white dresses, and little white-and-black cape jackets. To finish the look, they each sported a big white bow in their blond hair.
“Good morning, Ms. Belle!” they chorused sweetly.
I glanced over at Enola, who had not brushed her hair that morning and was sullenly holding a box of her things, and then at Annie who, along with several of my other sisters, was racing around, pretending to be a horse.
“Are those your children?” Belle asked Greg in horror.
“What? No, these are my long-lost sisters.” He bent down and scooped the two toddlers up in his arms. They snuggled against him.
Belle’s face softened.
Could this be the thing that brought them back together and made Greg slightly more tolerable to deal with?
“I’m here! I’m here.”
The front door banged open, and Tess stumbled into the lobby, weighted down by several large bags made out of fabric, festooned with neon-colored tigers and unicorns, and overflowing with stuff. One of the bags split, and pots and pans cascaded, crashing to the marble lobby floor.
I bit back a curse.
Tess scrambled around, trying to pick up her things as the girls helped. Well, tried to help. They were still in full-on horse mode and were trying to use their mouths.
“Why did you bring all of that?” I hissed as I tried to stop Annie from licking the floor.
“You’re taking my Friday night,” she argued, “and I need to stress bake. It’s my self-care.”
“I don’t want all of those pots and pans in my new condo,” I said stubbornly. Gone were my visions of a calm and serene all-white living space.
“Are you making cake?” one of the toddlers asked.
“Oooh, look at you in your little outfits!” Tess cooed, cake pans momentarily forgotten. “Aren’t they adorable?” She took out her phone, which was also bedazzled in the eye-watering neon colors of her bags. “I have to take a picture of you all; it is literally the cutest thing ever! There’s just something about a man in a suit with kids that really does it for me!” She snapped several pictures.
“Uh, Tess…”
She ignored me. But I couldn’t ignore Belle. I could practically see the frost creeping up the walls as Tess fawned over Greg.
“Did you dress them all by yourself?” she asked Greg.
“Of course,” he bragged.
“Well, your stock just went up. You’re going to have to beat the women off with a stick,” she said, touching his arm.
He gazed down at her. “I believe a man must not only be competent but excel at every facet of life.”
“I bet you do excel at every facet!”
The fuck?
My brother was not going to be flirting with my assistant. I was going to put a stop to that right now.
But Belle beat me to it.
“He doesn’t excel that well,” she said sharply.
Greg gave her a slight flash of teeth. “You didn’t seem to have any complaints.”
Tess looked between the two of them, realization dawning. “Oh. Ohhh! My bad, I didn’t realize that was your boyfriend.”
