CHAPTER 8
Olivia
Friday
Ding!
Leah’s head pops up from looking at the Scrabble board at the same time mine does. We make eye contact and both jump up and go running for the kitchen.
It’s close but she beats me. It makes me feel good when I see her expression at how much fun she’s having. When she touches the oven door just before me we both burst out laughing, and she hugs me around the waist. I want to melt right there. She’s so cute and so perfect.
Ethan had told me he wanted a role model for Leah and he quickly backed up those words.
Ethan had to leave for a business meeting on Tuesday right after he offered me the position. Fortunately he’d left me with something of a get acquainted packet on my desk. It was definitely helpful, but nothing was more fun than passing time during the day with Leah.
I’d never met a kid who was so well behaved and so calm. I’d spend an hour or so going over the information Ethan had left for me and then would take a break for an hour or two to do things with Leah. I couldn’t imagine any better way to balance being a woman of the twenty-first century with my natural calling to just adore kids and want to spend as much time with them as possible.
But at the end of each day Ethan’s home assistant had come and picked up Olivia after the other assistants on the floor had left for the day.
I was amazed that he’d been able to keep Leah a secret while running his business. But the best part was I could tell he was certainly an involved father. I definitely didn’t want to pry with questions or look for answers, but in general conversation Leah mentioned certain things her and her dad did and how much she enjoyed it. Sure there were trips to exotic locations and things of the like, but also just a lot of little moments that she remembered. Things like walks along the beach, taking her out for her favorite birthday meal one year and then preparing it all by himself the following year. He’d even rearranged his schedule so he could be home more nights of the year in order to read her bedtime stories.
Ethan was literally too good to be true, both as a father and as someone I was more than ready to become romantically involved with.
We pull the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies from the oven and set them on a cooling rack.
But we can’t resist.
I pull one off and break it in half. We both blow on our pieces, trying to cool them and then burst out laughing again. We’re almost like sisters, which for me is perfect. I don’t want to assume anything that would resemble a motherly role with her yet. It’s not my place, especially considering I haven’t had enough time to see how Ethan interacts with her and his expectations for Leah and I’s relationship.
Sure, the role model part I get, but that can take a lot of different shapes and forms. I want to be sure I’m doing what he wishes when it comes to how I interact with his daughter.
And I still can’t get the idea of him having a daughter out of my head. She hasn’t mentioned anything once about having a mother. It’s strange. I almost wonder if he adopted her, but no way am I going to dig for information.
Ethan had texted me Tuesday night from Paris where he was giving a conference on American legal tactics. He asked me to babysit Leah for him. His words not mine, so I treated it as such.
The billionaire’s babysitter? I laughed to myself when he first asked me and the thought popped into my head.
We put the cookies on plates and take them back into the living room where we pick up with our game of Scrabble.
“Almost forgot!” I say.
I head back into the kitchen and pour two glasses of milk.
When I come back into the living room Leah claps uncontrollably. She’s got chocolate around the corners of her mouth and is absolutely beyond adorable.
A week ago I was spending my Friday night at home working my way through an entire quart of rocky road ice cream. I was nervous about my new job.
But from the moment I arrived it’s been smooth sailing…beyond my wildest expectations and more.
And who could have expected a week later I’d be sharing my chocolate with the cutest little girl ever. Last Friday my chocolate came in the form of ice cream in a box. Tonight it’s homemade cookies with Leah.
How did I get so lucky?
Leah drops an R on the board and spells out PERFECT.
I couldn’t think of a better word if I tried.