He nodded. “Were you able to get ahold of your dad?” he asked me as he buttered the toast.
“I was, yes. I let him know where I am and that I’m okay,” I said, wanting to be sure Evan understood that someone knew where I was.
He glanced over at me and smiled. “Good,” he said.
“Has it stopped snowing yet?” I asked.
“It has, but it dumped quite a bit on us.”
“So, with the snow piled so high, when will the kids’ parents be back to get them?” I asked.
“Not for a while,” he said after a moment of hesitation.
“You said they’re your niece and nephew. Are they your brother’s kids or your sister’s kids?”
“Brother’s.”
His tone had changed the slightest bit, but I detected something in it that told me I had broached a sensitive subject. Not wanting to offend the man who had so far been nothing but gracious to me, I decided to let it go. I bit into my bacon and tried to stifle a moan as he set a small plate of toast next to me, then I watched him as he made his way down the hallway.
Studying him as he walked away, I took in the tightness of his muscles. His shoulders were broad and his ass looked like it was sculpted from marble. His thick thighs filled out the legs of his dark jeans rather deliciously, and his large, powerful hands swung easily at his sides.
Sensations I hadn’t let myself feel in a long time came bubbling to the surface. It had been so long since I’d desired physical contact with someone, the sensation hit me hard. I pressed my legs together to try and quell the growing ache. What the hell was wrong with me?
I heard Evan’s low voice coming from down the hall, followed by that of Liam’s high toddler p
itch and Hadley’s soft cooing. I couldn’t help but smile. As unsure of himself as he seemed with his niece and nephew, it was obvious that he loved them very much.
Liam came careening down the hallway, stopping in front of me and giving me a big smile.
“Hi Menamie!” he said enthusiastically.
“Good morning Liam,” I returned as the child sat and happily dug into his food. “Why don’t you just call me Mel?” I said. “All of my friends do,” I winked and he giggled.
“Mew,” Liam said, his ‘l’ becoming a ‘w’.
“Exactly,” I said, smiling. “Is your breakfast good?”
“Mhm,” Liam said.
“And what about you?” I asked Hadley. “Is your breakfast good?”
She blew me wonderful spit bubbles filled with pureed foods, and I giggled at her reaction when they popped.
“Gotta be careful with those,” I said, as I picked up a napkin. “They’ll getcha every time.”
I wiped her face off before I finished the last of my breakfast. The kids were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, something that took me three cups of coffee to obtain. Evan stayed in the corner of the kitchen with his coffee as he watched us, a look I couldn’t quite discern on his face. I rose from the table and took my plate to the sink. “Why don’t you sit and eat, and I’ll clean the kitchen,” I offered.
He shook his head. “No, you don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. “Think of it as repayment for taking me in.”
He sat down and began to eat while I started cleaning up the kitchen. I put all the dishes in the sink and ran some hot water over them to let them sit, and then I got Hadley out of her high chair. Liam was already running back to his room to play, so I put the little girl in her playpen, watching with a smile on my face as she started to play with her toys.
“They’re good kids,” I said.
“They are,” Evan said.
“How long have you lived up here?” I asked.