Because it wouldn’t be nice of me to just drop Cody off, I went up to the door with him. He opened it up and we went inside. “Hey Uncle Matt, we’re back?” he hollered out. I wasn’t moving as quickly as Cody was, but I was hanging in there.
Matt rounded the corner and smiled. “Hey! Did you have a nice afternoon?” he asked.
“It was great!” Cody said. “I got a bloody nose and Tasha fixed it right up.”
Matt shot me a look. “Is that right?”
I shrugged. “Might have had a few mishaps, but overall it went according to plan.”
He smiled and raised his eyebrows, then looked back at Cody. “Glad you had fun. Run upstairs and get washed up. Food will be ready shortly.”
“Bye Tasha!” Cody called out as he ran up the stairs.
“Bye buddy,” I said, letting my voice drift away. I glanced at Matt. “Did you have a good day at work?”
He nodded. “Yeah, it went well. Thanks.” He moved closer to me and to my surprise, lifted his hand up and brushed a strand of hair away from my cheek. “So, the kids didn’t give you too hard of a time today I hope.” He dropped his hand slowly.
I shrugged. “I managed.”
He nodded. “I’m quite impressed. I thought the fiasco at the ice cream parlor would have scared you away.”
I frowned. “Fiasco?” He winked at me, and in that moment, I knew he had been watching me. “Were you spying on me this whole time?” I asked.
“Well, let’s just say that I didn’t want to keep you in the lion’s den, if I could help you out. But you patched up that one boy’s knee and took care of Cody like you were a regular Florence Nightingale.”
I shook my head and punched him in the shoulder. He pretended it hurt, but I saw otherwise as he laughed. “You could have helped me out there.”
“But you said that it would be amazing, and you could handle it. I just wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt and, honestly, I couldn’t have handled it any better. You did a good job.”
I blushed. “Thanks, but I’m exhausted.”
That caused both of us to laugh and, in that moment, we were just two people that were no longer boss and employee. I felt that he was someone that I could now call friend. “Yeah, sometimes I don’t even realize how I get through it raising Cody, but I always seem to manage.”
“You do a wonderful job. You really should know that,” I said causing another smile to spread across his handsome face.
“Thanks, Tasha.” He looked away from me and I saw something on this mind, but when he looked back in my direction it seemed to dissipate. “You wanna stay for dinner?” he asked.
Normally, I probably would have agreed, and I really wanted to agree, but I felt gross and just wanted to take a shower, so I could rest in my pajamas. “Thanks for offering, but maybe a raincheck?”
He smiled. “Of course.” He walked to the door and opened it up for me. I glanced at him and I saw such a genuinely nice look on his face that I nearly changed my mind, but I reluctantly said my goodbyes. “Goodbye Matt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye for now, Tasha,” he said, and I walked out of the house, feeling his eyes directed on me.
A smile came to my lips. If every encounter with him could be that sweet, then I would never want to leave. I just didn’t want to get too attached, only to find it all gone in a blink of an eye.
Chapter Eight
Tasha
The Sleepover
A week went by since I braved a day with four ten-year olds, and I was lounging around my apartment ready for a quiet day of watching TV, when I got the call. It was Matt and he repeatedly apologized, but he needed me on short notice to come over and stay with Cody. He explained that he had a company party to attend and asked me to spend the night since he would be home extremely late, if not the next morning. “I hope you don’t mind staying over. Last year when I attended this gala I didn’t get home until after three a.m. because of the long drive from Orlando to Miami.”
I looked at my TV that had Netflix queued up to play a full season of Scandal. “I don’t mind, Matt.” The truth was that I had looked forward to lazing around all evening, but seeing Matt every day and spending time with Cody had become my addiction, so this was a no-brainer for me.
“Great. Cody wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone other than you, if I end up using my comp room at the hotel in Orlando instead of driving back tonight,” Matt said, and I could sense the relief in his voice.
“No problem. I’ll be there within an hour,” I told him.