Page 74 of His Greatest Treasure

She’s scooted her chair as close to his as possible but keeps the cards in her hands hidden from him. He has an arm resting along the back of her chair, his long fingers tapping a silent beat on the edge of it. Her favourite brand of juice box is in front of them, two matching boxes crumpled in the middle like they both squished them once they were empty.

“Juice boxes and donuts? You went all out on babysitting duty, Lieutenant,” Becca says.

The duo turns at the same time, but it’s Nova who stands first and runs toward me, her dimpled grin shooting straight for my heart. “Mom! Mom!”

“Hey, baby,” I murmur, raising my hands so I don’t spill coffee on her.

“I missed you,” she says into my chest.

“I missed you right back.”

The coffees are taken from my hands. Oliver watches me with a soft expression, but his eyes are lined with worry. Our coffee cups are in front of his chest, gripped in hands that I’ve begun to dream about holding me.

“Hey, princess.”

My pulse quickens. “Thank you for watching her.”

“She was great.”

It’s relieving to hear that. I’ve raised her to be a good girl, but you never know how a child will behave in front of someone else.

Nova steps out of my arms and waves at a man at the table with deep brown skin and long black hair swept out of his face. He waves back and tips his head at me.

“Thank you for playing cards with me, Patty,” Nova says.

He points at her and waggles his finger. “Next time, there won’t be any cheating on your side, fox.”

“Don’t start,” Oliver scolds him.

Rubbing Nova’s back, I ask, “Were you cheating at cards again?”

“Again!” Patel shouts. “I knew it.”

“Mom!” Nova glares at me. “Tattletale.”

Oliver’s laugh is loud, and I swear I can almost feel the vibration from it in my chest. The warm, happy sound stops me in my tracks, and I find myself stuck staring at him, following the circle of black around the warm brown in his eyes.

The sound trickles off when he notices me staring, and I go hot, embarrassed at being caught.

“Do you have time to talk before you go?” he asks.

I clear my throat. “Yeah, sure.”

“How about you show me how you cheat at cards while they talk for a minute, hmm?” Becca asks Nova, offering her the smoothie.

“Sure.”

I leave the two of them there and follow Oliver to a room a few steps away from the kitchen. He swings the door open and holds it for me to enter first. It’s a gym. A big one fit with several types of equipment I’d have no idea how to use.

The door clicks behind me, sealing us in together. Alone.

A wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors is across the room, and I stare at the reflection of the two of us. Me, with my muscles tense and lip trapped between my teeth, and Oliver, with his stance open and height towering. He’s not looking at the mirror but at me instead.

Arousal makes my knees tremble, tension shrinking the room until I’m sure that our reflections are lying and he’s breathing down my neck instead of a handful of feet away.

“Thank you again for watching Nova today. I’m sorry for calling while you were at work. I won’t make a habit of it. I just didn’t feel comfortable asking anyone else yet.”

I might as well have not spoken. The words disappear into thin air.

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