The next morning, she found herself waffling over what to wear for the first time in ages. It wasn't that she didn't normally take pride in her appearance, but today Maxwell would be seeing her, and she felt the need to dress even nicer.
Finally deciding on a hunter green shirt with a lace detail on the back and a black skirt, she dressed quickly. The green in the shirt brought out her eyes, causing the tiny gold flecks in them to sparkle. After a small dab of lip gloss for a little sheen, she headed out the door, Bible in hand.
Her heart began ramping up its acceleration as she pulled into Max’s driveway, and her hands suddenly felt slicker than usual. What was going on with her? Why was she letting him affect her this way? She took several deep breaths on her way to the front door to try and calm her speeding heartbeat.
The door swung open just a minute after the doorbell chime had ended and Max stood on the other side in a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt that stretched across his well-formed chest.
“Good morning, you look beautiful,” he said, swinging the door wider for her to enter.
She would take that as a compliment, but with his track record, he probably said that to every woman, even if they showed up in sweats. Still the look in his eyes sent a heat searing across her face as she stepped inside. “Thank you. You do as well.”
His eyebrow raised at her as he glanced down at his casual dress, and her face flamed.
“I mean thank you.” The smile on his face annoyed her. He was taking too much enjoyment in her discomfort. “Is Peyton ready?”
“Yes, she’s in the kitchen finishing breakfast.”
As Max led the way, Alyssa forced herself to focus on anything other than his physique. She didn't like him knowing he affected her.
Peyton sat at the table dressed in a pretty pink summery dress, but her hair was a mess. Tangles caused it to bunch together on one side, and on the other side, strands stuck out willy-nilly.
“Did you comb her hair at all?” Alyssa asked as she took in the disheveled appearance.
Max shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how, and she didn’t seem to want me to…” he trailed off.
“You can’t let her make the rules. She’s three. Come on Peyton.” Grabbing the tiny hand, Alyssa propelled her down the hallway and to the bathroom. Once there, she grabbed the brush off the counter and slowly brought it through Peyton’s thick hair.
“Ouch.” Peyton’s hand covered her head in an attempt to thwart Alyssa.
“Hold still. You can’t go out looking like a ragamuffin. Your mother would beat me if I let you do that.”
The mention of her mother calmed her down, and Peyton dropped her hands. Alyssa smiled up at Maxwell as she continued brushing. “See? That is how you win.”
“I have a lot to learn,” he said, shaking his head.
Max smiled as he watched Alyssa finish cleaning Peyton up. She was cute when aggravated and even cuter when embarrassed. What was he thinking? He couldn't think about her like that. For one thing, she was a total Bible thumper, which would never work with his lifestyle, but he also needed her to help with Peyton, which meant he needed her to stay around, and he never let women stay more than one night. They got too clingy.
“Okay, I think we’re ready,” she said as she exited the bathroom.
Max smelled something sweet as she passed, some perfume that flooded his senses and sent his heart thumping. “Have fun.” He meant it as a joke as he couldn’t imagine church being fun, but she turned and smiled at him.
“We will.”
Then they were gone, and the house was quiet. Max headed to the bathroom to take a shower before curling up on the couch to watch some sports. Football was over for the year, but he found a baseball game and settled back.
It didn't hold his interest though and after flipping the channels for a few minutes, he turned off the TV and wandered into the kitchen. He wasn't really hungry, but he made himself a couple of eggs, toast, and coffee to kill some time.
When the food was gone, he washed the plate and checked his watch. 11:15. He had no idea how long church services lasted. How weird that the house felt different without Peyton in it now. Normally, he would relish the solace of a quiet Sunday morning. Of course, he would usually be finishing a late breakfast with a date and then kissing her goodbye at the door right about now.
He moseyed down the hallway to Peyton’s room and pushed open the door. Her few toys were scattered around, and he picked them up, placing them in the toy bin they had purchased. As he surveyed the room, he remembered the paint they had picked up. He could paint the walls while they’re at church and have a surprise for Peyton when she returned. Plus, it would show Alyssa that he was trying.
After muscling the furniture to the center of the room, he grabbed the paint and rollers from the garage and headed back to the room.
The pink Alyssa picked wasn't too bright, and though he never thought he’d be painting his walls pink, he found he didn't mind it too much.
The doorbell rang before the job was finished. Placing the brush on the open can, he headed to the front door, checking his watch as he walked. 12:30, good to know.
“We’re back,” Alyssa said as he opened the door. “I see you’ve been busy.”
“What?” He looked down and noticed paint splotches on his shirt. Good thing it wasn't one of his favorites. “Oh yeah, I thought I’d make myself useful while you guys were out. I didn’t quite finish though.”
“Hi, Max,” Peyton said as she entered the house. “We went to church.”
“Yeah, I know. Did you have fun?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did you manage to get any on the walls?” Alyssa’s laugh was sweet, and the teasing glint in her eyes made her even more beautiful.
“I think I have done a good job so far.” He crossed his arms and stuck out his chest. So what if he had a little paint on his shirt? He hadn’t painted in years.
“Would you like some help?”
Max eyed her skirt and dress shirt. “You aren’t really dressed to help.”
“Well, I’m sure you have another old shirt and some sweats I could borrow, right?”
He had never let women wear his clothes, but the thought of Alyssa in them sent his heart racing. “Yeah, I can probably find something.”
“Good. Is it okay if I lay Peyton down in your room since we’re painting hers? She's already had lunch, and she was dozing off in the car.”
Max quickly ran through a mental memory of his room. Was there anything out he wouldn’t want Alyssa to see? Since he liked it clean and simple and was generally good at putting things away, he was almost positive it would be fine. “Sure, come on.”
He led the way, trying to brush away the image of Alyssa in his room for other reasons. As she laid Peyton in his king-sized bed, he grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweats from a drawer for her. “I’ll let you get changed, and I’ll go find another brush.”
After scrounging in the garage for a few minutes, Max returned to Peyton’s room, another brush in hand. Alyssa stood there, his clothes hanging off her lean frame but looking sexy nonetheless. “Here.” He shoved the brush in her hand and turned back to the wall he was painting, trying to get the image of her out of his mind.
If she were any other woman, he doubted they would be getting much painting done, but Peyton was asleep in his bed, and there was something about decorating a kid’s room that dampened the desire. Besides, Alyssa had been a help with Peyton, and he’d hate to lose that help.
The painting went much faster with her helping, and an hour later the room was done.
“You’re a messy painter,” she said as she smiled at him.
“What do you mean?” He looked at his side of the room. It didn't look any different than her side.
“You have paint on your face.” Alyssa reached a hand out and touched his cheek, sending a tremor down his spine.
Max covered her hand with his as their eyes locked. Kissing her would be a bad thing, but
he couldn't seem to tell his body that.
“Max.” Her voice was low and throaty with emotion. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Her hand slipped out from under his, leaving a cold and empty feeling where it had been.
“Aunt Lyssa?” Peyton’s voice carried down the hallway and Alyssa hurried from the room to attend to her. Sighing, Max ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration before replacing the lid on the paint buckets and taking the brushes to the kitchen to wash them out.
As the water ran over them, sending swirls of pink paint down the drain, his mind returned to the previous moment when he had been alone with Alyssa. What was it with her? Why did she keep affecting him when he clearly knew how wrong they would be?
He was so lost in thought, he nearly dropped the brushes when Alyssa and Peyton entered a moment later. She had changed back into her church outfit, a sure sign she was leaving, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
“I have to go study, but I’ll be back this evening to help put her to bed.” Alyssa said. “Do you think you can manage not to screw up too badly in” –she checked her watch— “four hours?”
“Haha. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Good, I’ll see you then.” She bent down to Peyton's eye level. “Be good for Max, and I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay, bye Aunt Lyssa.”
“Bye Peyton. Bye Max.”
He flashed a wave goodbye as he took the brushes out of the sink and laid them on a towel on the counter. “I have to make a few calls, Peyton. Do you want me to put on a movie for you?”
She scrunched her face as she thought about it. “No, I’ll just play in my room.”
“Okay, don’t touch the walls though. They're still wet.” As she wandered off down the hallway, he finished patting the brushes to dry them some. Raising a kid isn’t that hard. I can do this.
He picked his phone up off the charger and googled a nanny agency. None were open on Sundays, but thankfully one had a call service that took his message and assured him they would send nanny candidates to his doorstep the next morning. His next call was to Justin to fill him in on the plan.
“A day’s fine, but don’t get dragged into this ‘dad’ thing. You don’t want to get tied down yet.”
“That’s not happening,” Max said, but as he hung up the phone, he wondered if being tied down would be so bad. Having Alyssa around had been rather nice, even though she was kind of a pain sometimes.
With nothing left to do and time on his hands, Max collapsed on the inviting leather sofa and flicked on the television. Golf was on, but he was not a huge fan. News and reruns didn't grab his attention either. Another click landed him on some movie channel. He left it there for lack of something better, but soon found his attention focused on it.
The movie followed a philandering man who suddenly woke up with a wife and kids and found himself a poor preacher rather than the rich business man he was at the beginning. At first the man was angry and wanted to get back to his original life, but as the movie progressed, the man found a fulfillment with his wife and kids that he never had with his job, and he wanted to stay in the new life.
The similarities were not lost on Max, and he leaned forward, engrossed in the story.
“What are you doing?”
He jumped at the sound of Peyton's voice. How had he missed her entering the room? She was like a tiny ninja. “I’m watching a movie," he said patting the couch beside him. "Do you want to finish it with me?”
Peyton pursed her little lips, but climbed up beside him. Max found himself wishing there was more left in the movie as the feeling of Peyton sitting beside him was enjoyable.
“Max, do you want to color with me?” Peyton asked, when the movie ended.
Max couldn't remember the last time he colored or the last time he thought it sounded fun, but he agreed and joined Peyton at the dining room table. She handed him a book filled with dogs, and he picked up a crayon.
As his crayon moved over the paper, he wondered if he could be happy like this. Could he get used to a life with Peyton in it full-time?
“You like coloring?” she asked.
“I like coloring with you,” he said, smiling.
After they finished, she asked him to read her a book and play dolls with her. Though completely out of his comfort zone, he stretched out on the floor and held one of her dolls while she created a fantastical story about them. He caught most of it, but a few of her words were still hard to understand.
At six on the button, the doorbell chimed. Alyssa stood on the other side, holding bags of grocery food. “I looked in your fridge last night and noticed you didn’t have a lot of fresh ingredients. I thought I could bring some over and cook dinner.”
Max had never let a woman use his kitchen, but he stepped back, allowing Alyssa to enter. She handed him a few bags and, after shutting the door, he followed her into the kitchen.
“Aunt Lyssa. We’re playing dolls, wanna play?”
“Dolls, huh?” She raised an eyebrow at Max as she set the bags on the counter. He shrugged. “I would, sweetie, but I’m going to make us some dinner. How does spaghetti sound?”
“Yay, pasgetti.” Peyton ran off with her doll, leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen.
“Do you know how to make it?” she asked Max. “It’s a kid staple, so you should learn if not.”
“I think I can handle boiling some water,” he said as he grabbed the large pot from the bottom cabinet. He filled it with water and placed it on the stove.
“Good, though there’s a little more to it than that.” She began pulling out groceries and putting them away in his fridge and his pantry.
He watched her, unsure of what else to do. Part of him wanted to tell her to stop, that this was his kitchen, but the other part of him enjoyed watching her shuffle ingredients around, as if she’d cooked here a million times.
When the water began to boil, she handed him the spaghetti strands and then began opening up cupboards.
“What are you looking for?”
“A skillet to brown the meat.”
He reached into the bottom cupboard and pulled one out. Their gazes locked as he handed it to her. The moment drug out until she shook her head as if mentally breaking the connection.
“Thank you. Can you get me the hamburger meat?” She pointed to a package of ground beef on the counter.
He handed it to her and watched as she began browning the meat.
“Why don’t you finish the salad?”
Max followed her finger to a large bowl filled with greens. A tomato sat on a cutting board next to it. Grabbing the knife, he made short work of the tomato and added the chunks to the salad.
“Where are your paper plates?” Alyssa asked a few minutes later, poking her head out of the pantry. "I wanted to use them for the salads."
“I don’t have any. The plates are in the cupboard closest to the sink.” He pointed in the direction as he grabbed parmesan cheese from the fridge.
Alyssa shook her head, but grabbed the plates and set them down on the counter. Max loaded each up with a scoop of spaghetti and salad, and the two carried the plates to the table.
“Peyton? Dinner’s ready.”
At Alyssa’s words, Peyton scurried into the living room and climbed up in her chair.
As he sat down, Max noticed Peyton’s hands folded together. Alyssa struck a similar pose, and Max was left staring at his plate uncomfortably as the two prayed over theirs.
“You don’t pray?” Alyssa asked as she finished her prayer.
“No, I don’t believe in God, so, why would I?”
“You’ll still take me to church though, won’t you, Max?” Peyton’s voice was small and pulled on Max’s heart.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Alyssa jumped in. “I’ll come get you Peyton, okay?”
Peyton nodded and took a bite of her spaghetti. Max looked from one to the other, deciding this was a perfect arrang
ement. He could stay out late on Saturdays and Alyssa could take Peyton to church while he slept in the next morning. Now, he just needed to find someone who could watch her on Saturday nights.
After dinner, Alyssa helped him clear the table and put away the leftover spaghetti. “I’m going to put Peyton down. Do you want to come watch how it should be done?”
There was no condescension in her words this time. Only sincerity. “Sure, why not?”
Alyssa frowned at his flippant attitude, but turned to Peyton. “Peyton, honey, it’s time for bed. Grab your bear.”
Without a word of protest, Peyton grabbed her bear and headed down the hall to the room they had fixed up for her. As Alyssa grabbed pajamas for Peyton and helped her change, Max touched the walls. The paint had dried, so he scooted the toddler bed back to the wall, smoothing out the pink Minnie Mouse bedspread before retreating to the doorway to watch. As there was no chair in the room, Peyton and Alyssa sat on the bed and Alyssa read one of the books they had picked up yesterday. Alyssa’s voice was soft and soothing as she read, and Max crossed his arms. He couldn't imagine doing this routine himself.
When the book was finished, Peyton crawled under the covers and Alyssa sat on the floor beside her. “Lord, thank you for Max and for the blessings you have bestowed upon him that allow him to watch Peyton. Please heal Sarah and bring her back to us and help Peyton get adjusted to this new life until that happens. Help us keep our eyes on you. In your name, amen.”
The mention of his name in the prayer surprised him.
“Amen,” Peyton echoed. “Thank you, Aunt Lyssa. Thank you, Max.” Peyton’s voice was heavy with sleep as she pulled her bear closer to her. Alyssa leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead before standing.
Max stepped out of the way as Alyssa approached the doorframe and pulled the door closed behind her. “Thank you for coming here today and helping me with Peyton.” His gaze locked on hers. She was beautiful, and though he knew it would never work, that knowledge didn't stop his desire.
“You’re welcome,” she said, clearing her throat and looking away. “I promised Sarah I would help.”
The Billionaire's Secret Page 4
