Page 17 of Give Me a Reason

“Are you sure you want to work two jobs?”

“I love keeping busy,” Aria said with a smile.

I had a feeling that it was more than that, but it wasn’t my place to ask. “I’ll call your references, but assuming everything checks out, can you start tomorrow?”

I had a good feeling about hiring her. We might not see things the same way, but she was great with Paisley.

“I can do that,” Aria said as we stood in front of her small car. It was used but in good condition. It didn’t give me any more information about who she was, though.

I closed the door after she climbed in on the driver’s side. She offered me a small smile, and I stepped back as she backed out of the driveway.

Aria was an eternal optimist who believed in happily ever afters. She shouldn’t have intrigued me so much. Instead, I should take what she was offering—babysitting services—and keep my distance.

Whatever caused my parents to divorce so many times was part of my DNA. I couldn’t escape the reality that I was their child. I’d be doomed to fail too.

CHAPTER FIVE

Aria

I needed the money. That’s what I kept telling myself as I drove over to Finn’s house for the second night in a row. There was no other reason for me to babysit his adorable little girl.

As soon as I walked inside their house last night, I’d been enraptured by the two of them. I couldn’t get over the fact that Finn had made ratatouille because it was his daughter’s favorite movie. It was sweet, heartwarming, and sexy as all get-out.

The only saving grace in this situation was that he’d be working while I watched his daughter. I wouldn’t have to watch him make dinner and interact with his little girl. She’d be asleep before he came home.

That had my heart pitter-pattering for a different reason. I’d be alone with Finn.

At work, where weddings were our focus, we tended to butt heads, but at his house, it was a different story. I saw the real him, the one who worked hard to support his daughter and cooked her things outside of his comfort zone because she wanted him to.

When I knocked on the door, I heard the now-familiar racing of feet over the wood floors before the door was wrenched open.

“You’re here!” Paisley grabbed my hand and pulled me inside before I could greet her.

“Let Aria get her bearings before you drag her all over the house,” Finn called from upstairs.

Was he getting ready for his gig? What did that entail? A shower, shave gel, and a black T-shirt with ripped jeans? My mind was running rampant, and I was more than a little jealous of the women who’d get to hear him play tonight. They’d get the benefit of his music and his gorgeous face.

Life was so unfair sometimes. I felt a little like Cinderella staying home from the ball to clean while her stepsisters had all the fun. If I was honest with myself, I’d always felt like that. I didn’t do activities in school because I needed to be available to babysit and bring in as much extra cash as I could.

Despite what my parents said, they needed the money. It went toward groceries and field trip money.

Paisley stopped in front of a huge dollhouse I hadn’t noticed the night before. It must have been four feet high and just as wide. It was one of those fancy Victorians that someone would put together for you. I always imagined it would be a father or a grandfather painstakingly putting up the walls and attaching the roof.

“This is gorgeous.” I reached out a hand to touch the shingles. They were individual, just like I’d always imagined.

“Daddy made it for me.”

My heart contracted. “Of course, he did.”

Finn came down the steps in the exact outfit I’d imagined him in. Black band T-shirt. Check. Ripped jeans slung low on his hips. Check. Effortlessly scuffed boots. Check. Smelling of soap and aftershave. Check. Check.

My pulse was racing, and my hands were sweaty as he came to a stop in the doorway to the living room, a slow smile spreading over his face. “You showing her your dollhouse?” The question was so clearly directed at Paisley, but I wanted to answer him in the worst way. I wanted him to notice me. To be getting ready to go out on a date with me.

“Aria loves it.”

“Of course, she does,” Finn said, shooting that electrifying smile in my direction.

I forced myself to look away before my entire body lit up from his attention. “She said you made it.”

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