Chapter 7 Ledger
SEVEN
LEDGER
I woke up with a start to hear a little girl crying, and I bounded out of bed and down the stairs before my eyes were fully open.
With my boss often working late, I’d taken to putting the baby monitor beside my bed. Besides, Theron didn’t need it even when he was in the house because the kids were just down the hall from him, and he also had an uncanny ability to hear the most muted sounds.
Huh! That was just what Jess had said.
As I tore into Skye’s room, my boss’s door was open, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t in the house. Skye was sitting up in bed with tears running down her cheeks and gripping her blankie.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I sat on the edge of her bed. Did you have a bad dream?”
She nodded and sobbed.
“Would you like me to get into bed with you and cuddle?”
Skye gave another nod, and I climbed it.
She clung to me, her hot little body running even hotter than usual.
I pressed the back of my hand to her forehead, but she didn't have a fever.
Whatever she had was the same as what the whole family had which was a permanent feature.
Perhaps it was a super-speedy metabolism.
I grabbed the water bottle from the night stand and sat her up. When she’d finished drinking and we were cuddling again, I asked if she wanted to tell me about her dream.
“There was a man, and he said I was bad and I should go away because…” she choked. “You know, Ledger. The thing Daddy told us not to talk about.”
I held her close as I puzzled over what she hadn’t said and why she wasn’t supposed to speak of it.
My mind zigged and zagged and went from Theron was an assassin for hire to him being a spy.
But I dismissed the first option because he rarely left the estate, and if he was involved in shady business or espionage, it was all online.
He wouldn't have shared that with the kids.
I held her tighter and rocked her. Whatever the secret was, children shouldn’t be expected to keep it.
“You’re not bad, angel. You’re the bestest girl I know.”
“I love you, Ledger.” She buried her face in my PJs.
“Love you too.” I kissed the top of her head. “And don’t worry. I’m here, Daddy’s close by, and the boys are down the hall. We’re all here to look after you and love you, and you’re not going anywhere.”
“But I’m different. You don’t do stuff like me.”
“No one is exactly like anyone else, and that’s what makes humans special.”
I rubbed her back until her breathing evened out. Whatever "different" meant, I hoped my answer had satisfied her. But I couldn’t hide what she’d said from her father.
I yawned and considered going back upstairs but decided to stay until Theron returned.
I must have dozed off because I jolted awake thinking Skye was having another nightmare.
But there was a large shadow in the doorway, and I screamed.
Maybe she hadn’t been dreaming and there was a man roaming the house.
Adrenaline surged through my veins, and I gasped at my thundering heart thumping against my ribs as I sat up and fumbled for anything I could use as a weapon.
“Ledger, it’s me.”
Skye stirred but didn’t wake, and I flopped back onto the mattress.
“You have a bad habit of creeping up on me.” I hadn’t intended to raise my voice, but I was pissed. He could have turned on a light or called out from the bottom of the stairs.
“Sorry. I thought you were asleep.”
“I was.” After fumbling with the night light, I climbed out of bed. “Skye had a nightmare.” I blinked at his bare chest and the sweatpants that hung from his hips, and I was aware of my skimpy tank top and shorts.
My boss must have just come in from his office because there was a whiff of jasmine about him from the bush near the porch. He must have brushed against it, but the aroma was combined with the usual hint of smokiness.
I thanked the gods the overhead lights were off because I was staring at his chest. He was my boss, not a potential boyfriend or lover. He was a widower who trusted me to look after his children.
Theron crouched by the bed and brushed Skye's hair off her forehead. The tender gesture had me looking away because it felt like I was intruding on a private moment between father and daughter.
I left the room, intending to return to my suite, but Theron followed me out.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I should have been here.”
“You can't be everywhere. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“But she’s my little girl.” He ran a hand over his face and leaned against the wall.
He was so close the jasmine fragrance was overwhelming, but the man in front of me wasn’t my boss or the guy I’d been lusting over. He was just a tired father trying to do the best for his kids.
“Theron, Skye said she did different stuff than I did.”
Saying it out loud sounded like the kinda thing a kid would say. It didn’t necessarily have any deep dark meaning. But that got his attention, and even in the dim light, there was fear in his eyes, and his scent became stronger, not the jasmine part but the smoky bit.
“What did you say?”
I related word for word what I told his daughter, and his brows shot up at the word “human.”
He exhaled and it shuddered out of him, and his head dropped back against the wall with a thud. I was beside him, and the only source of light was the moonlight because he’d closed Skye’s door.
“Ledger.”
He did it again. He said my name in such a unique way like no one else did, but I couldn’t pinpoint what made it different.
“I need to tell you something.”
Here was the big reveal. He was going to spill all the family’s secrets, but I was going to get a jump on it.
“Rapid-fire questions. You answer yes or no. Are you a spy?”
“What?”
This guy. I pushed off the wall and stood in front of him. “Yes or no?”
“No.”
“Mafia boss?”
“No.”
“Are you involved in any nefarious business?”
“No.”
Theron’s face had morphed from shocked, to puzzled, and now to amused. He was shaking as he suppressed his laughter. Instead, he was kinda wheezing, and heat was rolling off him in waves.
I threw up my hands. “So what’s the big secret?”
He bit his bottom lip, and my belly flipped and flopped ‘cause it was adorable and sexy.
“It’s big.”
“What?” I screeched, and he put his hand over my mouth, and we both glanced toward Skye’s room. “That’s the most frustrating sentence anyone has ever said to me,” I mumbled against his fingers.
What was big? The secret or a part of him that I couldn’t stop thinking about?
He didn’t move his hand, but our eyes locked on one another.
“You know what’s frustrating? Being so close to you and not being about to touch you.”
My mind went blank as every rational thought put their hands up and surrendered.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, you are touching me.” I struggled to get air into my lungs and told them now was not the time to go on strike.
The seconds ticked by, and I didn’t know who moved first, but one second we were standing apart and the next, he’d twisted me around so my back was to the wall. His hand slid onto my jaw, and he was kissing me.
Everything about him was hot, his lips especially, but also because I was kissing him back and my hands were fisting the waistband of his sweatpants.
I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer, and he made a sound against my mouth that vibrated through my whole body.
One of Theron’s hands was pressed against the wall beside me while the other tilted my chin up.
His lips sizzled against mine, and rather than finding the heat overwhelming, it was intoxicating, just like his breath and his tongue begging for entrance against my lips.
With his body on mine, the wall was the only reason I was still vertical. And I didn’t want to be. I wanted him on top or me sitting on him and our bodies grinding against one another.
He broke apart first, but he didn’t let me go. Our chests heaved in tandem as we breathed in the same air. His hands remained on my face, and I took one and kissed the palm.
“I shouldn't have done that,” he said.
“Probably not, but if you’re going to do it again, warn me so I can grab an oxygen tank in case I need resuscitating.”
He chuckled. “What now?” He was nuzzling the base of my throat, and I was a prisoner to his lips and hands, and I’d like to be taken captive by another part of him too.
“You seriously have to ask that?” I wasn’t thinking of tomorrow or next week but only the here and now.
“I have my answer.” He scooped me up and headed to his bedroom.