I woke up to the smell of something delicious cooking. I rolled over in bed with a groan, wondering where the smell was coming from. There was a chuckle from beside the bed.“I was just about to wake you up, but I guess I don’t have to now.”Carlton.I froze when I realized who the voice belonged to. Right, I’d slept over at Carlton’s place again, only instead of taking the guest room this time, I was in his bedroom. I opened my eyes and squinted in the light. The curtains had been pulled open, so the room was bright. Carlton was standing beside the bed dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of cotton pants, looking down at me. I blinked back up at him.“Um…”“Don’t worry, you didn’t wake up too late. I have breakfast here for you.”My eyebrows jumped up in surprise. This was a first for me. I’d never had breakfast in bed, and I couldn’t help feeling pleased. I sat up, and only remembered I was naked when Carlton’s eyes dropped to my chest and lit up with heat. My face warming, I brought the
Mom had said she’d come at night, but she surprised me by coming earlier in the afternoon. Luckily, by the time she got back, Lexi and I had already finished lunch and cleaned up, and we were in the office doing some more learning, fully dressed.“Should I go to the room?” Lexi asked nervously.We stepped out of the office, but she didn’t move far from the doorway, staring at it as if it would bite her. I shook my head.“There’s no reason for you to hide. I’m sure Dad must have told her about you, and I planned to let her know you’re babysitting for me, anyway. Have you ever met her before?”“Well, Dad has, but she didn’t go to your dad’s office as much as you and your brother did, and I missed her at the hospital when I went with Dad to see how Ken was doing.”“You can meet her, then. Come on.”I headed for the door, with Lexi following slowly behind me. I opened the door, and Mom was there with Sam. He was standing while she held his hand, and in her other hand, she held a bag.“I b
I looked up from my computer at Alec, who’d just walked into my office. I narrowed my eyes on him.“Is there something I can help you with?”“No, Carlton, you really can’t help me with anything. But Dad asked us to meet him for lunch today. I was wondering if you knew where he wanted to meet us?”I frowned. “What, he didn’t tell you?”Alec didn’t reply, and I took that to mean that he didn’t know. My frown deepened. I hoped Dad didn’t plan this, so we’d have to head over there together.“He sent it to me in a text. I’ll be heading out soon myself, so you can leave now if you want. You know dad will be there a few minutes late.”“Whatever. If you forget to send it, I’ll be back here.”I rolled my eyes and picked up my phone. I heard the office door open and close, and I knew he was gone. I looked through my texts to the message Dad had sent me this morning, saying that he wanted to see both me and Alec, and he’d cancel if either of us missed it. I ran a hand down my face, feeling stres
I made sure I had everything I’d need with me, then picked up Sam.“Are you ready to go out, baby?”Sam didn’t say anything, sucking on his fingers, and I patted his hair.“We’re going to have a lot of fun in the park, okay? Daddy already said it’s fine to get you a little ice cream, and it’s such a nice day out.”A few weeks had passed, and it was already over a month since I started babysitting, and it had hit me that in all that time, unless Carlton’s mom came to take him, Sam didn’t leave the house that often. I was too afraid to just take him out, though, so I’d asked for permission, and Carlton said it was all right. So, for the first time, I was going to have a park date with Sam.There was a park not too far away, and Carlton had left me with some money so I could take a taxi there and back. I’d already called for one, and it was waiting for us downstairs. I had a driver’s license, so if I’d had a car, I could have just driven us there, but when Carlton offered to leave the ca
Things at work weren’t getting any better. Alec’s deal was going ahead, and I still didn’t have information on it, even after two weeks. He outright ignored me when I wanted to talk to him, and he wasn’t even hiding that he was making deals without my permission anymore.People at the office were starting to talk and considering that kind of talk got to me fairly easily, I imagined they were losing respect for me at the office.I still had work to do, of course, but now, I mostly did it at home and let the people I was in contact with keep an eye on things at the office.Instead of soaking in misery, however, I was out on a date with Sam and Lexi at the park. She’d insisted on us having a picnic out, rather than stopping at a restaurant on the way, so I drove us there. Sam was in his baby seat at the back with the basket of food beside him, and Lexi took the shotgun seat.“Are we going to be getting ice cream today?” I teased.Lexi laughed. “With all the food we brought, will you even
When I woke up in the morning, I was disappointed to open my eyes and find myself back in my apartment. I would have been back at Carlton’s penthouse, if only school hadn’t opened up again. I couldn’t put it off. Thankfully, though, because his dad was doing well enough, between him and his mom, they could handle taking care of Sam.I still wish I was there.There was nothing I could do, though. I slipped out of bed and went to take a quick shower then got changed. I picked up my phone to check out my schedule for the day. I had enough time to catch breakfast before my first class of the day, and I headed out. I’d been back for a few days already, and I hadn’t talked to Carlton much in that time. He was busy with his family, and I could hear the stress in his voice when we did talk, so I didn’t want to bother him.I was bothered, though.“Lexi!”I looked up at the call of my name to find my friend waving me over from a few feet away. I called her friend, but really, we were more like
Dad sat behind the desk at his office for the first time in months. Just seeing him in that chair relaxed my heart a little, because some of this responsibility was off my shoulders. I’d done quite a bit of work up to now, and honestly, I was exhausted. Dad wasn’t ready to come back yet, not fully, but soon. At least he could help me out for now.Today wasn’t the best day to show just how weary I was, though. As soon as the door opened, I straightened up in my chair, even though I hadn’t relaxed since we walked into the office. I looked up to see Alec walking inside.“Alec,” Dad said. “Please, come in and sit down.”He didn’t sound nearly as impressed as he did the last time all three of us met together.Alec arched an eyebrow at seeing me there. I’d been out for the past three days finalizing things. A lot of the deals Alec took part in actually happened outside of the company, which was why it was hard to keep track of all of them. I’d managed to compile enough evidence, though, and
My heart was beating fast, in both excitement and anxiety. I was going out today with Carlton to have dinner. Unless some of the time at his apartment counted, when he would cook for me and I’d cook for him, then we’d eat together, we were going out on our first official date tonight. The trip to the park didn’t count, either, because Sam was with us, and he’d be with his grandparents for tonight.I walked out the bathroom after a shower, wrapped in a towel. I didn’t know where Carlton would be taking me for dinner, so I just looked through my closet and picked my best outfit. I quickly dried up then pulled on the clothes. I had a pair of silver sandals with a bit of heel that I didn’t wear often, because I didn’t like shoes with heels. I thought I looked good in the mirror.My phone rang, and I hurried over to the bed to pick it up. It was Carlton calling. My heart skipped a beat.“Hello?”“Lexi? Can you let me know if you’re about ready so we can go? I’m waiting for you outside.”“O