Anxiety washed over me, because I just knew that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to make distancing myself from him any easier. “What is it?”
“My ex dropped the kids off downstairs. She just called me and told me afterwards. I’m so sorry, Win. I know this isn’t your job, and I’d never expect you to do this if it weren’t an emergency. They’re on their way up already. My flight got delayed and I won’t be back for another few hours. Please tell me you’ll keep an eye on them.”
My stomach dropped even as my mouth opened on its own. “Of course, Beck. I’ve got them covered. Anything I should know?”
“God, you’re a fucking miracle. I’ll be back before the office closes. Just take them into my office. You can hang out in there. Order up food if they’re hungry. Olive will let you know if they need anything.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and silenced a sigh. Getting to know the man’s kids wasn’t avoiding attachment. “Okay, sounds good.”
“I appreciate you, Win. I’ll make it up to you.” He swore and then the line went dead.
I stared at the phone in my hand and frowned. He hadn’t even reminded me of their names. I stood up and ran my hands down my flower-covered dress. I wanted to run out of the building screaming for the millionth time since finding out Beck was Mr. Myers, but I wasn’t going to leave his children to suffer.
The elevator opened a few seconds later, and I was faced with a sweet-looking copy of Beck and a scowling girl a bit older, even if she was smaller than her brother already. I remembered Beck saying she was the older sibling.
“Hey, guys. I’m Winnie, and I work for your dad. He’s working in the field today, so you’re stuck with me for a few hours.”
The little boy stuck his hand out and graced me with a mega-watt smile, with just a few teeth missing. “I’m Arlo. Can we get snacks?”
“Arlo, you don’t even know her. Jeez, dummy. You’re going to get kidnapped one day.” The girl pulled her brother back and crossed her arms over her chest. “How do we know that you’re not going to murder us?”
I winced. “Well, firstly, because the idea of murder really gives me the heebie-jeebies. Secondly, because I know the magic word.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s the magic word?”
I grinned and nodded towards her dad’s office. “Your dad said we could order food up.”
Arlo ran to Beck’s private door. “Yes!”
The girl stared at me for a second more before sighing and rolling her eyes. “Fine. I’m Olive. If you try to kidnap me, though, just know that I know five different ways to blind a person.”
“How old are you?”
“Eight. How old are you?”
I clasped my chest and shook my head dramatically. “Never ask a lady her age!”
A hint of a smile touched her lips, but it was gone just as fast. “Come on. How long is Dad going to take this time?”
I trailed behind the two of them, worried I was already seeing cracks that I naturally wanted to fix. “He said he’d be back before the office closed.”
I didn’t miss the way her shoulders inched higher, and the frustration that furrowed her brows and made her cross her arms over her chest. She was so angry and it radiated off of her. Meanwhile, Arlo was already sitting at his father’s desk, spinning in the chair. He seemed to not have a care in the world.
I cringed to think about what I’d done at that desk and told myself that it’d been cleaned at least a dozen times since then. “All right, let’s get some food for you two, and then we can figure out what to do with all this space in here. Have you ever played hopscotch in here before?”
Olive stared at me, her entire demeanor untrusting. “No. We can’t put chalk on the floor.”
I scoffed. “Don’t tell me your imagination is that trapped in a box, Olive. We have tape, sticky notes, or even pens. We can make boxes easily. I bet there are a lot of things we could repurpose to make games out of in here.”
Arlo bounced over to me, his green eyes so much like Beck’s. “Daddy doesn’t let us play in here.”
I knelt in front of him and winked at Olive. “He’s not here right now. He’s left us to our own devices. You know what that means? It means that we’re going to play in here. I’ll clean up before I leave, and we can keep it our little secret.”
That got Olive on board. After ordering food, I did what I loved most in the world: I helped the kids play and use their imagination to have a blast. The games were probably a little silly for Olive, but she didn’t complain. She even laughed a few times. When she smiled, her entire face transformed into something magical, and I wondered what her mother looked like.
They ate and then insisted on more games. I lost track of time and was shocked when Lauren stuck her head into the office and grinned at me.
“Boss man is on the line for you. I’m heading out. Do you need anything before I go?”