Chapter 7 #2
It was getting freakish how Jacks was forming words.
Like, really. It was like he was almost two or something, and that was crazy.
Even if he was as old as Daniel had first thought he was when he arrived, and not how old they had said he was, he would be aging almost twice that fast now to be where he was developmentally.
Jacks bent down and pressed their foreheads together, his little nose against the bridge of Daniel’s. “Dan.”
“I know, buddy. I do. I’ll stop worrying about it.” But he would stop frowning at the kid because that didn’t seem to be helping.
Hayden came back out, stopping short and staring at them. “Did you pass out?”
“No, we were making snow angels, right, buddy?”
“Huh. Looks more like a snow dinosaur or something.”
Daniel handed Jacks off to Hayden and then sat up, looking after he stood at the impression that he’d made in the snow, and he had to admit it was true.
A few places where Jacks’s had touched the ground with his little feet or with his hand when he leaned over had weird rivulets running away from them, and it kind of looked like their snow angel had tentacles.
Or maybe a dragon’s tail.
Dragon.
He shook his head. “Did you hear that?” Maybe he’s getting cabin fever already on the first snow of the year. Was that possible?
Hayden snorted and kissed Jacks on his little cheeks over and over. “I heard an elk.”
“Really? Do elks say dragon?”
“Not that I know of. But I could be wrong.”
Hmm. He shook it off. He wasn’t going to let these weird auditory hallucinations cause him to lose this job. “What are we going to play now, Jacks?”
Hayden bent to scrape up some snow that was already accumulating on the ground. It was stunning how fast it was coming down. Then he tossed a snowball at Daniel. “I think we ought to throw snowballs at each other.”
“Oh, I’m not sure there is enough snow for that. And I don’t want to teach this little bit any bad habits.”
“Killjoy.” Hayden brushed snow off his gloves. “Why don’t we just go for a walk? Maybe we can see that elk.”
“That sounds really great.” As long as they didn’t get too close, that should be safe enough. Elk could be unpredictable, but not as bad as moose.
They took a walk around the property and saw some smaller wildlife, but no major ungulates at all. He was starting to think maybe Hayden was fucking with him, but then again, the guy was kind of an eccentric millionaire recluse, so maybe that was just the way he was.
They went inside finally, and Jacks went down for his nap.
Hayden invited him to have a snack. They had hot cocoa and trays of little sandwiches and cookies that Denise had provided for them.
They sat in front of the fire in the main room, which was cozy and kind of weirdly intimate. He tried not to fidget.
“Look, I know Jacks is not your average baby,” Hayden said. “But maybe you just need to let it go and let him grow at his own rate.”
He scoffed a little, but not in a mean way. More because he couldn’t believe Hayden knew so well what he was thinking. “Am I that obvious?”
“A little. But that’s okay. I mean, it’s your job to worry about him, and I know you adore him, so that goes a long way in my book. But you don’t want him to think that you don’t approve of him advancing and becoming more grown all the time, right?”
He thought Hayden had a point, but still…
“Okay, fine, but it doesn’t worry you that he is getting advanced so quickly?
You don’t worry that there’s something medically wrong with him, like maybe he’s got too much growth hormone or something?
” He leaned forward, getting right in Hayden’s space.
“I don’t care if he becomes an adult tomorrow, if that’s what he’s supposed to do, but if there’s something wrong with him that needs help, then it’s my job to point that out.
You know what I mean? I care about him. I love him.
I don’t want anything to be wrong with him. ”
Hayden smiled, reached out, and touched his shoulder.
Daniel swore that heat just flooded him, as if Hayden was on fire somehow.
“I appreciate that, honestly. I’ve had him checked out —he’s just a special little boy.”
It was hard to argue at that, so he didn’t. He just nodded. “Jacks is a special little boy.”
“So you think he needs a sled, do you?”
Daniel nodded. “He absolutely needs a sled. I think I’ll order him one.”
He also thought he was going to get himself some kind of an amazing video game system and some games to occupy himself in the evenings. “What is your position on video games?”
“I’m not opposed to the idea.”
Daniel blinked a little. “You’ve never played any?”
“No.” Hayden’s cheeks actually went pink. “If I had any downtime at all I slept and watched movies. Then Jacks came along and I restructured some.”
He stared, incredulous. “You used to be busier than you are now?”
“Yes. I offloaded some of the simpler work to a virtual PA.” Hayden shrugged. “I wanted time to spend with Jacks.”
“Wow. Okay. Well, that’s amazing.” This guy was, like, a machine. Seriously. And Daniel had the urge to… cuddle him. Make him slow down and rest.
His heart started racing. What the hell was going on with him?
Hayden frowned at him. “Are you all right?”
He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine,” Hayden shot back. “What’s going on?”
Well, it wasn’t like Daniel was just going to come out and confess that he was considering cuddling his employer, was it?
Maybe he needed to get a big pillow, like a body pillow, to wrap around at night.
Hayden’s eyebrows raised up and up and up.
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything.” Hayden didn’t do innocent well.
“You were looking at me.”
“I’m allowed to look at you. You’re sitting right here. It would be strange if I didn’t look at you.”
He rolled his eyes, fighting his grin. “I’m not sure that you should look at me,” he admitted. “This is the first time that I’ve had a situation where...you know…”
What was he supposed to say? This was the first time he’d had in a situation where he was going to be stuck in a house with an incredibly gorgeous, single, wealthy, hot man who was looking at him like he was lunch and not in a nasty way?
“Daniel. If I’m making you uncomfortable, all you have to do is say so.
I promise. I think you’re very attractive.
But I have never been one to push, and I would never take advantage with someone in my employ.
” Hayden didn’t sound offended, but his tone was very grave.
Like it was super important to him that Daniel believed him.
And he did. Hayden didn’t need to push himself on anyone. He was amazing.
“I’m not the type to try to seduce my employers.
At least I don’t think so.” One side of Daniel’s lips quirked up.
“I was just thinking about how I’ve never been in a situation where I wasn’t working for a married couple, but it’s not because I’m working for you.
I mean, I think that you’re incredibly pretty and kind of crazy hot. ”
He swore that Hayden’s eyes reflected the flames from the fireplace more than anybody’s had ever seen.
“You think so, do you?”
“I don’t think there’s anybody on earth who doesn’t think so.”
Hayden barked out a laugh. “I can guarantee you that Denise and Rita? They don’t think so.”
“Well, Denise and Rita are sort of like way into one another. You do know that right?”
“Daniel.” Hayden chuckled softly. “Please. Be serious. Of course I understand that.”
“Well, I had to ask.” Daniel found himself fighting his laughter for all he was worth. “If we hook up, and it doesn’t work out, are you going to fire me?”
Hayden’s expression went serious. “I’m not. If we hook up, and it doesn’t work out, are you going to quit?”
He shook his head without even thinking; he couldn’t leave that baby. Jacks was a sweetheart, and Daniel honestly loved him. “No. Not unless it’s the best thing for Jacks.”
“Well, then. Do we have any more questions?”
“So what if it works out? Are you going to fire me?”
“You have my word that I will take care of you. I will have your back, no matter what.” The words didn’t sound empty. They held the ring of truth.
Since Hayden didn’t seem as if he was blowing smoke up Daniel’s ass, he reached out. Hayden did the same at the same time, their fingers twining together.
It felt like sparkles going right up his arm, moving across his shoulder and down his spine. It was stunning.
His lips parted, and he found himself leaning closer, the flames just flaring in Hayden’s eyes. It was lovely. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Do you think so?” Hayden’s voice was low, rough, raw, and the tenor of it settled down in his balls.
“I do think so. I know so. I want you, Mr. Sadler.”
“And I want you, Mr. Pinkney, very much. Can I kiss you?”
He nodded and then took the situation out of Hayden’s hands because he pressed their lips together.
The heat of it made him moan. Not just the electric shock of electricity between them, but how deeply warm Hayden was. There was never anything cold about the man.
Never.
Hayden kissed him as if he was the most delicious treat on earth and he was a starving man. So he gave as good as he got, tasting Hayden with his tongue, pushing into his arms.
They went from zero to sixty, possibly zero to one hundred and twenty.
One way or the other, Daniel was in all the way. He started out sitting next to Hayden, but it didn’t take long before he’d crawled up into the man’s lap and began moving against him, rubbing and getting embarrassingly hard.
He reminded himself that they were in a public area, and the baby was not that far away. So he pulled back and rested his forehead against Hayden’s. “This is a little whoa. I never move this fast.”
He could feel every one of Hayden’s fingers where they rested on his hips burning through the jeans he was wearing. He’d bet sleeping with this man must be like sleeping with a furnace.
“I don’t either.” Hayden’s smile felt amazing on his mouth. “You’re a very special case, Daniel. You make me hard as a rock. Make it difficult to hold back.”
“I don’t want to embarrass the ladies or be in a compromising position when the baby wakes up.”
“That’s reasonable. Disappointing, but reasonable.” Hayden winked at him. “I’d like to spend some time exploring this, though.”
He nodded — he’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t interested too.
Especially given that his hard on was pressed against Hayden’s eight pack, it would be ridiculous to do that.
“Okay, when?” Hayden asked, catching his hand where he was stroking one hard nipple.
“After dinner?”
Jacks was totally sleeping through the night these days.
Hayden nodded. “My bedroom? I have a sitting room, so we don’t have to start in the bed.”
He thought it was sweet that Hayden was giving him the choice, like he wasn’t just going to climb this man and ride him like a prize pony.
“Sounds great. I would love that, maybe some ice cream or something.” He didn’t really want ice cream, but he wanted to see what Hayden would say to that.
“We can totally do some ice cream.” Hayden grinned at him and Jacks popped his little head up just like he’d understood that.
“Now look what we did.” Daniel grinned. “See? I told you I didn’t want to get all involved in something and then have it not come to anything.”
“Tonight, then, in the meantime, we can hang out with the baby and have our ice cream early.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” Daniel meant it too. No matter what happened, even if they just hung out. But the way Hayden was looking at him right now, he had a feeling there was going to be a lot more than that going on.