Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear - Leela Ash Page 0,48
know.
“Right here,” Theodore said, stepping into the room with Arizona balanced on one arm and Kal’s hand clutched in his other hand.
Carla beamed when she saw him. “You took them on your run?”
“Walk,” Theodore corrected. “Arizona didn’t want to get her shoes dirty running in the grass. So we had a neat, brisk walk up and down the sidewalk.”
Jessica grinned, “Arizona’s a little lady.”
Arizona began to struggle to get down and Theodore obligingly placed her on her feet. She ran up to Carla. “Are you all right?”
Carla nodded. “Please tell your mom I’m not hungry.”
Arizona peered with interest into the bowl of Wheaties then she dimpled at Carla, “Mommy says cereal will make me big and strong. Don’t you wanna be big and strong?”
Jessica looked up from smiling at the two kids and caught Theodore watching her with such an intense and personal look that her grin faded and was replaced, in an instant, with attraction. She shifted uncomfortably beneath the heat of his gaze. She truly didn’t want to feel things around Theodore. She didn’t want to feel his presence or his strength; she didn’t want to feel that hot lurch in her stomach when he gazed at her; she didn’t want to feel the desire that pooled easily between her legs whenever he was near.
“Is — Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed,” he told her.
Jessica returned her gaze to her task, trying not to think about how domestic it felt being here like this with him and the kids.
“Dad, can we have ice cream?” Carla asked.
“Yes, Dad, can we?” Kal echoed.
Jessica’s shocked gaze flew to Kal and then to Theodore. He didn’t seem to mind as he grinned at the kids. “Ice cream, coming right up.” Then he cast her a frowning glance, “Unless, of course, your mom says no. Then it’s out of my hands.”
Jessica’s heart was beating wildly. What was going on? The kids, in their innocence, were trying to push them together without even knowing what they were doing. She might be uncertain of a lot of things, but the one thing she knew was, that she didn’t want her kids getting attached to him only to have their hearts broken.
She lifted her head just then and looked at him, “Perhaps you should take Carla home. She would be more comfortable.”
He looked at her as though he was trying to read her mind, then he said, “She might be more comfortable but she would definitely be more miserable. At least, here, she has Kal and Arizona to keep her company.”
Jessica ground her teeth. She wanted to get her kids far away from him before they truly started seeing him as their father and got hurt when it inevitably came time to leave. “They can come visit at your place. Just take her home.”
Carla touched Jessica’s arm, “Am I bothering you, Mrs. Harris? I promise, I’ll be quiet from now on and eat my cereal when you say to. But please, don’t make me leave. I want to stay with you, Kal, and Ari.”
Jessica sighed. She would have to be the elder sister of the Wicked Witch of the West to deny a plea like that. She patted Carla’s arm. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re not being a bother. I was just … worried that you weren’t as comfortable here as you would be at home in your own bed.”
Carla beamed, “I’m very comfortable here. I promise, Mom.”
She heard Theodore’s indrawn breath and she chanced a glance at him. He was staring at her as though he had just realized something, something he didn’t like very much.
With a low growl, he left the room and Jessica sighed as she fed Carla the rest of the cereal and left the kids to watch their cartoons.
She found Theodore standing at the kitchen sink, staring out the window at nothing in particular. She walked around him, placing things in the sink and doing things to set everything in place.
“She didn’t mean it, you know? She was just being emotional,” she said finally, after he had cursed for the second time.
He turned to face her, “Didn’t she? And what about when Kal called me dad?”
Jessica shrugged. “They are kids. Fantasy is their forte.”
“Is it?” he demanded.
Jessica fell silent, having nothing else to say.
He sighed and walked toward her, to hold her shoulders in gentle hands. “Listen, Jessica, at this point, there’s no use denying that I’m wildly attracted to you, but I would never want to put you