Page 12 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
It was adorable. André was smitten with them already. Especially when they looked up at him with such large,wondrous eyes filled with hope. They probably hadn’t had true hope in a while.
Damn, what a depressing thought.
André shook it off and focused. “All right, buddy, you first. What’s your name?”
His soft young voice sounded both wistful and excited. “Kit.”
“And Kit, what’s some toys you want?”
“Blocks!”
“Be more specific, my man. We talking wood, LEGO sets—”
He gave a little bounce in place, eyes wide with delight. “Legos!”
“Right on. I loved LEGO sets as a kid. I’m right there with you.”
André continued prodding for answers, writing them down, making sure he marked which kid requested what. They were all excited about the new stuff, and he heard more than a few kids conferring with each other, working out who would ask for what so they could share toys.
André had this feeling he was going to empty a toy store on their behalf. He wouldn’t feel the slightest bit guilty doing it, either.
The door from the hallway opened, and the kids inhaled in excitement. It brought André’s head up and around.
Ian stood framed in the doorway, mouth slightly parted, staring down at André as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked, rubbed one eye, and stared again.
Ava promptly got up and hugged him around the waist. “Ian! Ian! Your friend is going to buy us toys!”
André had this sudden feeling he was in trouble. The way Ian stared down at him with suspicion was a good indication. He could guess why, but he was sure Ian would tell him soon enough. As he’d recently learned, the man could be brutally direct.
“André,” Ian said, voice like a drill sergeant’s with a particularly dumb recruit. He managed to keep his voice level, but just barely. “Outside. I want to talk to you.”
The kids apparently knew this tone of Ian’s, as they all made a loadedOooohsound. Which wasn’t reassuring.
“Sure. Ava, can you grab everyone’s lists when they’re done and put them into this bag for me? Thanks, princess. I’ll be right back.”
Mary caught his eye as he stood and asked sotto voce, “Did you not tell him you were coming?”
“Nope.” André shrugged, gave her a reassuring smile, and followed in Ian’s wake. No need to worry them. No matter how Ian felt about this, André wasn’t going to rescind his sponsorship. He’d feel like an absolute villain taking away such joy from the kids.
Ian waited until they were in the hallway before grabbing him by the arm and hauling him out a back door, then even farther, down a narrow dirt trail into the woods, well out of sight of the house.
He wasn’t going to whack him and bury him under a bush, was he?
A few paces past the tree line, Ian rounded on him, and wow, he had the most calmly furious expression André had ever seen on a human’s face. It was rather impressive. He held his chin high, legs planted in a wide stance, and steam almost visibly rolling off him in waves.
“If you think for one second that you can buy me by coming here—” Ian had a clenched fist in the air, as if ready to use it. Hesmelledmad, which wasn’t good for André.
André threw up both hands in a staying motion. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! No way in hell do I think that. Ian, if you were the type of man who could be bought, I wouldn’t be pursuing you in the first place.”
Ian mentally ground to a halt, brows beetled together. Now he looked confused. “Then what are you doing here?”
“It’s kinda two-fold.” André paused to think of how best to phrase this. “See, my parents encourage both my brother and me to support different charities. I’ve been looking for one ever since I returned to America three years ago, but it wasn’t until I saw your posts on Facebook that I found something. This group home. It needs the help, right? My money would be well spent here.”
Ian’s fury had dropped by half, expression conflicted, but at least he was listening now. “You looked at my Facebook?”
“I’m interested in you. Of course I checked out your social media accounts. You really ignore Insta, don’t you?”
“I don’t have the time to post on it much—” Ian groaned. “Not the point. Do not distract me. Okay, so you were looking for a charity, you saw the group home because of my posts, and you just…what? Drove out here blindly?”
