Page 92 of Boss from Hell
“This is Max Frost,” I said, having figured out before Rose arrived that the simplest introduction was best.
I turned to Max. “This is my older sister, Rose.”
“Hello.” Rose tucked strands of her white blonde hair behind her ear, a gesture she adopted when she was in a thoughtful mood.
After that, we went around the passenger side to say hello to Dylan. His right hand was gripping his left one and he was obviously in pain, but trying hard to hide it.
I made another quick introduction.
Dylan nodded and tried to smile, but it came off like a grimace. Then Rose and I hurriedly got the girls out of the car while Max grabbed the girls’ bag.
When their parents had driven off I took each of the girls’ hands and led them into the house. They were too awestruck by new surroundings to fuss about their parents leaving and I was grateful for that.
“Doggie,” Phoebe said, her hands on Tomo while Vera peered at the big dog from behind her sister.
Max and I laughed. Max was right. The dogs were infinitely gentle with the girls and they were a big hit with the girls. I suppose it was a natural thing with children and animals.
I glanced at Max’s face. He had an expression of fascination as he watched the girls as if he had encountered an entirely different species. He had adopted that same expression ever since the girls arrived. True, a lot of people reacted that way to the twins, but it was nice to see it on Max as he hadn’t seemed like the type to be interested in kids.
Feeling my eyes on him, he turned to me. “They’re cute. Really cute. I can see why people love children.”
I laughed. “You make it sound like a scientific experiment.”
He laughed. “I’ve never spent any time with children, let alone twins, so yeah, it is a scientific experiment. Their personalities are obvious even at their young age.”
“Oh yes. Phoebe is definitely the leader.” I couldn’t help but wonder what our kids would look like if we had some. A little boy who was a miniature of Max or a girl who looked like me. The thought brought a deep longing, almost like an ache in my chest.
“It must be an unbearable feeling to know that you’re responsible for their lives,” Max said.
“It’s nothing once you’ve mastered the art of changing a dirty diaper,” I joked. God. I’d fantasized about having children with a man who couldn’t stomach the idea of being a father. Thank God he could not read my mind.
“Have you done it before?” he asked curiously.
“Yes. It’s not pretty.”
“I bet.”
“They don’t need that done, do they?” he asked worriedly.
I tried not to laugh. “Relax. They’re potty-trained.”
“Good. That’s very good.”
Soon after, we trooped back to the house. The girls were getting hungry and Vera needed to use the bathroom. I got some yogurt from the bag my sister had brought and served it to the children. Anyone looking at us would have thought that we were a family.
A pang came over me at the realization that it would never happen for us. I pushed those thoughts away knowing that I was only hurting myself. Then I made dinner and left Max to babysit.
As I worked, I kept an eye on them in case he got overwhelmed, but he seemed to be enjoying the novel experience. At one point, they all stood up to dance to a kid’s show on TV. This was from a man who claimed he didn’t know how to dance. He saw me laughing and wagged a finger at me.
“Your aunt thinks she can dance better than us,” he told the girls and all three of them shot across the open plan space and came to pull me to the living room.
“Dance,” Vera commanded bossily, pulling me into the circle.
“I’ll get you for this,” I swore. I was trying to sound fierce and serious, but laughter bubbled out of me. For the next ten minutes, we danced and made the same silly faces as the character on TV, making the girls double over with laughter.
Seeing Max being so childlike made my heart do little somersaults in my chest. It made me fall just a little more deeply in love with him, but who wouldn’t fall for a man who could play with toddlers?
“Now can we have the hundred-dollar cookies?” Phoebe shouted.