it seemed in there.” His voice is sardonic. Light streams through the doorway, casting his handsome face in sharp lines. His expression looks stern. It’s scary, enough to make my stomach turn to knots. And also somehow hot.
Warmth floods my cheeks. “I’ll figure it out.”
His lip quirks as if he knows what I’m thinking. “She’ll walk all over you.”
I lift my chin. “You hired me to do a job. Let me do it.”
His dark eyes flash. He likes me strong and defiant. For a moment it looks like he’s going to reach for me. Touch me. His hand actually rises. It’s inches from my face. Then it drops. “I’ll be in my study if you need me.” He pauses with a hard look. “Don’t need me.”
Then he’s gone, leaving me alone.
I walk back into the room with a small child who probably hates my guts.
This is not precisely a new situation for me. I helped the younger kids in foster care. That, along with a very nice letter from my social worker testifying to that, allowed me to get this job.
However, I only had to get them dressed and onto the school bus each morning. And get them fed after school and into bed. I didn’t have to actually teach them their lessons each day. And they were probably going to move to another home in a few months. It would be rare to stay together an entire year. The bar was a lot lower there, basically.
I examine the hoodie. It looks like it’s never been used. “This is the same color as community chest. That’s cool, isn’t it?”
“Nice try, lady.”
I drop the hoodie back into the drawer.
Yeah, it wasn’t going to be that easy. She’ll walk all over you.
“Listen,” I say to her. “I know you don’t have any reason to trust me right now, but I promise I’m on your side. I’m just here to make your life easier, really.”
Nothing.
Time to pull out the big guns. “I have a kitten in my room.”
She looks suspicious but interested.
“If you’re very gentle, you can pet her. And I’ll even let you name her.”
I take a page from Mr. Rochester’s book and head out of the room without waiting to see if she’ll follow. I don’t look back, but I do listen very carefully. Sure enough there’s the gentle swish of motion that lets me know she’s coming, too.
The kitten had seemed like a wet ball of fur and bones last night. Now she’s mostly wide eyes and large pointy ears. Her hair is a mixture of black, white, and caramel colors. She stands at the edge of the bed and meows when she sees us.
Paige lets out a sound of delight and drops to her knees by the bed. She immediately falls into baby talk. “Oh who’s a good little kitten, it’s you, it’s you, you’re so little and so sweet.”
The kitten leans forward and boops its nose against hers.
“Mr. Rochester—that is, Beau—he rescued her from the storm last night,” I say, hoping that it will win him some points with the child. He clearly needs them.
She doesn’t take her eyes off the kitten. “Maybe she didn’t want to be rescued. Did he think of that? No, of course not, he does whatever he wants. Like a man.”
I don’t bother telling her that the kitten had fallen off the cliff. That would only give her nightmares, probably. And I don’t tell her that the kitten might have frozen to death outside. She doesn’t need more thoughts of death in her life.
Besides, she isn’t really talking about the kitten right now.
She’s talking about herself.
“I’m sure he’s only trying to help,” I say softly, though in my mind I can still hear him saying, in the business world, she’s what we call a liability. Something I’m required to pay. An expense. A loan. The wrong side of the balance sheet. “Let’s go downstairs, and we can find something for the kitten to eat. What do you think she would like? And we can get breakfast for ourselves.”
Paige scrunches her small nose in concentration.
This is a pivotal moment. She wants to refuse anything to do with me, but she also wants to help take care of the kitten. Which one will win out right now? She scoops the tiny thing against her chest and stares straight ahead, all without saying a word.
I take that as a sign that I should lead the way.
Ironic, since I have no idea where the kitchen is.
I head