She nodded, then reached for his hand and pulled him off the couch. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her cheek on his chest and murmured, “Thank you for my birthday presents, Seth. The cupcake and the orgasm.”
His fingers threaded through her hair, stroking gently. “You’re welcome. And thank you. For listening, first and foremost. And for not laughing me right out of the room when I asked you to date me.” He brought his lips close to her ear and said, “And most of all, thank you for agreeing to let me babysit your children while you’re out on your date.”
She huffed out an irritated breath. “It’s not a date!”
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, Miranda had a dickens of a time getting both her kids in the same room together. Jason was running around the apartment throwing a baseball in the air, and when she finally got his butt settled on the living room couch, Sophie had darted off to find her doll, only to get distracted by one of the sparrows out in the backyard, the one that was supposedly out to get her. So while Miranda was calming down her daughter and assuring her that sparrows were harmless, Jason took off again, this time ducking under the kitchen table to play with his little green army men.
Needless to say, by the time she finally had both kids in front of her, she was exhausted, flustered and kind of sweaty.
“Okay, guys, this is serious. I really need you to listen,” she said, sinking into the small armchair next to the couch. “Sophie, put Emily down. Jason, I know you have one of those soldiers in your mouth. Spit it out. Now.”
Emily and a little green soldier landed on the coffee table with a thud.
“All right. Are you listening?”
They nodded.
“Mommy’s going out for dinner tonight, so—”
“I wanna go to dinner too,” Jason interrupted.
“Me too!” Sophie piped up.
“I’m sorry, guys, but you can’t. It’s a business meeting, so it’s going to be super boring. Trust me, you’ll have a lot more fun at home.” Remaining casual, she added, “With Seth.”
Sophie gasped in pure horror. “Sef’s coming?”
Jason beamed with pure enchantment. “Sef’s coming?”
“Yep. He’s coming over to hang out with you while I have my business meeting.”
“I don’t want Sef! I want Dylan,” Sophie retorted.
“Dylan is busy tonight,” Miranda lied. “But Seth was free, and guess what, he’s so excited about coming over. He said he really wants to watch a movie with you guys, and make popcorn, and maybe even play in the yard for a bit.”
Sophie looked so dubious Miranda almost laughed.
“Is Sef gonna get me from Ricky’s house?” Jason’s jaw dropped as another thought occurred to him. “Is Sef gonna come to my game?”
“I’m afraid he won’t be at the game, kiddo. Coach Diaz will drop you off at home afterwards.” She glanced at Sophie. “And you get to drive in Ginny’s cool convertible. She’ll bring you home while I wrap up my last class at the studio. You and Seth will hang out until your brother gets home.”
Now Sophie was the one gaping. “I hafta be alone with Sef?”
“She gets to be alone with Sef? No fair!”
Miranda sighed. “Enough, guys. Close your mouths before bugs start flying in there.” She gave each of them a strict look. “I expect you to be on your best behavior tonight. You’re going to treat Seth with the same respect you give to me and Kim, understand?”
They nodded, Sophie albeit reluctantly.
“And no running in the house.” She glanced at Jason. “No indoor baseball, Jase. And you—” she pointed at Sophie, “—don’t you dare throw things at the bird feeder again.”
Fine, so maybe she was stacking the deck in Seth’s favor a little, but the man was making an effort, so why shouldn’t her kids do the same?
“Are we good?” She looked from one child to the other.
“Yup,” they said in unison.
But there was no mistaking the tiny glimmer of mischief in her daughter’s eyes.
Uh-oh.
With a sigh, she got to her feet. “All right, let’s get you two dressed. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
Seth’s palms were unusually damp as he waited in Miranda’s living room for the kids to come home. He’d let himself in with the spare key she’d given him last night at the club, and it felt weird being in Miranda’s apartment when she wasn’t there.
He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to watch her kids this evening.
Agreed?
Right. Try offered.
And Miranda was actually trusting him with her kids. The woman had a lot more faith in him than he had in himself.
The irony didn’t escape him—he was a Navy SEAL, for fuck’s sake. He could carry out a hazardous black-ops mission in his sleep, infiltrate a terrorist cell’s lair without batting an eye, throw himself in the line of fire without hesitation. He’d saved lives before, many, many lives. His government specifically entrusted him with the task of saving lives.