jammed her feet into the flip-flops she’d worn to the pool, grateful she’d at least had time to change out of her swimsuit, and followed Seth out into the hall. The elevator opened immediately—thank God—and they plunged inside the empty compartment. He jostled his restless son while she made shhh, shhh, shhh soothing sounds for Olivia, who was now hiccupping. But at least the little girl wasn’t crying.
The floors dinged by, but not fast enough. The doors parted and the elderly couple they’d seen on their way down to breakfast stepped inside.
Dressed to the nines in jewels and evening wear, the woman wasn’t carrying her canvas bag made by her grandchildren, but she still radiated a grandma air. She leaned toward Olivia and crooned, “What’s the matter, sweetie? Why the tears?”
Lines of strain and worry pulled tighter at the corners of Seth’s mouth. “She shoved something up her nose,” he said curtly, his gaze locked in on the elevator numbers as if willing the car to move faster. “We’re headed to the E.R.”
As if sensing her dad’s intent, Olivia pressed her face into Alexa’s neck.
The grandmother looked back at her husband and winked knowingly. The older gentleman, dressed in a tuxedo, reached past Alexa so quickly she didn’t have time to think.
He tugged Olivia’s ear. “What’s that back there behind your ear, little one?” His hand came back around with a gold cuff link in his palm. “Was that in your ear?”
Olivia peeked around to see and like lightning, the grandmother reached past and swiped her finger down Olivia’s nose. A white button shot out and into the woman’s hand. She held it up to Seth’s shirt. A perfect match. They hadn’t even noticed he was missing one from near his neck.
Surprise stamped on his handsome face, Seth stuffed the button into his pocket. “She must have pulled it off when I picked her up by the pool.”
Alexa gasped in awe at how easily the couple had handled mining the button from Olivia’s nose. “How did you two manage that so smoothly?”
The grandpa straightened his tuxedo bow tie. “Lots of practice. You two will get the knack before you know it.”
In a swirl of diamonds and expensive perfume, the couple swept out of the elevator, leaving Alexa and Seth inside. The doors slid closed again. She sagged back against the brass rail. Relief left her weak-kneed all the way back to the penthouse floor while Seth called downstairs on his cell to cancel their ride to the E.R.
Stopping just outside their door, he tucked his phone in his pocket and slid a hand behind her neck. “Thank you.”
“For what? I feel like I’ve let you down.” The emotions and worry after the scare with Olivia had left her spinning. She could only imagine how he must feel.
“Thank you for being here. Chasing these two is more challenging than flying a plane through a thunderstorm.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “My family tells me I’m not too good at asking for help. But I gotta admit having an extra set of hands and eyes around made things easier just now.”
His emerald-green gaze warmed her along with his words. Given her history with men, the whole trust notion was tough for her. But right now, she so desperately wanted to believe in the sincerity she saw in his eyes. She felt appreciated. Valued as a person.
Giving that much control to another person scared her spitless. “You’re welcome.”
She thought for a moment he was going to kiss her again. Her lips tingled at the prospect. But then he glanced at the two children and eased back. “Let’s get the diaper bag so we can move forward with our night out on the town.”
Blinking fast, she stood stock-still for a second, barely registering his words. They still had a whole night ahead of them? She was wrung out, as if she’d run an emotional marathon. With her defenses in the negative numbers, an evening out with Seth and his children was too tantalizing, too tempting a prospect. Hell, the man himself was too tempting. Not that she had the choice of opting out.
She just really hoped the evening sucked.
* * *
The evening hadn’t sucked.
In fact, Seth had followed through with the perfect plans so far, starting off with a gourmet picnic at a park near a seventeenth century fort by the harbor. The children had toddled around, eaten their fill and gotten dirty. So precious and perfect and far more normal than she would have expected.
Then Seth had chartered a carriage ride through the historic district at sundown. Olivia and Owen had squealed with delight over the horse. And the last part of the outing hadn’t ended in a half hour as she’d expected.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
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