Page 12 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
“I. Want. To. Keep. On. Bounce. Ing,” one of the Reece girls said in an obstinate tone as she jumped even harder and higher.
“I mean it now,” her father said, sounding increasingly frustrated. “If you two don’t listen to me, I’ll…”
His threat trailed off into nothingness, and he looked heavenward as if seeking wisdom from a higher power. That was when I started moving, walking around to the side of the bouncer where he stood.
When I reached his side, he still stood with his head dropped back on his shoulders, his hands low on his hips as he breathed in and out with audible gusts, perhaps struggling to remain calm.
His sleeves were rolled up to expose his forearms and one of those tattoos I’d noticed from afar. I also noticed he wore no jewelry.
No wedding ring.My heart gave an extra thump.
He was even larger up close than I’d anticipated. Being next to him was something like standing near a high stone wall, though this particular stone wall smelledamazing. Some sort of cologne or manly soap, I guessed.
And the texture of his hair was anything but rough. The shiny, dark locks looked so soft and touchable I felt a literal ache in my fingertips from resisting the impulse to reach out.
What waswrongwith me? I’d never felt an inappropriate urge to touch a stranger before.
And this man was clearly in distress. The last thing he needed was a ridiculous girl ogling his various physical attributes.
Swallowing down the large lump that had mysteriously formed in my throat, I managed to find my voice.
“Kids that age can be a handful, huh?”
Sullivan dropped his arms to his side and swiveled abruptly in my direction, looking down to locate me. His mouth opened slightly, though he didn’t immediately respond, and his eyelids flared wide, revealing the lightest blue eyes I’d ever seen. They were like faded sea glass, transparent and soft and incredibly beautiful.
“Uh… yeah.”
That was all he said, and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything more to say either.
Those spectacular blue eyes studied me as if they’d never beheld a creature like me before. I became abruptly conscious of my lack of makeup, my easy ponytail, the simple yellow sheath dress I wore with no jewelry other than a pair of tiny diamond studs my grandmother had given me shortly before passing away.
Compared to the other women at the party, I looked plain. That hadn’t bothered me in the least—until this moment.
No doubt the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was used to moving in a glamorous crowd.
The women he knew were probably movie stars and bikini models and beauty pageant winners. He probably thought I was one of the servants, or maybe the big sister of one of the children. People were always assuming my age to be younger than my actual twenty-three years.
“Are you… is one of these kids yours?” he finally asked.
Oh.He thought I was a mom. For some reason the thought tickled me.
“They all are,” I said. “I’m their teacher—or I was their teacher at some point during the past few years. At the preschool, you know?”
“Oh. Fantastic. You’re a preschool teacher. My youngest is starting preschool in the fall. Where do you teach?”
The question made me a little sad. Rather, it was the answer that made me sad. “I’m just an assistant actually—and only for a short while longer. I won’t be going back after the summer break.”
“Get a new job?”
I looked away, unable to tolerate the penetrating blue gaze without a break and strangely reluctant to tell himwhyI wouldn’t be returning to the preschool in the fall.
“Something like that,” I said.
The guy stuck out a hand—a massive one. I didn’t know hands could evenbethat muscular. “I’m Sullivan. Reece. Sullivan Reece. I live next door.”
Interesting that he didn’t seem to expect me to know who he was—and that he didn’t tell me. He’d identified himself as a next-door neighbor rather than a boxing champion.
He was humble. I liked that.
