I'm not usually one who ends up in situations outside my control, but here I am, escorting the quirkiest woman I've ever met up to my home, with a dog and a child in tow. God, I need her help, though.
I also need a drink. Maybe three. The good stuff, hold the ice.
I'm grateful Regina came with me, though, since I have more of an idea of what I'd do with the dog than what I'd do with the kid. I mean, at least with dogs you can throw them bones and put them in crates. With kids, you get locked up for that shit.
I chose this place on Beacon Hill not only because of the location—near the airport, my businesses, and in the heart of historical Boston—but because it's the quietest, most tucked-away home in the heart of the city. Behind us, cars beep and trucks rumble by, voices shout and laughter bubbles up from small groups of pedestrians walking down the street. But once the doors shut, there's nothing but utter, blissful quiet.
"Whooooaa," Regina breathes as we walk up the steps toward the entrance. We walk through a paved courtyard to get to the main door, set apart from the street. I love that it reminds me of my home in Tuscany. The courtyard has a circular table with three wrought-iron chairs, imported from Italy, framed with greenery to give us even more privacy. I like to sit out here at night, listening to the distant sounds of the city, with a cold drink and a book. When I have time, that is, which admittedly isn't often.
"It's nice, huh?" Dany says.
"What?" I type in the passcode to enter, curious what they're "whoa-ing" about.
"This looks like a place where you'd have a butler or something," Dany says, then she squints at me from behind her glasses. "Do you have a butler?"
I shake my head. Why would a single guy who likes to cook need a butler?
"Thought you were here last night?" Regina asks Dany, shooting me an accusatory glance.
"Yeah, I was. Just thought maybe the butler had the night off or something."
I give Regina a look back. See?
"No butler." I have cleaning ladies and a driver, but no butler.
I open the front door, and gesture for the two of them to go in. I glance at Dany's choice of clothing and frown.
"Winnie bought you clothes," I say to Dany. "I put some out this morning. Why did you change back into these? These look like—"
A sharp glance from Regina cuts me off mid-sentence. She makes a chopping motion across her throat, and I don't know if she's telling me to stop talking or threatening to kill me. Knowing her, maybe both.
"I like my clothes," Dany says, and that's when I realize why Regina didn't want me to pry. Maybe it's a touchy subject.
Dany walks in ahead of us, and that little mutt trots right in, sniffing around. I give Regina a look, because I swear to God if he thinks he's gonna lift that leg and—
"He's house-trained," she says, rolling her eyes, reading my mind.
"He'd better be."
She huffs at me.
Prince trots down the hallway after Dany, and Regina makes an incoherent grumble. I'm not sure what she says, but it isn't anything polite, and I think it has something to do with me being house-trained.
While spacious inside, the homes on Beacon Hill tend to have narrow hallways and stairwells, having been built in colonial times. I have to duck entering the rooms and have had to make some adjustments to the layout to accommodate my larger frame, but it's worth it for the location. From here, I'm a short walk away from the shops and restaurants on Charles Street, the Public Garden, and the Common.
"Wow," Regina says. "It really is gorgeous here."
"Thank you."
"Is that the Common? You can see the Common from here?"
I nod. "Yeah. It's especially nice in the spring." The main level is mostly for entertaining, with a large living room and piano. The windows offer views of the Boston Common, a large, spacious, outdoor park in Boston which has guided tours and street entertainers. One of my favorite places to take a walk.
"Oh my God. There's a skylight?" Regina says.
I nod. There's a two-tiered covered patio here, with a skylight to bring in more sun. The patio leads into a formal dining room and the kitchen, which also has patio access. "I like things bright and sunny," I say with a shrug.
"Goes with your sunny disposition, eh?"
I narrow my eyes at her, making her flush pink. I imagine how she'd squeal if I smacked her ass for that sassy mouth of hers. How I'd love to bend this woman over my knee and teach her some manners.
"Hey! Is this my room up here?" Dany asks. We never made it upstairs, so she never saw her room.
It's then that I realize she hasn't called me by name.
"It's rude to call someone hey, Dany," I say, heading to the stairwell. Regina follows and Prince trots behind her.
Dany stands in front of a doorway. "Well, you never told me what to call you."
Dear God. Why did it not dawn on me before that she'll call me uncle.
"Well, I'm your uncle," I say awkwardly. No one's ever called me uncle before, and by the look on her face, she's never called anyone uncle either.
"Uncle… Emmett?"
Why does my throat feel all tight? I swallow and nod. "That'll do. And yes, that will be your room."
All the bedrooms are on the second floor. The master suite's above the living room, so it affords me the Same view of the Common. Hers is at the other end of the hall but has a private bath so we don't have to share space.
"Can I see your room?" Dany asks, hands on hips.
I gesture down the hall to my room. "Help yourself."
She runs down the hall, and Prince follows behind. I've never had children or a dog in here before, but I have to admit… I don't hate it.
"Wow," Regina says. "This is… extra, huh?"
She turns to face me with a curious look on her face.
"Extra?"
"You've got… an en suite, a walk-in closet, a fireplace… and is that… two studies?"
"His and her baths and separate studies."
She gets an odd look on her face, but then follows Dany as I go to head downstairs to start dinner.
"Keep the dog out of my bedroom, or I chain him outside on the patio," I yell over my shoulder.
I turn around to face her as Dany comes back down the hall and shuts the door to her room, and I hear the bed creak. The dog had trotted after her and I can just imagine her flopping face first on the bed, the dog leaping up onto it next to her. I cringe. What's this kid gonna do to my home?
Regina mutters something to herself.
"Did you say something?"
"Nothing."
Oh no she doesn't.
"It wasn't nothing. What'd you say just now?"
She stands erect, all five foot nothing of her, and plants her hands on her hips. Not sure she knows this, but the move accentuates her waist, and her breasts are nearly spilling out of her shirt. It's a move I like.
"I said I don't think he has any more interest in your bedroom than I do!"
That does it.
She's been giving me shit since we met, and I've given her no reason to. I stalk back toward her, noting the way her eyes go a little wider, and she takes a step back.
"Is that right, Regina?" I ask, pronouncing each syllable carefully as I stalk toward her. The hallway is narrow, so in just a few paces I've got her pinned up against the wall. Heat surges through me at the way she stares at me, her much-smaller frame dwarfed by my larger one.
"What are you doing?" she asks, panic in her voice.
I don't answer at first. I'm enjoying taking control of the situation, far more than I should. I rest my forearm against the wall, gently curving it over her head, and place my right hand flat on the wall, palm down.
"Oh, me? Doing nothing," I say with a shrug, while I hold her gaze. "Just wanted to hear what you said to me just now is all. Right up close and personal."
She clears her throat. "I didn't stutter, did I?"
No, but I'd like to make her.
"Let me go," she whispers, but it's a feeble little whisper like one might use to say, "I really shouldn't, but…"
"I'm not holding you. You're free to go as you please."
I watch as her eyes get a wicked gleam in them, an almost triumphant smile tipping her lips upward. Jesus, she's gorgeous when she smiles.
She leans in, her warm, sweet breath brushing my cheek. Her words are a mere whisper, and my pulse races. I want to taste those lips. I want to hold her slight body against mine, feel her heat and her touch. I want to see her melt beneath me as I lay her down and show her exactly what I'd do in that bedroom she supposedly has no interest in.
"Mr. Swan," she whispers.
I almost tell her to call me Emmett, but I like the way my formal name sounds on her lips.
"Yes?"
"Superman's flying low," she says in a seductive purr.
Wait, what?
She gestures to my fly. "Guess even the most expensive suits have their flaws, hmm?" she says with an outrageous little giggle as my hand flies to my crotch and I feel the zipper hanging low.
"Christ," I mutter, and she takes the opportunity to duck under my arm and run toward Dany's room. I swing my palm towards her gorgeous ass but miss by about a mile, making her snort with laughter.
But when she reaches Dany's room, she tries the handle, then blanches when the doorknob doesn't turn.
"Thought you'd get away that easily, did you?" I ask, after zipping up my fucking fly. I stalk toward her again, this time my intent clear. She looks around me, as if trying to find another escape route, but the only one at this point is my bedroom.
"We shouldn't let her lock the door," she says.
Right. The kid.
I take in a deep breath, though I like that she said we.
Like this is teamwork. And I like that. She isn't leaving me to handle this all by myself, and God if I don't love that.
I sigh. Game over. "Good call."
She lifts her hand and knocks.
"Dany, open this door, please."
"Why?" the little voice on the other side of the door says.
Regina turns to me in surprise.
"Because I said so," I say in a voice three times louder than Regina's.
"Wow, that's original."
"You've got a better line?"
She nods and raises her voice. "My house, my rules!" She looks to me, then shakes her head. "Erm, sorry about that." She shouts again. "His house, his rules!"
But when she reaches Dany's room, she tries the handle, then blanches when the doorknob doesn't turn.
"Thought you'd get away that easily, did you?" I ask, after zipping up my fucking fly. I stalk toward her again, this time my intent clear. She looks around me, as if trying to find another escape route, but the only one at this point is my bedroom.
"I want some privacy," Dany says.
"You can have some privacy, but we need to make sure you're safe," Regina begins.
"I'm safe!"
"You don't owe her an explanation."
"Yeah, because bossing kids around always works great, doesn't it?"
"I have no idea. I've never had a kid." The words bring home to me how out of my element I really am, and I don't like it. I shrug.
"I don't want to," Dany says. "I want to be alone."
"It isn't safe," Regina says.
I'm not above a threat. "Open the door, or no dessert tonight." I turn to Regina and at the look on her face I whisper, "Was that better?" It was pretty lame,. I don't think I even have any dessert in the house.
Regina shakes her head. "God," she hisses. "No dessert? That's like one grade below threatening a spanking, which I think is probably illegal."
I shake my head, unable to stop myself. "The only one in danger of getting a spanking is you, but I'll make sure you like it."
Her jaw drops. She blinks. "I can't believe you just said that," she hisses. Then she looks thoughtful. "Though… I mean, I won't say the thought doesn't—" She shakes her head. "Jesus, would you focus on the task at hand, please? Honest to God, you men are all alike!"
Nice try, Regina. Nice try.
She turns back to the door. "Dany, you unlock this door, or I'm taking Prince home with me."
"So I can't take dessert away but you can take the dog? Explain that logic to me."
Dany replies before Regina can. "How are you going to do that? Prince is in here with me."
We look at each other, chagrined. Dammit.
"I can't believe we're letting a seven-year-old best us," she mutters.
I sigh. "It's unchartered territory. An unknown enemy."
"She isn't an enemy! How could you call a child an enemy!"
"Relax, Regina, it's metaphorical."
We stand there in silence for a moment. I notice the way her hair smells, like freshly cut roses, and the way she tugs on a lock of it as she thinks this over.
"What I mean is," I try a second time, "we're inexperienced. We'll get the hang of this."
It's a little strange how I've just sort of lumped the two of us together in this, but I couldn't help it. We will.
She tries again to cajole Dany, but it's no use. The kid's stubborn. It'll take her far in life, but she's got to tame that will. I ought to know.
"Don't you have a key or something?"
I stroke my chin thoughtfully. Her eyes are glued to my fingers grazing over my stubble. I should probably get my mind out of the gutter, but I can't help but imagine the way she'd react with my stubble on her thighs…
"Now that you mention it, I think I do. At the very least I have some tools, could unscrew the damn thing."
She nods, all business. "Let's do it."
I grab my toolbox from downstairs, and head back up to Sam. I don't want to get this shirt sweaty or dirty, so at the top of the stairs, I unbutton it and take it off, stripping down to a T-shirt.
"You're only unfastening a doorknob," she says, though she swallows hard after she says it. "No need to strip."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not stripping," I tell her, kneeling in front of the door to get to work. "But you're welcome to if you'd like."
"You. Are. Maddening."
"Why thank you."
It takes ten minutes and three tools, but finally, the lock pops, and I open the door. I stand, prepared to give this little girl the lecture of her little life, but Regina goes in ahead of me and puts her finger to her lips. "Shhh."
The sun set outside the window long ago, and the room is darkened save for a little night light in the corner. Dany's sprawled on the bed facedown, her arm slung around Prince. Both of them sound asleep.
It's a spacious guest room with a large, queen-sized bed and a small, private bath, but there's nothing in here that's hers, nothing that's personal, except the clothes she wears. I make a vow right then and there to do something about that.
"Poor thing," Regina says with a sigh.
"She must've been exhausted."
Regina nods, bends, and tucks a strand of hair back from Dany's face. She then gently removes Dany's glasses, folds them, and places them on the bedside table. Dany snuggles up closer to Prince.
"Last night, she couldn't settle for hours," I whisper. "Looks like she found what she needs."
I've never been a dog-on-the-bed kinda guy, but she's holding onto him with all she's got, and I can't bring myself to take that away from her. From the look on Regina's face, she feels the same. I'm going to have to invest in some stuffed animals, or… something.
"She can't sleep like this," Regina whispers.
I nod in agreement. I slip off one flip flop, then the other, and lay them on the floor next to the bed, then take a folded blanket from the foot of the bed, snap it open, and lay it over Dany. Regina watches me, her eyes warming, but doesn't say anything.
"I'll kill my brother," I whisper, shaking my head. How anyone could abandon a kid like this is something I'll never understand. "I will find him, and I will kill him, painfully and slowly."
Regina looks at me and blinks. I expect another lecture, but instead she only nods. "And I'll help you."