Page 6 of One More Yule Log
“Oh, I see.” Ben’s smile warmed the whole room.
“When can I come back?” Olivia asked. “Monday?”
“Let me see if I can change up some of my conference calls, baby. I was intending to work at home while you weren’t in school, mostly.” Ben looked utterly overwhelmed for a moment, like he was just about to shrink under the weight of the world.
“Well, um.” Was he about to offer this? He didn’t want Liv to be disappointed. “If you were going to work from home, I could come teach Olivia there…” What the hell, right? He could use an hour off a couple of days, and they closed pastry and coffee at four.
“Oh… That would be— Are you sure you don’t mind? That would save my life a little bit.” Ben beamed, and suddenly, for a second, the man read ten years younger.
“You can come to our house?” Olivia gave Gray a huge hug. “I can learn to bake cake in our oven! You’ll like it.”
“Yep. I think I can work it out. Alice can keep things going a few hours a week.” Both those smiles were totally worth it.
“Oh, man. I owe you. I’ll make it up to you. I swear.”
That definitely had possibilities. Ben probably didn’t mean it the way Gray’s whole body hoped it did. Still, it made him hot. Really hot. “Sure. How about four on Monday?” He could wait two days to see Ben again.
“Excellent. I’ll provide supper, fair enough?” Ben took out a business card and scribbled an address on the back, before handing it over. “This is us.”
“That sounds great.” When was the last time he’d had something not ramen or pizza? “Will GPS find this?”
“It should. We’re on the very far side of the canyon, nearer Carbondale. If you need help, just call. Do I need to buy anything for you to do your lesson?”
“You have a jelly roll pan?” When Ben nodded, Gray shrugged. “I can bring the rest.”
“Thank you, Gray.” Olivia hugged him again, smelling like soap and strawberries. “Thank you so much.”
“You got it, kiddo. Anything I can do to help.” Holiday season and all. Goodwill toward men. Or at least one very handsome man.
“You’re amazing. Thank you.” Ben shook his hand, and a jolt of electricity shot up his arm at the warm, firm contact.
God, this guy was really something. It had been a long time since someone had gotten to Gray this fast and heated. Olivia’s happy shriek didn’t hurt, either. He loved being able to do something for her. Alice, now, she might kill him… “No problem. I’ll see you then, Liv.”
“I’ll be there with bells on!” She squealed and bounced, seeming much more like a little girl for a second before she stopped and held one hand out, dark eyes twinkling. “See you Monday, Mr. Gray.”
He shook her hand gravely. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll have all the things.” Now he knew what flavor to make too. Liv hadn’t been able to remember what her daddy had always made. White chocolate mocha would work, he would bet.
So much for being too busy to add anything else to his schedule…
* * *
“Come on, Olivia!”Ben waved Liv into the SUV. He’d worked all morning at the office, run to the grocery for chicken and broccoli and rice for supper, and now he had to get Liv a snack and make sure the house was sparkly before he had his conference call and Liv had her lesson with Gray the Gorgeous.
He had to admit, it had felt good to just tell everyone at the office he was working from home. Just the fact that he didn’t have to do the commute meant he would get an extra hour of sleep for the next week or so. That had made a huge difference in his mood.
He loved working from home. Being at home. Raising Liv and doing what he was good at.
“Hey, Daddy!”
“Hey, girlfriend!” He grinned at her as she crawled up into her booster seat. “How was school?”
“Good. Miss Petai taught us a new song in choir. I got an A in math.” She buckled in after putting her pink backpack on the seat.
So much like Dale that it hurt a little bit. “Your dad loved numbers, you know?”
“Did he?” She met his gaze in the rearview.
“Yep. He was super good at it.”
