Averting his gaze, he nodded. “I should go. I’ll be home late, but text if you need anything.”
Elliot made a hasty exit without a backward glance. Poor guy had obviously never seen a leaky boob. Then again, neither had I before Joey. Bodies were weird yet incredibly beautiful.
I had to giggle at how quickly he’d gotten out of here, though. Elliot Levy, who intimidated some of the most powerful men in the world, squicked out by a little breast milk.
I grinned down at Joey as she latched on to me.
“I guess we know Elliot’s kryptonite, Joey-Girl.”
The next few days were quiet in a good way.
I rarely saw Elliot after our first morning in his house, but he left me notes every morning along with a prepared breakfast.
To be honest, I was somewhat relieved he wasn’t around much. I had no idea how to react to the little ways he was taking care of me because, to him, that was probably what they were—small, insignificant. But to a girl like me, who’d been kicked out of her house and family when I was barely more than an adult, it was massive.
The note he left me this morning said my reprieve was coming to an end.
Catherine,
Coffee’s in the refrigerator. I left the last pear for you. Eat it. It’s the perfect ripeness.
Do you like Thai food? Text me when you’re up to let me know. If yes, I’ll bring it home tonight. It’s time we talked about what’s going on with your house.
Can we also talk about when you’re coming back to the office? Daniel has been at peak vibration all week. I’m not certain either of us can sustain much more of this.
Yours,
Elliot
P.S. Tell Josephine good morning for me.
How in the hell was I supposed to not melt when he wanted me to say hi to my baby for him?
“Elliot says hi, Joey-Girl. He likes postscripts as much as Mommy, it seems.”
Her arms flailed like she was waving.
I understood that flailing feeling. I’d been doing a lot of it lately.
“We’re going to be productive today.” I showed her my phone. “I have a list of day cares. I’m going to call all of them and convince them they want to take care of you. It’s that, or into the drawer you go. And I promise, as cozy as a drawer might sound, it probably gets boring quickly. Plus, there would be lots of grown-ups around, talking about serious grown-up things you wouldn’t be interested in. Although Daddy Ray’s there, so there’s that…”
Thankfully, Elliot didn’t walk in on this conversation. That was the only high point of my morning. The rest was akin to banging my head against the wall.
No decent day care had openings. The wait lists were miles long.
Elliot was being kind and understanding now, but I doubted he would stay that way when I had to bring my baby to work.
I groaned as I slurped up another scoop of Pad Thai. As usual these days, I was fighting starvation, and Elliot had brought home a Thai feast. He’d loaded my plate with all of my favorites, then taken my baby from me so I could enjoy all of it.
Elliot chuckled. “That good?”
My face heated, and I wiped my mouth with my napkin. I’d been in a slight daze, shoveling food in my mouth as fast as I could, definitely not like a lady, as my mother had taught me.
“It’s incredible,” I answered once I’d swallowed. “You should really join me. I hate that you’re letting your food get cold.”
“Not a problem, Catherine.” Joey’s body was extended along his forearm, her head nestled in his palm. She was content hanging out with him, and for his part, he seemed perfectly fine holding her while I ate. “Have you ever known me not to voice when I’m not pleased?”
“No.” I breathed a laugh. “You have no problem expressing your displeasure.”
“Then trust that I would tell you if I have an issue with our current circumstances.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to remember that. I guess it’s a mom thing, feeling guilty about not taking care of her every second of every day.”
“Hmm. How are you going to handle day care?”
Puffing up my cheeks, I blew out a long, heavy breath. “That might not be a problem since I can’t get her in anywhere. My current plan is keeping her in my bottom drawer.”
His brow winged. “No. That’ll never work.”
My shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I know. I—”
“Your bottom drawer is far too narrow. The rate she eats, she’ll outgrow it within a month.”
I stared at him, blinking. To my utter surprise, he cocked a small grin.