“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” he asks, walking behind me and sending another charged whoosh of air past me.
“Uh, I had a banana…” I say, pointing to the fruit basket. “I’m not really a breakfast person.”
He looks at me through narrowed eyes. “Everyone is a breakfast person.” He pulls out a carton of eggs. “Bria still outside?”
It takes me a minute to respond. Bria. His daughter. Right. Because the guy I’m ogling is her father. Get a hold of yourself, Evianna Marie Hall.
“No, she came in a minute ago. She went upstairs to change. She refused the clothes I picked out,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.
He chuckles. “Four years old and already dictating her wardrobe.”
I laugh nervously.
Why am I nervous?
Maybe it’s because his fitted jeans hang loosely off his waist, and his flannel shirt is unbuttoned slightly, and I can see a small patch of chest hair.
What is wrong with me?
“Where do you want to go today?” he asks as he cracks three eggs into a copper pan.
“Wh-what?” I’m too busy watching his cooking skills. He pinches some salt, rosemary, and pepper into the pan, adds a dash of cream and a pile of shredded cheese, and flips the omelet in half as it sizzles in the browning butter.
Yum.
“I have the day off. Remember? I was thinking we could take Bria to the zoo or the aquarium.”
“Right,” I say quickly. “Yeah, that sounds good.” I’m a little thrown off that he’s asking me to come with him. This seems like something he might want to do alone with her. He continues. “I thought it might be nice for Bria to get to know you better.”
I nod enthusiastically, and Nick’s lips curve upwards into a small smile.
“Sure!” I squeak.
Now I have to spend all day with my hot employer.
“Daddy!” Bria yells as she runs into the kitchen.
“Hello, princess,” he says soothingly, lifting her up and into his arms.
“What are we doing today?” she asks, beaming down at him.
“Well, Evianna and I were thinking of taking you to the zoo or the aquarium.”
“Oh,” she says, her face falling.
Crap. She doesn’t want me to come. Just as I’m about to ask to stay here, Bria continues.
“I wath hoping we could all go to the big wheel,” she says quietly, eyeing Nick mischievously.
“The big wheel?” he yells, faking outrage and surprise, grinning. “Will you ever get sick of the big wheel?”
She giggles. “No. Never.”
I watch them, and I realize that I’m smiling unconsciously.
“That sounds like a fun day for you two,” I say, excusing myself from the trip.
Bria wiggles out of her dad’s arms and runs over to me.
“No! You have to go, Evi! Pleath? Pwetty pleath?”
I crouch down and look at her in the eyes—Nick’s eyes—light brown, almost amber colored. She must’ve gotten her blonde hair from Isabel.
“Well, I guess I’ll go, especially since you asked me so nicely,” I say seriously.
She jumps up and down and runs into my arms. She hugs me tightly.
I look up at Nick, and the way he’s looking at me… it’s intense. It’s not anger. No, because why would he be angry? It’s not quite confusion, but that’s the closest thing I can think of. His brow is furrowed—something he seems to like to do—and he’s leaning against the stove with his arms crossed. His eyes are narrowed, and he’s clicking his jaw.
The second we make eye contact, he jumps forward, and the look dissolves.
“We better get going, then,” he says. He turns around to the pan and flips the omelet onto a plate. “Here,” he says, handing it to me.
I take it in surprise. “For me?” I ask.
“Yeah. I noticed you didn’t eat breakfast. You should always start your day off with a healthy breakfast, Evianna.” I try not to smile as he picks Bria up and they walk upstairs together. “Be ready in ten,” he yells to me from the stairs.
I sit down at the breakfast bar and begin to eat the gooey omelet and holy hell, it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.
I decide that I’ll eat a hearty breakfast every morning as long as Nick Wilder makes it.