…
Miles was pretty damn happy with his life. For all of Tess’s reservations about his involvement in her life, he thought he’d proven her wrong on all counts. Of course, she hadn’t been lying about her life not being easy, but he’d already seen that. For the last few weeks, he’d been at her house most evenings, even though she wouldn’t let him spend the night when the kids were there.
He’d been to Zoe’s swim meets with them—talk about a never-ending day—but he understood the joy of cheering on a kid. He washed dishes while Tess wrangled homework so they could relax and hang out together afterward. He was becoming part of their family.
It was a good place to be.
Now, if only setting up the Prescott Foundation would run as smoothly. The paperwork had been filed, but he still needed to come up with a board of directors. He hadn’t thought that establishing the board would be his most difficult job. He was trying to find the best people in their fields who would volunteer.
Both Sabrina and their mom insisted the foundation’s money not be used for salaries. He understood their perspective, but tapping successful people to add something else to their already overflowing plates was a bigger task than he’d expected. So far, he’d received a whole lot of verbal support, followed quickly by, “I wish I could help, but…”
He’d discussed everything with Sabrina, and she’d agreed he couldn’t be the only paid employee. He needed help, and he knew who would be perfect.
After dinner at Tess’s, he sat at the dining room table scrolling through emails while Tess helped Andrew finish his math homework. Not one email was a positive response regarding volunteers. Plus, he still hadn’t heard from Toya Brigham, the woman he needed to bring on as grant administrator for the foundation.
Sabrina would have a fit if she knew he hadn’t extended a job offer to anyone other than Toya. He’d known Toya for as long as he’d held his position. She was the kind of woman who could out-network anyone. He wanted her for the job. She’d be a perfect fit. But first, he needed to get a meeting with her.
Billy came in for the third time to ask Tess if she was done. When she told him she needed five more minutes, he looked at Miles.
“Not supposed to have electronics at the table,” Andrew whispered.
Miles set the phone down. Tess laid a hand on Andrew’s arm. “Children do not need to correct adults. Miles can do whatever he wants since he’s a grown-up.”
“Sorry. I had a couple of emails to look at for work.”
“Problem?” Tess asked as she tapped the paper to draw Andrew’s attention back to the worksheet.
“No.” She didn’t need to hear about his struggles with work.
Billy stood behind Tess, tapping her chair. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I said five minutes. Standing there annoying me won’t make the time go faster.”
“Something I can help with?” Miles asked.
Tess’s eyes fluttered open and she offered him a relieved smile. “Billy needs to come up with an idea for a STEM club project.”
“I can handle that.” Miles stood, and Tess mouthed, “Thank you.”
He pocketed his phone and followed Billy to his room. “So what kind of project is this?”
“I can do any kind of project I want. It’s kind of like a science fair. The kids whose projects get the highest scores get to be on the competition team. First competition is next month.” Billy turned and stared up at him with serious eyes. “I want to be on the team.”
The sincerity on the boy’s face hit Miles hard. “Then let’s figure out a winning project.”
They spent the next hour combing through old articles on the school’s website to see what had won in the past. Ultimately, they decided a tech-based project won more often than anything else. Miles thought back to his own science projects.
“What about building and programming a robot to do a simple task? You can use the coding skills you learned this summer to program it.”
Billy scrunched his face. “What am I supposed to build it out of? We had kits in camp this summer, but they’re expensive. Mom said maybe for Christmas. I don’t know how to start from scratch.”
Miles’s immediate reaction was to offer to buy a damn kit. But he knew how Tess felt about him buying things for the kids. He didn’t understand. It wasn’t like he wanted to buy them useless things. This was educational. “We’ll figure it out. The materials don’t matter much. You could make the body out of a cereal box if you wanted.”
Billy’s face fell, and Miles knew the idea was stupid. What kid wanted a cereal-box robot? Yeah, he came from privilege and had never had to worry about something like this, but neither did Billy. At least not as long as Miles was around. “We can make a trip to the home improvement store or maybe a junkyard and find cheap parts.”
“Really?”
“Sure. What purpose do you think your robot should have?”
“I want it to do something useful.” He thought for a couple of minutes. “Do you think we could make it get me something from the fridge?”
“We can do whatever you want.”
Billy already had a notebook out and began sketching a design and making a list of materials he’d need to make the robot. Miles watched, unsure if he was supposed to offer input.
The boy looked up with a smile. “Thanks, Miles. When can we go look for stuff?”
“We better check with your mom. You know how she is with her color-coded calendar.”
They both laughed, and when he got downstairs, he found Tess in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her hair was still up in the ponytail she always wore while working, which gave him full access to her neck. He kissed her, and she shivered.
“Thanks for helping with Billy. Did you guys figure out a project?”
“He’s going to build a robot. I told him I’d take him shopping for parts.”
She turned quickly in his arms. “Miles—”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Parts, Tess. He already told me the kits are expensive. Are you really going to tell me I can’t take him to buy some junk?”
She sighed, and he knew he’d won. “I told you I’m all in here, but I never know what I’m doing.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“But I don’t notice things. Like tonight, when Billy came in and interrupted you three times. Why didn’t you just ask me to help him the first time he came in?”
She licked her lips and dodged his gaze. “Because…they’re not your kids.”
“I know.” His response was sharper than intended, but he didn’t need the constant reminder, either.
She patted his chest. “I mean, they’re not your responsibility. You obviously had something on your mind, which was why you were on your phone. I didn’t want to pressure you into doing something you didn’t have time for or didn’t want to do.”
“If I didn’t have time, I wouldn’t be here. And even if I don’t want to, I’d do it anyway. We’re supposed to be a team, right?”
“So tomorrow you’ll take math homework with Andrew?” she asked with a grin.
His utter fear must’ve shown on his face, because she burst out laughing. “Just kidding. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you.”
“Not that I won’t totally take any kisses you offer, but for what?”
“For helping. For being here. For kissing me like I’m the sexiest woman on the planet.”
He shifted and pressed her against the counter, kissing her again, because to him, she was the sexiest woman on the planet.
…
Two days later, Tess sat at the dining room table and crunched the numbers of the budget. After a serious conversation with her supervisors, they’d admitted there were going to be cuts. Her job was in jeopardy, and she couldn’t figure out what to do. No matter how she looked at it, home healthcare wouldn’t be enough for her and the
kids to live on. She wore her worry like a wet winter coat. She’d begun applying for other nursing positions and sending out resumes, but no one had called to even set up an interview.
Panic filled her chest, and she swallowed it down. She had time. It wasn’t like the administration had handed out pink slips. And when they did, she would be able to collect unemployment, so that would help.
She’d be okay. They’d be okay. She took a sip of her coffee, and a different kind of worry settled in. Her house was quiet. No noise emanated from anywhere.
But the kids were home.
She set down her cup and went to search them out. It was kind of like when they were little. Any time her house fell silent, she knew they were up to no good. Now that they were older, she didn’t have the same concerns, but things were unusually quiet. And Miles was here. He was supposed to be helping Billy with his robot.
She peered in Zoe’s room. Her daughter looked up from the computer screen and waved. “Just checking in.”
Moving on to the boys’ room, she began to hear noise. She stopped in the doorway and watched. Andrew was sitting on the floor in front of the TV playing a video game with headphones on. Every now and then, he’d let out a little yip. Miles and Billy were bent over the old computer on the desk, talking about coding. At least that was what she assumed. Nothing they said made any sense to her.
As if he sensed her staring, Miles looked up. His grin was broad, and in that moment, she realized she’d fallen in love with him.
Andrew suddenly jumped up and yelled, “Miles. Miles! Did you see? I did it. It worked just like you said it would.”
“Awesome.” Miles glanced at the TV and gave him a high five.
Billy shook his head and pointed at the computer screen. “Like this?”
Miles rubbed a hand over his head. “Crap. I don’t know. Coding was never my thing.” He narrowed his eyes at the screen. “It’d be easier to test this if we had the robot built.”
“I’ll take him this week to get stuff,” Tess said.
“I thought Miles was gonna take me,” Billy said.
Both of them looked at her like she’d told them they were grounded for a month. She rolled her eyes. “If Miles wants to take you, that’s fine. When is this thing due?”
“We’re supposed to bring them in on Thursday to present them after school.”
Miles laid a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “I know someone who could give you coding tips.”
“No cheating,” Tess warned.
“I said tips. I wasn’t suggesting we find someone to do it for him.” He turned back to Billy. “My sister knows everything. She doesn’t code any more, but she knows the right people in the company who could help.”
“Company?”
“My family owns a software company. They live and breathe computer programs. We could probably even do a STEM club field trip.”
“Miles—”
The look he gave her made her reconsider interfering.
“Really? Awesome!”
“Download your work to a flash drive and give it to me. I’ll have our experts look at it. They’ll probably be able to glance at it and know if it’ll work.”
“This is going to be the best robot they’ve ever seen.”
Tess smiled, because it had been a long time since she’d seen Billy this excited about anything. Miles straightened and fist bumped Billy before coming to her.
“Time to get ready for bed,” she called.
“Aww,” both boys responded.
“Fifteen minutes.”
She and Miles went downstairs. “I think you just made his list of top five people for all time.”
“I didn’t do anything. He was coding, and I more or less just watched.”
“You’re supportive. And you get the geeky science side to him.”
“He’s a cool kid.”
“Yeah, he is.” At the bottom of the stairs, she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. She kissed him with the newfound knowledge that she loved him. Even though she couldn’t say the words yet, she felt it.
“Wow. You keep kissing me like that, and you’ll be on my top five list.”
“I’m not already on that list?”
He gripped her hips and held her to him and his growing hard-on. “Of course you are. I was trying to sound tough. You completely unhinge me with every touch.”
“The feeling is mutual. Do you have to run off? Or can you stay a while?”
“Hmm…depends. Am I gonna get lucky?”
“I think we both are.” The words slipped out as the idea struck.
He jerked back. “Seriously? The kids are here.”
She liked surprising him. Going up on tiptoe, she whispered in his ear, “You can’t spend the night in my bed, but if we’re quiet, I’ll let you fuck me senseless.”
“Fuck.” He groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Go get the bottle of wine and meet me in my room. Ten minutes. I’ll speed read to Andrew tonight.”
She stepped back to go upstairs, and he leaned against the wall to watch her walk away. While they’d been having sex since they met, this was new. Maybe she could have him start spending the night sometimes even if the kids were here. He was part of all of their lives now. He’d proven to all of them that he wanted to be there.
…
Miles needed a full minute to regain his senses. For weeks he’d been part of Tess’s family, and they’d kind of fallen into a routine. While he was allowed to kiss her or touch her innocently at her house, the only time they’d had sex there was when the kids were with their dad. He’d almost forgotten about the woman Tess could be when she wanted to.
Pushing off the wall, he walked toward the kitchen to get the wine she requested. On the way, he passed the papers she’d left on the dining room table. He paused to look. He knew financials when he saw them. Picking up a sheet, he studied the numbers.
Was this what she was living on?
He scanned the other pages and realized she was figuring out what her finances would look like if she lost her job. He knew she’d been worried, and they’d talked about her looking for another job. This made him wonder if she’d gotten word.
No way would he let her kill herself to try to make ends meet. That was ridiculous given his means. But he knew she would never want to take his money, even if it was just temporary. Sometimes her stubbornness did not serve her well.
He folded the paper, tucked it into his pocket, and continued on to the kitchen. After retrieving the wine and glasses, he went to Tess’s room, set the wine on the bedside table, and turned on the lamp. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves. He’d never had to monitor what he said or how loud he got while having sex. At least not since sneaking around as a teenager. Tess said they needed to be quiet.
How quiet?
The woman was damn near silent every time they fucked. He wasn’t sure if he could be that quiet. He looked around and wished she had a TV to at least disguise their sounds. Maybe she’d let him install one so they could worry less.
He sat on the edge of the bed, poured the wine, and waited. Sometimes Andrew would rook her into reading extra chapters. A few minutes later, though, she strode through the door with a wicked smile on her face.
God, he loved that look. It was one she saved just for him.
She closed the door behind her, and the snick of the lock sounded through the room. He rose and handed her a glass of wine. “You sure about this?”
Without taking a sip, she set the glass back down. “Absolutely. Aren’t you?”
“I’m totally on board for having sex with you right now, but it’s the whole being quiet thing that concerns me.”
She chuckled. “Don’t worry. If you get too loud, I’ll stuff a sock in your mouth.”
“Funny.” He pulled her close and kissed her. Every time they were alone together reinforced how he felt about her.
He loved her.
He lov
ed who they were together.
Tess began tugging at his shirt. “As much as I love the whole seduction scene, I never know how much time I’ll have alone. Let’s go.”
He pulled her shirt over her head and kissed her neck while unclasping her bra. “Maybe we should take this down to the laundry room. We know we’ll have privacy there.”
Her laugh was husky as he cupped her breasts and licked her nipples. He kissed his way down her body, removing her pants as he went. Moments later, they tumbled into bed, Tess in his arms, laughing and sighing in pleasure.
Yeah, he definitely wanted more of this.
Chapter Sixteen
Tess couldn’t catch her breath. She lay on top of Miles with her heart crashing against her ribs. She didn’t know if it was the realization she’d fallen in love with him or if the pressure of being quiet made them refocus, or if something else had shifted between them, but her entire body buzzed. Miles had rocked her world every time they were together, but this was different.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“No. Can’t move.”
“Then my work here is done.” He stroked her back, and she knew she’d fall asleep right here if she didn’t get up now.
She pressed her lips to his chest and levered herself off. For a moment, she just looked at him. Was this her life now? Secret sex while her kids were in their rooms? At what point should she stop acting like their relationship was temporary and might end?
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “What are you thinking?”
“That you’re really pretty,” she said with a smile.
He slapped her ass. “No man wants to be called pretty.”
“I only speak the truth.” She climbed off the bed.
“Where are you going?” He pushed up on his elbows and watched her pull her clothes back on.
“I love lounging around in bed with you, but I’m not ready for the kids to find you here. Let’s take the wine downstairs, and we can talk or watch TV or something.”
“I like the or something. Let’s stay here and do more of that.”
She gave him her best mom look. “Not happening. Get dressed.” She tossed his clothes at him and gathered the glasses and bottle of wine.
One Night with a Millionaire (Daring Divorcees) Page 18
