“Has Maisie never spent time with her alone?” I knew that for a five-year-old like Maisie, transitions could be hard, especially one involving a mom she hadn’t seen for nearly a year. But Dylan was acting like Veronica had never visited Maisie.
“She’s always stayed in town. Here, usually.” He gulped the rest of his drink and poured another glass.
“Here?” I supposed for Maisie that was a good situation, but it seemed odd to me that his ex would stay with them in his house.
“I know how it sounds, but it was easy and I could keep an eye on Maisie.”
“That makes sense. I suppose it was like old times.”
He looked at me. “I won’t deny that Veronica and I sometimes shared a bed then—”
I flinched. I hadn’t meant that. It hadn’t even occurred to me, although now it made more sense why he wasn’t interested in getting involved with another woman. I wondered if seeing Veronica with Leo upset him beyond Maisie. Was Dylan secretly hoping to reconcile with his ex-wife?
“––But it was never like old times. We were never a family. Not really.” He sipped his glass and walked into the living room. “Let me get you your check.”
I nodded and watched as he went up the hall to his office. I let out a breath and sat on the couch to wait for him. I pulled out my phone to check on any messages my roommates or parents might have sent, but there were none. I opened my email, but there was only spam.
“Here you go.” He sat next to me and handed me the check.
I put my phone on the table and took the check, noting a full week’s pay even though I wasn’t working a full day today. “I didn’t work all day today.”
“No, but you deserve it. Thank you for taking care of Maisie’s packing.”
“Of course.” I watched him as he lay his head back on the couch. “You okay?”
“Not really. I mean, I know she’ll be fine, but I hate being away from her, you know?”
“Yes.”
He turned his head to me. “Do you think it was over the top to buy her a phone?”
I smiled. “No, not really.”
“You do. You think I’m an overprotective father.” He said it with amusement.
“I think it told Maisie that you understood she might be apprehensive and gave her a link to you. And you did it to help you feel better about it.”
“You should be a shrink, not a teacher.”
I shrugged. “I thought about it, but more school means more money.”
He straightened. “Is money really a problem? You can get loans. I had a few when I went to college.”
“I have some already. I plan to be a teacher, which doesn’t pay well, and so I don’t want to get into a situation in which I can’t live because all my pay goes to loan payments.”
“Good point. I’d hate to lose you. Maisie will too.”
His words warmed me. I knew he appreciated my work, but there was something more personal. Like he and Maisie liked me as a person.
His smile fell. “I hope Veronica doesn’t get any ideas.”
I wasn’t sure how we got to my babysitting to his ex. “About what?”
“About taking Maisie.” He shook his head. “Nah, she’ll see that Maisie still takes a lot of time and send her home.”
“You think she’d try to keep her?” My heart stalled in my chest. It was hard enough to think about leaving them in the fall, but to have her plucked out from under me now––I wasn’t ready.
“She said something about wanting to settle down. Don’t get me wrong, I want her to be a part of Maisie’s life, but Maisie is mine.” He looked at me. “Does that sound selfish?”
“Maybe a little, but I understand. I’d feel the same in your shoes.”
He sighed and rolled his shoulders. He still looked a bit agitated. I reached out and rubbed his shoulder.
“You’re tight and tense. I can give you a massage.”
He arched a brow. “Babysitter and masseuse?”
“It will make up for the extra you paid me. I’m good at it. Just ask my roommates. I give them shoulder massages all the time.”
He shrugged and turned his body so that his back was to me. I moved to my knees behind him and pressed my hands on his shoulders. They were thick and hard and hot. His scent was warm and manly. Immediately, I felt adrenaline surge through me.
Working to distract myself from the excitement of touching him, I said, “Now you have time for yourself. What are going to do this weekend?”
He laughed. “I don’t know.”
“Do you have a hobby? Maybe a potential hot date?” I hoped he didn’t have the latter.
He scoffed. “No hot date.”
I bit my lip, not sure I should ask the question I was thinking. At the same time, I was dying to know. “Did you and Veronica really stay together when she’d visit?”
He looked at me over his shoulder with a smirk. “Interested in my sex life, Tessa?”
My blood heated, although I wasn’t sure if it was in embarrassment or his asking if I wanted to know about his sex life. Either way, my question was inappropriate.
“Forget I said—”
“We would occasionally hook up when she was in town. Not for a long time, though. No, these days I’m celibate. Maybe I could become a monk this weekend.”
I snorted. “I don’t think Monks are as ripped as you.”
He grinned. “You noticed I’m ripped?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you buy your clothes one size too small on purpose?” I poked him on his bicep, which filled the sleeve of his polo shirt like the Hulk about to bust out of his clothes.
He held up his arm. “You’d never know I was the skinny kid that got beat up a lot, would you?”
“Is that true?” I gaped at him.
He sucked in a breath as if a bad memory came back to him. He put his arm down and turned his head forward again. “Yep. How about you?
