He was a little heavy, and I swore he’d grown in the month I’d known him, but it wasn’t impossible. And I knew Elliot didn’t like to be carried around, so the fact that he was letting me told me that he’d had a long school day.
And I didn’t mind carrying him.
Yes, this little boy had me wrapped around his little finger.
“Evelyn, guess what?” he said softly near my ear, so softly, I knew Simon couldn’t hear us.
“What?” I asked, adopting the same tone of voice.
“I love you.”
My throat clogged, and I had to clear it a few times before I spoke. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
So, so much.
We made it inside the warm house, and I placed Elliot on the sofa in the living room. He looked so tiny sitting there surrounded by all the white throw pillows, I almost didn’t want to let him go, which I knew was ridiculous.
I didn’t have any right to be protective of the child I was only caring for, especially since I knew my relationship with him was on a time limit.
Getting close to Elliot would only hurt us both when it was time to say goodbye, but how could I not love him?
“Where do you want this?” Simon asked.
He was still carrying both my purse and Elliot’s backpack. I had almost forgotten about him. I smiled my apology and walked over to him, taking the things out of his hands. “I got ’em. Thank you for helping me.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said, looking back at Elliot then at me.
He had that strange look on his face again.
“What?”
Shaking his head, he shot me a small smile. “It’s nothing. Sorry. I’m probably just being paranoid.”
“Paranoid?”
“It’s nothing.”
I made a move to leave when Simon grabbed my elbow, holding me back. I looked at him inquisitively, pulling my arms out from his hold. He let me go easily enough, which was good, because I didn’t like people grabbing me without my permission, but I didn’t want to have to start something between us.
That would be awkward, since he would still be driving Elliot and me around.
“Yes?”
“I, ah, I was wondering if you were busy this Sunday.”
“Sunday?” I asked, stalling for time. Sunday was my day off. It was also Simon’s day off, because Jace usually took the day to spend time with Elliot. If they needed to go somewhere, Jace would either be driving or he had Jerry drive them.
And if Simon was asking, that meant he probably wanted to hang out with me.
“Yes, Sunday. I know you’ve only been in New York for a few weeks. You probably haven’t really explored the city…”
His gray eyes were filled with sincerity, and had I not met Jace and followed him back to that hotel room, had I not been stupidly infatuated with my boss, I would be over the moon.
Instead, I was thinking of a way I could reject him softly without making it awkward for us.
“Oh, well, yes, a tour of the city is a must, but—” I took a step back, so he wasn’t crowding my space. Simon obviously didn’t read body language very well, because he followed. “I’m still getting settled and—”
“Daddy!” Elliot yelled, interrupting us. We both turned and watched as Elliot jumped off the couch and ran toward Jace.