throat. “What did you get up to besides masque testing?”
“Well, he didn’t want a nap after breakfast, so I found his stroller and the shady trail through the middle of your complex, and we went for a little run. I took some pictures of him at that park in the back, down by the beach. I’ll show you during dinner. He’s really photogenic.”
She noticed that? I smile. “Isn’t he? And my little ham loves the camera.”
“He really does. He giggled the whole time I was snapping shots of him.” Masey picks him up and cuddles him against her chest. “Then we had some lunch and he took a good nap. He woke up hungry, so I called my mom just to double-check with a medical professional. Since he ate his oatmeal with breakfast really well, she said I could safely try him on some banana. I hope that’s okay.”
“Did he eat it? He likes it in jar form, but…”
“He loved it. I cut him off after half because I didn’t want him to get sick, but I think it made his day. We rocked and played a little more, then he took another catnap. He just woke up again about thirty minutes ago.”
“Sounds like you two had a nice day. Really, I can’t thank you enough…”
“We had a great day, and you don’t have to. I hope you’re hungry. I cooked, not knowing…”
“Starved, honey.” I take my son from her arms and hand her the sauce spoon. Without even thinking, I lean in to kiss her. The whole scene seems so domestic I freeze.
“Good.” She frowns. “You okay?”
Do I tell her I’m weirded out…in a good way? Like I wouldn’t hate coming home to this every day? “Fine. You didn’t have to cook, but I’m grateful. Do I have time for a shower?”
“Yeah. This should be ready in twenty.”
“I’ll be out to set the table in ten. I’m surprised I had enough food in the house to cook.” I meant to hit the grocery store yesterday, but I ran out of time.
“You didn’t. I had some stuff delivered, so we’re all good now.”
“Wow, thanks again. I owe you so many favors at this point…” I shake my head, then lean in and whisper in her ear. “I hope you don’t mind if I repay you in orgasms.”
Her breath catches. “Not at all.”
“Glad to hear it.” I step away to set Ranger back on his blanket with his toys. If I don’t, I’m going to forget she’s cooking and that I’m too grimy for all the dirty thoughts running through my head. “Be right back.”
As I head down the hall, I wonder… Does Masey have any idea how much I’m aching to touch her?
Quickly, I shower. As I search for a clean change of clothes, I’m not that surprised to find that she made the bed and hung up all my clean laundry.
Was she bored? Is she simply meticulous? Or is she hoping I notice her domesticity? I’m not as uncomfortable with the last possibility as I thought I’d be.
As I’m shaving, I set my phone on the counter, launch YouTube, and search for her. Hundreds of videos pop up. Holy shit, she really has been dedicated to building this channel. Her number of followers staggers me. I want to see her in action.
Pressing on her most recent upload, I find myself mesmerized and smiling as she welcomes everyone back to her channel and chats through an upbeat intro about the fact she’s packing to head to Hawaii, but she’ll still be keeping her upload schedule, even on vacation. Then she launches into a full-face tutorial of new products from some brand that’s obviously not from the drugstore. I’ve never heard of it; she even admits it’s bougie. She states the price of each product as she displays it, opens it, and begins to apply it.
Now she gets serious and very straightforward about how it feels, smells, and works. She says she’s not in a position to wear the full face and film her experience that night, but she will update the description box with her feelings about the products’ performance. I pause while dragging my razor over the day’s stubble on my jaw and hit the arrow to open whatever comments she added later. Sure enough, she indicated that some products wore great. Others not so much. At the end, she typed that she would wear them again before the month was over, then wrap up her thoughts in her