Page 19 of The Birthday Manny

“Are you sure it’s okay if I stay in here?”

He turned his head quickly toward me. “Of course. Yes, my mom stays in here, but technically, it’s the guest room.” He frowned. “Not that I have any guests beside her, which is how she ended up decorating it, and we ended up with this.” He looked around like he was bewildered. “I don’t know how I didn’t realize it was so… Wow, it’s a lot, right?” he asked, relaxing a little and letting the first glimpse of the Kevin I’d met at Rafters shine through.

Snorting, I nodded in agreement. “It’s something.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, the sheets are clean, at any rate. Mom always does the laundry and makes up the bed again before she leaves.”

Before he went into freakout mode about where I’d sleep the next time his mom came, I asked, “So, what’s on your agenda for today?”

“Actually, I need to go to the office, but I can take Lexi.”

I gestured over at the toddler bouncing on the bed on her knees. I suspected she’d been told not to jump on beds, so this was the compromise that she’d created in her own little mind. Clever girl. “That would be silly. You go to work, and I’ll keep Lexi home with me. It’ll be good for her to get used to me being her go-to. I was thinking maybe we’d start the day with Play-Doh.”

“Pay-Doh!” she yelled, sliding off the bed and running to my side. “Go work, Daddy. CJ and I want ta pay.”

“Oh.” He looked confused again. “Right, no. That actually makes sense.”

I smiled reassuringly. “If this is too much for you, you can always take her with you. I just thought it might kick this off to an easier start for all of us if you leave her with me right off the bat.”

He held up his hand. “No, no. You’re right.” His lips pulled into a strained semblance of a smile. “You’re the authority on this one, so I’ll let you guide me.”

My cock plumped as those words left his sweet mouth. The last time he’d let me lead him, I’d ended up with my dick in his hot, wet mouth, and we’d both had a very happy ending. By the way he cut his gaze to the right and the rosy tinge of his cheeks, his thoughts had strayed in the same direction. It was no surprise to me when he hustled for his room to get ready to leave.

Holy shit, this was going to be fun.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kevin

“Are you sure?” I asked, trying hard not to wring my hands together. The last thing Lexi needed was to know how nervous I was to leave her with CJ. Especially since it wasn’t him specifically. I’d never left my girl with anyone but my mom, Margie, and her and George’s two oldest children. CJ probably thought I was being dramatic, which was a possibility, but this was new and happening so quickly.

As CJ continued opening Play-Doh for him and Lexi to play with, he smiled reassuringly. “This is perfect. I would’ve asked you to find somewhere to go today or tomorrow for a while anyway, especially since you’ll be working from home most of the time. We need time to bond, and she’ll need to adjust to the fact that I’m her go-to person when you’re working.”

“But you just got here. You haven’t even had time to unpack or anything.”

CJ grinned. “That’s fine. I can do it later.”

Lexi turned around in her chair, looking at me around the side. “Daddy, you go, so’s CJ and I can pay.”

I sighed in defeat. “Okay, Lex-Lex.” I picked my computer bag up off of the counter, went over, smoothed down her riot of curls, and kissed her head. “Daddy will see you later.”

My gaze went to CJ, and he held up his cellphone. “Your number is programmed in. If we have any problems or I have any questions, I promise to text you immediately.”

“If it’s an emergency, just call.”

The larger man smiled at me sweetly. “I will, I promise,” he said, still sounding incredibly patient. My daughter, on the other hand, looked ready to revolt if I didn’t get the hell out of there and quit interrupting her playtime with her new friend.

A quick glance up at the kitchen clock confirmed that I’d be late for the meeting at work if I didn’t get on the road, so I forced myself to give Lexi one more round of hugs and kisses and leave. To say I was distracted on my drive to work and through my co-worker’s presentation would be an understatement.

So many thoughts swirled through my head. What if Lexi hated me being gone? What if she did something epic and I missed it because I hadn’t brought her with me? Okay, in all fairness, normally I’d have asked Margie to watch her for this anyway, which meant she still wouldn’t have been with me, but that wasn’t the point.

And what about CJ? Yes, he’d had amazing references, but I didn’t know him-know him. My mind flashed to the feel of his cock pushing into me, and my flesh heated. So maybe I knew some things about him, like how kind and silly and unbelievingly tempting he could be, but that didn’t have anything to do with hiring him to watch my kid.

For fuck’s sake, the man had arrived this morning with a rolling suitcase, a backpack, and a duffle bag. To live in my house, with me and my daughter. Where had my brain gone? Why had I even allowed it? Sure, he sounded like he really loved his job, and the passionate way he spoke left me with no doubts that he was good at it—very, very good at it—but I didn’t need a full-time live-in babysitter. How had I gone from the father determined to have and do it all to this?

“Knock. Knock. Meeting’s over.”

Jerking my mind from where it had wandered, I noticed my unconscious movements. Holy shit! I wadded up the piece of paper where I’d written or drawn CJ’s name in bubble letters what looked like a million times. Seriously, what was wrong with me?

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