Page 8 of Save Me
“Upstairs,” she answered. She set Chester’s case down inside the guest room.
“Not in here?” he asked, looking around.
“No, she likes it up there.” She started to reach for her daughter.
“I’ve got her,” Brock said easily, and he started towards the narrow set of stairs that led up to the loft.
She followed him and hid a smile when he had to duck at the top so he didn’t bump his head on the ceiling.
Emma’s bed was in the far corner and just watching the six-foot man make his way across the room entertained her. She was short enough that she didn’t have to bend over to walk around the loft area.
She stood back as he gently laid her daughter in the bed and then sat and removed her shoes.
“You’re good at this. Do you have any kids of your own?” she asked, already knowing the answer but needing him to say it. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out one of her daughter’s nightgowns.
“No, my sister Amber has two girls.” He stood back up and let her start removing Emma’s outfit.
“Right.” She nodded and felt like a fool. She’d met his sister and her family a few times. They’d come down from North Carolina and had spent time at the rental.
“This is a pretty cool play area,” he said, looking around. “Not for anyone over six foot, but for a kid, not bad.” He nodded. “We used this area for storage when we lived here.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “You… lived here?”
“For a summer.” He shrugged. “While Dad and I built the house.” He nodded to the window and the bigger home across the pool area.
“The two of you built the house yourselves?” She tucked her daughter under the blankets. Emma instantly turned and started sucking her thumb.
Crissy gently tugged the thumb out of her mouth and smiled when Emma jerked it back into her mouth.
“Yeah, along with my sister’s husband, Leo. Of course, Leo could only help out a few months when school was out. He’s a principal of a grade school.”
“Yes, I remember,” she said with a smile as she stood next to him.
Brock motioned for her to head down the stairs first. It was strange, being so close to a man again. Her entire body was very conscious of his at all times.
She’d felt an almost instant pull of attraction to him when he’d walked into the room at his parents’ place, something she hadn’t felt in years. She had been prepared to never feel it again. She was far better off denying her body and her needs. She hadn’t wanted to think about how she would react to any sexual scenario after…
She reached the bottom step and turned quickly to tell him good night, but she’d misjudged, and he bumped directly into her.
His hands went up to her shoulders to steady her as their bodies bumped together.
“Sorry,” he said under his breath. Her eyes snapped to his. They were a dark caramel brown. So unlike Carl’s or… anyone else’s she’d known.
She found herself instantly sinking deeper into them.
“For?” she asked, not really thinking.
Sadness washed over his features so quickly.
“Everything,” he answered, his voice cracking slightly. “Everything,” he said again with a shake of his head. Then his hands were gone from her shoulders, and he stepped away quickly, causing her to sway slightly. “I’ll…” He looked around. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He picked up his bag and disappeared into the guest bedroom, leaving her standing in the living room alone.
Since the month was up, the current guests were due to leave first thing in the morning. She knew that her evening wasn’t quite over yet. There was a large closet of freshly laundered linens in the main house, as well as the supplies she needed to clean the place. She left it up to the guests how often they wanted her to clean. Most guests enjoyed having a maid of sorts during their month-long stay. Some even preferred she cleaned every single day. She didn’t mind. It usually made the switch out easier, so she didn’t have to do a huge sweep in one day.
She also handled the paperwork and accounting side of the business, which kept her busy sometimes until late at night. She tended to do most of that work after Emma went to bed. Partially because it was quiet, but mainly because it took her a few hours to settle down herself. She needed distractions from her thoughts, and crunching numbers distracted her easily enough.
She usually sat on the sofa and used the small laptop to do all the work, but tonight she gathered everything up and disappeared into her own bedroom.
She could hear Brock moving around in his room, heard him talking softly to the cat. She wanted to tell him that he could let Chester roam freely, but figured she’d wait until the morning to do so.
