Page 5 of The Six-Week Single Dad
I vaguely remembered the hoo-ha that surrounded Maddy’s pregnancy announcement. I’d totally forgotten that Hayden came with a kid.
Babysitting?
The look on my face must have given me away.
“It’s totally okay if you aren’t interested. It would be really helpful if you were though. You could stay at my place; you’d have your own room and everything. And I could pay you. I wouldn’t expect you to do it out of the kindness of your heart.”
I would do anything out of the kindness of my heart for Hayden Kinsella.
Cold, hard cash would also be good though.
The prospect of a real bed rather than Tom’s couch was appealing. As was the thought of staying with Hayden. But six weeks of babysitting? Was I really cut out for that?
Laura nudged me in the ribs. As I turned to look at her, she gave me the broadest wink along with a nod of encouragement.
Apparently, it wasn’t such a ridiculous idea after all. It had been a while since I’d looked after a baby though and, from what I could remember, Alfie was still pretty young.
The others around the table looked at me expectantly, Hayden especially. The eagerness in his expression made my heart beat that little bit faster.
After a few moments of what I liked to call dramatic licence, I let out a hard breath.
“Sure, why not?”
Hayden leaped up from his stool and came around to the other side of the table, crushing me in a strong hug that almost broke my ribs. I could smell his aftershave; he still wore the same Tom Ford one I identified with him. Even the briefest whiff made me swoon.
“Thanks so much, Bea, you don’t know how happy that’s made me.”
I leaned into his hug, enjoying it as much as he was. A moment too soon, I pulled back and smiled at him. “Happy to help—when do you need me?”
Chapter Three
Hayden
AWednesday evening, after a particularly stressful day at work, was not the best time for me to start rearranging my flat in preparation for six weeks of change.
I had spent the two previous evenings rejigging the tiny third bedroom, which also doubled as my office when I worked from home. The desk had been spirited away to a storage place and I’d moved one of the two bookcases into my bedroom. Things were already starting to feel a little cramped and that was before Alfie and Bea moved in.
I’d already invited Bea over to show her the spare room so she could get settled ahead of Alfie’s arrival on Friday, and Maddy insisted on coming as well.
The three of us sat around the small dining table, none of us doing very well at eating the Chinese takeaway that Bea had thoughtfully bought.
“You’ll have to get rid of this table,” said Maddy. She finished her mouthful of spring roll before continuing. “It’s glass; what happens if it breaks when Alfie’s here?”
“You told me that last time, Maddy. He’s only a year old; what the hell’s he going to be doing on the table?” I shook my head. She appeared to find fault with everything in the room, coming up with ridiculous ideas of what could go wrong.
“He could bump his head.”
I glanced at the height of the table which, even if Alfie had been walking, was still several inches too tall for him to reach. “He’ll be fine.”
“Whereabouts in Paris are you going to be working?” Bea smiled and I knew that she was trying to diffuse the situation. I shot her a grateful smile.
“Oh, it’s right in the centre, about a ten-minute walk from the Arc de Triomphe.” Maddy’s eyes glazed over. She was probably thinking of shopping and crepes.
“Sounds lovely. I haven’t been to Paris; there’s so much to see there,” said Bea.
Maddy wrinkled her nose. “I doubt I’ll get much time to do any of that. I’ll be working.”
“Ah, but there will be all the client meetings and dinners. And I’m pretty sure Robert won’t be staying in the hotel every night.” If I knew my boss, he certainly wouldn’t let a secondment in Paris pass without sampling the night life.
