Maid to Crave (Man Maid #2) (4 page)

Tori had given him the freedom to work whatever hours suited his schedule best. So as he lay awake later that night contemplating the fact that she was avoiding him, he decided he would go a little later in the afternoon the following day and stay until after Zach got home from school and see how that went. Perhaps she just took working from home very seriously and devoted the daytime hours while Zach was in school to her job.
That made sense.

After letting him into the house the following afternoon, she went straight back to her office. He finished unpacking items for the laundry room, living room and dining room. Just as he was about to carry some boxes up to Tori’s room, she exited her office with her keys and purse and headed toward the front door.

“I’m going to pick up Zach from school, I’ll be right back,” she said without even looking at him.

After hearing her car pull out and head down the street, he grabbed a couple boxes out of the garage and headed upstairs. Upon opening the door to her bedroom, he could only stare. The starkness of the room was shocking. Her bed wasn’t even put together. The headboard sat along one wall while a dresser and a chest of drawers sat along the other walls. A large mirror sat propped in the corner, waiting to be attached to the dresser. After looking at each wall, he set the boxes down inside the doorway and headed back downstairs.

He went from room to room throughout the house and realized that each room held exactly
one
picture, some of which hadn’t even been hung up yet. The only room in the whole house with enough things hanging on the walls or sitting on shelves was Zach’s.

Seth headed out to the garage and moved more boxes around looking for ones marked “decorations” or “pictures” or something that would make the house more like a home.
Nothing.

Several trips later he had carried the remaining boxes up to Tori’s room. He heard the garage door opening just as he headed over to the headboard that sat along one wall. He found the hardware needed to bolt it to the bed’s frame in a sandwich baggie taped to the back side of the headboard. She was very nerdy, but organized. He headed back downstairs for some tools only to find Zach at the kitchen bar eating a snack and drinking a juice box.

“How was school today, boy?” Seth asked.

The little guy frowned and continued eating his snack without answering.
Great
. Now Seth was being blown off by the kid, as well. Sighing, Seth found the tools he needed in the garage and headed back inside to discover Zach using a wet wipe to clean his hands and mouth.
Okay, so the kid was nerdy, too.
At that age, Seth’s sleeves and jeans had been his napkins.

Seth went back upstairs with the tools only to hear Zach a few minutes later traipsing along behind him and stopping in the doorway of his mother’s bedroom. Seth quickly figured out why Tori hadn’t tried to attach the headboard. It was heavy and had spikes on each end that fit into slots on the frame. The bolts from the bag would anchor it into place. He could pick up the headboard, but might need a little help guiding the spikes on each end.

“Hey, little man, come on over here. I’m going to pick this up and hold it while you guide these things into the slots,” he said, pointing at the frame.

“I can’t,” Zach said, heading over to where Seth stood.

“Why not?” Seth asked, stepping up to face the wall so he could pick up the headboard.

“I’m wimpy,” Zach replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

The kid
was
little, but he also wasn’t very old. Seth knew next to nothing about children, but figured the boy probably was small for his age, maybe an inherited trait from his mother. Wimpy was a little harsh, though.

“Says who?” he asked.

“Cody Manson,” Zach replied.

Pushing up the sleeve of his T-shirt, Seth flexed his biceps and then looked at Zach. “Make a muscle like this,” he said.

The boy pushed up his sleeve and made a muscle as directed. Seth reached down and gently squeezed.

“You got a good start there. Nothing puny about that. You keep lifting weights and your muscles will be as big as mine. For now, though, just help with the headboard.”

“Do you lift weights?” Zach asked.

“Yep, but for now the headboard will have to work. You ready?” he asked again.

Zach grabbed one of the spikes on the end and Seth picked up the headboard from the center and said, “Okay, good, now hang on to it and let’s move it over, set it down and take a break.”

“This weighs a lot!” Zach grunted.

“Yes, it does. I’d like to see Cody Manson lift this thing as well as you do. Then we would see who is
really
puny,” Seth said.

“Yeah, I can
feel
my muscles getting bigger,” Zach replied.

A snicker from the doorway brought Seth’s attention to where Tori stood, leaning against the frame watching them. Her smile changed her whole face. It was worth the physical strain to see her smile. She still looked young and small…but
pretty
. Seth was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before.

“What? You think Zach’s lying? This thing is
heavy
. You try picking it up!” Seth said with a smile and a wink.

He leaned the headboard against the bedframe and caught himself smiling at Zach’s antics. The boy quickly dusted his hands and then ran his palm across his forehead as if wiping away sweat.

“Yeah, Mommy, you pick it up. It’s heavy!” Zach said.

“How about you get one end, I’ll get the other end and Seth can pick up the middle?” she suggested.

Soon enough they had the headboard in place. While Zach and Tori held it, Seth secured it with the bolts. When that was finished they worked together to get the bed into position against the wall, place the mattress on the frame, then hang the mirror on the dresser. He also moved the chest of drawers where Tori wanted it.

“Can we lift weights now?” Zach said when they finished.

“What do you think we’ve been doing moving all this stuff around?” Seth asked in shock. Then seeing the look of disappointment on the kid’s face he said, “I think we’ve worked out enough for one day. How about we hit the gym another day?”

“Can we go tomorrow?” Zach asked.

“Maybe. Let’s see how the homework goes tonight,” Tori interceded. “It doesn’t do you much good to be strong enough to lift heavy things but not smart enough to read.”

The way she looked at Seth when she said the last part made him wonder if she was directing her comment at him. He was
smart
. Maybe he wasn’t her level of smart, but he wasn’t an idiot either…just thoughtless occasionally.
Would she never forgive him and let it go?

“Maybe I can help with your homework since you helped me with the bed and dresser?” Seth suggested.

Tori looked at him, obviously trying to determine if he was being serious or not. Meeting her gaze, he waited. Zach looked between him and Tori as though wondering if she would allow it.

“Show Seth where your book bag is and start with reading,” Tori finally replied.

Had he known the slow form of torture he was in for, he would have kept his mouth closed and allowed Tori to go on hating on him and getting her jabs in where she could. Zach’s reading was the equivalent of listening to individual drops of water filling a glass and being forced to wait for the water to reach the top. By page three Seth had a newfound respect for the woman in the kitchen—who was starting dinner as though Seth wasn’t being robbed of precious time he would never get back. He even prayed for divine intervention to save him from the rest of the book.

By page five he couldn’t do it anymore…and by the look of frustration on Zach’s face, he couldn’t either. As the boy turned another page, Seth grabbed hold of the book and said, “Let’s see if we can speed up this whole sounding out the letters process, shall we?”

Zach looked hopeful as Seth found a video on his cell phone and played it. It was a song about letter sounds. One of the guys in his unit had a little boy and they would visit online sometimes when the guy and Seth had been stationed overseas. The little boy had sung the song for his dad once. For some reason it had stuck and soon the entire platoon had been singing it…much to Rusty’s chagrin.

Seth played the song through the first time and they watched the video, as well. When it was over, he played it again, singing along this time. By the third time, Zach was singing along, too. A few more times and the boy had the song down so Seth handed the book back to him and was impressed that the song did seem to help…at least a little. Of course, now Seth would be singing the stupid song for days, but if it moved reading homework along he was all for it.

When the book was finished, Tori came into the dining room where he sat at the table with Zach and said, “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Is this the only book he has to read tonight?” Seth asked. Yes, he could lift heavy things, but he was also smart enough not to get roped into any more reading for tonight.
Torture time was over!

Giving him a knowing look, she said, “Yes, but after dinner is math homework. Zach’s very good at math.”

“Math is easier than reading,” Zach supplied.

The smirk she shot at Seth over Zach’s head brought out that side of Seth that could be a real prick. Smiling at her, he said, “Yeah, but then you’ll miss how much better Zach can read. Sing the song for your Mom.”

Zach looked at his mom questioningly, but before she could say anything Seth cut in again, “Tell you what, Zach. You sing the song and read another book to your
mom
and I’ll take you with me to the gym tomorrow.”

Now what would she do?

The smile he sensed spreading across his face felt so good…
like victory
. She couldn’t get out of reading now and she knew it! The look she shot him told Seth he had finally bested her. He waited for a smart comment and was shocked when she said instead, “Sing the song and read another book for
both of us
and then
we
will help you with math. If you do all that with no complaints, you can go to the gym with Seth tomorrow.”

She smiled sweetly at Seth as she began setting food on the table along with a small stack of plates and forks. He was dealing with a professional here. Much like his brother, rather than besting her, he’d simply walked right into her trap. The reading
would
continue—and then be followed up with math.

Was this the teacher’s way of punishing parents for some unknown crime?
Night after night of this?
His hat was off to Tori for handling reading time with Zach all on her own.

He met Tori’s gaze and the glint of mischief in her eyes combined with a genuine smile from her, made his breath catch. She was actually
really
pretty
when she looked like that.

“Okay, Mommy, but can it be a small book?” Zach asked.

Some form of insanity must have passed through Seth’s mind because a part of him hoped it was an even longer book this time so he would have a reason to stay.

Chapter Three

It was really hard to ignore a man who looked like he’d stepped out of a
really
inappropriate dream, especially when he was actually
helping
her child.

She was shocked at the improvement in Zach’s reading just from listening to a silly song.
Why hadn’t she thought of that?
She used the internet every day. She understood technology—technology was her life—but never had she even
thought
about looking up a
song
to help with Zach’s reading. Along with a really,
really
nice body, Seth had also been blessed with some form of creative genius, as well.

No way was Seth going to dump and run now. She’d had so many conferences with Zach’s teachers about his struggles with reading—both in his old school and in this new school—that she’d lost count. A really expensive phonics book and CD set, an even more expensive tutoring program, followed by a special plan to help him in the classroom and Zach still was in serious danger of repeating first grade. Comparing Zach’s reading to the other kids in his class was distressing, but not being able to help her own child was even worse.

In the time she’d spent making dinner, Zach had finished reading a whole book! Thanks to Seth. The other kids in his class could read two or three in that time, but for Zach, finishing one book was incredible. So she would do anything short of begging to get Seth to stay for more reading. The idea of reading two books in one night would normally have brought her and Zach both to tears. So for Zach to be
willing
to do it was…simply amazing. Somehow she knew that if Seth left, Zach’s interest in reading another book would dwindle significantly.

So far she’d offered dinner, but would he really stay and work with Zach or would he cut out after they ate? He probably had some hot date, but it was worth trying to get him to stay, even if it meant tricking him. They ate dinner together and she listened to Zach talk about another little boy in his class that she felt pretty sure was bullying him.

“You know most people who say or do mean things to other people are doing it because they are
jealous
,” Seth said to Zach after listening to a story about how Cody had been mean to Zach at lunch time. “You’re pretty ripped for a first grader. I’m guessing Cody doesn’t have as many muscles as you do.”

“That’s very possible. Cody might also be acting mean because he doesn’t think very well of himself. Maybe he wants to be taller or skinnier or have more friends. That is not an
excuse
to be mean to other people, but it might explain why he acts like that,” she said, eyeing Seth thoughtfully.

Seth looked at her with exasperation blazing in his eyes. She really hadn’t been aiming that comment at him, not this time anyways…but if the shoe fit.

“You know, maybe you and Cody just got off on the wrong foot. Maybe you should invite him to work out with us tomorrow. It’s nice to give people a second chance, right?” Seth asked Zach. Then Seth looked at her as if to bring home his point.