Chapter 7 #2
“Hello, lo— I mean, Aspen,” he stuttered. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who needed a reminder. “Please come in. It’s a bit nippy today.”
Chloe and I entered the grand home, but before I could admire the gorgeous place, I made introductions. “Miles, this is my daughter, Chloe. And, Chloe, this is Henry.” I bounced him on my hip.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Chloe.” Miles gave her a warm welcome.
Chloe seemed intimidated by him and tucked some hair behind her ear.
It was then I remembered she thought he was hot.
Which he was. She, like always, recovered quickly and found her footing.
I adored that aspect of her, along with so many other things that made her wonderful.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Chloe politely responded before turning right back to Henry, who was happy to garner all the attention.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Miles offered.
Chloe and I both declined.
Miles bounced on the balls of his bare feet as if he was trying to get rid of some nervous energy. “Well, shall we take a tour before we go over the contract?” he asked me. “My barrister made the changes you requested.”
He sent me a copy yesterday and I was taken aback by the clauses about travel.
I supposed I should have expected that he would want me to travel with him at times with Henry, but this was a different world for me.
I requested that if I needed to travel with him, it be no longer than three days.
I didn’t want to be away from Chloe for even that long, but it seemed reasonable.
Miles offered if it needed to be longer, he would only ask me to accompany him if it was during Chloe’s school breaks and he would arrange for her to join us as well.
I thought it was a sweet gesture. I also requested that the initial contract be for a year.
Miles agreed that would be good for both of us.
I knew this meant he could easily terminate me after a year, but my plan was to save as much money as possible and do a good job so that he would be willing to at least give me a good reference.
So, in the event we parted ways, I would still be better off than I was now.
“I’d love a tour.” I glanced around the magnificent home.
Stone walls dramatically showcased the height of the room.
The white oak floors and neutral palette of the furniture and walls added warmth.
The simplicity of it all made it stunning.
It was easy to see why Sophie was such a sought-after interior designer.
She had left her mark and it was beautiful.
Miles seemed grateful to have something to do other than stare at me.
He headed straight for the great room with floor-to-ceiling windows that gifted us with a pristine view of the nearby mountain peaks.
The low-profile furniture around the stone hearth with a fire burning in it added to the peaceful feeling of the room.
I also noted how impeccably clean it was.
It didn’t look like a three-year-old lived there, or anyone really.
Maybe he had a housekeeper as well as a chef.
“I want you to both feel at home here.” Miles looked between Chloe and me before pointing out the window. “You can see the guesthouse from here.”
Chloe and I eagerly joined him at the window with Henry still on my hip.
Henry was happy to add his fingerprints to the unspotted windows.
I noticed how that made Miles cringe, but he didn’t say anything.
I almost told him he should get used to smudges on everything, but I figured he would soon learn it all on his own.
The guesthouse was more like a stone cottage set back behind the large yard that was covered in fallen leaves and accented by large pine trees. It also boasted magnificent windows. I couldn’t wait to see the inside.
“Sophie,” Miles always paused when he said her name, “hired an architect from Scotland to design the guesthouse. She had seen something similar on holiday in the Highlands. I hope it will be adequate.”
Adequate? He should see my cramped apartment with water-stained ceilings. Chloe and I smiled at each other, both thinking the same thing before I responded to Miles. “It’s perfect, as is your home.”
“It doesn’t feel quite like my home. I’m used to living in a flat with views of the city,” he responded wistfully.
I got the feeling he wasn’t planning on making this his permanent residence.
Which probably meant I would only be working for him for the year.
As dreamy as it sounded to live in London, assuming he would even want me to continue working for him, I wouldn’t put my career over Chloe.
Which meant I needed to learn everything I could in the coming months to make my resume shine.
As we walked up the floating staircase, the stairs made me nervous for Henry. They weren’t exactly child friendly. He could easily get stuck between the steps or possibly fall through with little effort on his part.
“We can play with my toys,” Henry informed me on the way up the stairs.
“What do you like to play?” I thought that was a good thing to know.
“Trains and puppets!” he shouted, making his voice echo through the open home.
“Henry,” Miles turned around, “what have I told you about shouting inside?”
Henry buried his head in my chest, unwilling to answer him.
Miles’s eyes filled with regret. “It’s hard for me to work if it’s noisy,” Miles felt the need to explain to me.
I kissed the top of Henry’s head. “We will get our shouts out outside, won’t we?”
Henry nodded his head against me.
Miles gave me a grateful smile before leading the way.
I was beginning to see how unprepared Miles was to raise a child.
I could see why his sister thought it was important for him to care about someone else besides himself.
I believed men in general were selfish by nature.
Not to say they were that way on purpose, but for some reason, it seemed like women naturally were able to see what needed to be done and they intuitively knew how to nurture.
For men, in my unfortunate experience, it was something they had to learn, and many of them chose not to.
There were exceptions. Sawyer, for one, made Emma’s needs a priority.
He could even anticipate her wants and needs before she expressed them.
My father was another good example, but Mom said it took years for him to get that way.
That’s how I saw Brad. He was becoming less selfish since Elliott was born.
I hoped Miles would allow Henry to change him.
I stopped in my tracks when we got to the nursery. The walls came alive with a scene of dancing trees, perched owls watching over the children, and an enchanted forest in the depths beyond. I even spied a tiny boat full of red-tailed foxes floating down a winding river.
Henry wriggled out of my arms and took Chloe’s hand to show her his collection of books and his wooden train set displayed on a large wood table. He showed Chloe how to push the train and make choo choo noises, and was delighted when Chloe mimicked him. His giggle was intoxicating.
Miles spoke, drawing my attention back to him. He kept his distance with his hands in his pockets. An unspoken uneasiness lingered between us. Maybe he was embarrassed for sharing so much about his family. Or perhaps he regretted telling me that he found me fetching.
“Do you think Chloe could watch Henry for a few minutes while I speak to you in my office?”
I didn’t think that would be an issue other than I feared to be alone with him.
He made all my dormant senses flicker back on—like he pushed the power button on an old computer and my operating systems were slowly but surely coming back online.
My brain was trying desperately to manually override the system.
I didn’t have any use for flutters and raised pulses.
I certainly didn’t need the longing for slow kisses.
I had forgotten how much I missed them. I needed it to stay that way, but every time I looked at Miles, I found myself aching for warm lips—his lips.
No. No. I couldn’t afford to think like that. I wouldn’t think it.
“Sure,” I stammered, trying to get thoughts of kissing Miles out of my head. “Chloe, would you mind playing with Henry for a bit?”
She looked up from the train wreck Henry just initiated and grinned. “Nope.”
“Thank you, we won’t be long,” Miles added.
I followed Miles out the door and down the hall, taking note of all the black and white photographs of London that graced the walls. “Are these yours?” I asked.
Miles stopped and admired one of the River Thames. “They are. My friend took these and gifted them to me before I left.”
Friend? Was this a woman friend? “Sounds like a good friend.”
He rubbed his lips together. “She can be when she chooses.”
So it was a she. I got the feeling there was more to the story, but I didn’t ask. I was determined to not only keep our relationship all business, but I meant to keep him at arms-length, just like every other man in existence.
He gave the picture one more good look and sighed absentmindedly. “Shall we head to my office?”
I nodded and followed, but not before catching the signature—PW with a heart around it in the corner of all the photos. Interesting.
Miles pointed out his bedroom, guest room, and gym on the way to his office that honestly blew me away.
The entire back wall was a window with the most gorgeous view of the nearby meadow.
Not to take anything away from the beautiful landscape, but it had nothing on the large free-standing white board filled with the outline of his book.
I tried not to stare, but Isabella’s name and her being held captive jumped out at me. I knew it.
Miles flipped the whiteboard around. “Sorry, I’m not ready to share her story with anyone yet. And I’ll need you to sign an NDA before I do.”
I found it intriguing that he called it her story. It sounded almost as if he were talking about a loved one. “Of course.” I turned my gaze back to the window. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“Not to worry. I shouldn’t have been so careless. I’m not used to sharing my space.”
My head drifted in his direction. He was laying out what I assumed was my contract on his desk. “Are you sure you want Chloe and me living here?”
He set the papers down and, instead of looking directly at me, his eyes roved down the length of me.
I looked down at my long sleeve tunic and leggings wondering if maybe I’d dripped food on them.
I would have hoped my daughter would have mentioned that.
I didn’t see any stains. So why was he staring at me so intensely?
And why wasn’t he answering my question?
“Aspen,” he did that name whispering thing again that made my senses go into overload.
“I . . .” he looked between me and the contract and back to me again.
He clenched his fists and inhaled and exhaled enough to make his shoulders rise and fall.
“The answer to your question is yes, Henry needs you.” He sounded determined.
But he asked me in return, “Are you having second thoughts?” Did he want me to say yes?
I swore his eyes were half pleading with me to say exactly that while the other half begged me not to change my mind.
My thoughts, as always, turned to Chloe and what this job meant for her.
It didn’t matter that I would have to bury deep any stirrings for Miles I might have.
Or that for the first time in several years I could picture myself searching for the key to unlock the bolt on the door to my heart.
Once again, the key would remain safely hidden.
“No.” No second thoughts here.