Tempting Prince Charming, page 10
“What happened?”
Where to begin, Thad thought dismally. “Veronica has the flu. She collapsed before we could leave.”
“Whoa, is she okay?”
“She’s all right for now, but she has it bad. I took her home.” He paused. “And you’ll never guess where she lives.”
“Well, don’t kill me with the suspense,” Jared deadpanned.
“You remember that brownstone residence just above the Chi-Bean?”
“The house you said you were going to have me look over the lease agreements on.”
“She’s the tenant.”
“She’s what?” Jared’s teasing tone was gone. “She doesn’t know you sent an offer to buy it, right?”
“Thankfully, no, but that’s an easy fix. I’m going to withdraw my offer. The thing is…” He paused a second as he debated how to tell Jared. “She left out a huge detail about her life.”
“Bigger than being a widow? She doesn’t have a kid, does she?”
“She does, a four year old.”
The silence on the other end of the line was not comforting.
“Tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not.” Thad’s shoulders dropped. “And here’s the best part. The little girl wants a dad. Apparently, she tried ordering one from Amazon.” He leaned against the counter. “Can you put Felicity on the phone?”
“Sure, why?”
“Because I need to talk to a woman about this.”
“Ok. Just a sec. Babe?” Jared called for his wife. Thad heard him explain briefly what was going on. Then Felicity came on the line.
“Hey, Thad. How are you doing?” She asked gently, calmly, like he was a man ready to jump off a bridge or something.
“Honestly, not great. What do I need to know about dealing with kids? Really little kids?”
“Jared said she’s four?” Felicity confirmed.
“Yeah. She’s tiny.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lyra.”
“That’s a pretty name,” Felicity said.
“She’s adorable, just like her mother,” he said without thinking. “But that’s not the problem.”
Felicity chuckled. “Well, kids are pretty tough. She’ll be worried about her mom, though. You should be prepared for questions about that. She’ll need to have good, healthy meals at least three times a day with snacks in between. No fast food and no sugar.”
“Okay, what else?” He searched around the kitchen, pulling open drawers until he found a pad of paper and a pen.
“Bedtime by nine, I’m guessing. You need to find out if she has preschool, and if so, where and what time it starts and ends.”
“Preschool?”
“If she’s four, she’s probably in some kind of school or daycare at least a few days a week.”
Thad wrote preschool on the notepad and underlined it twice with a question mark.
“Veronica will need some Sprite and a bowl in case she gets sick. Since she has a little kid, you could check the cabinets or fridge for electrolyte drinks which would be even better than Sprite. You need to keep an eye on her all night but check on Lyra, too.”
“Right.” He would order some Sprite and other groceries to be delivered first thing in the morning.
“If Veronica isn’t better in a few hours, you’ll want to have someone come stay with her when you go to work. Unless you can work remotely, that would be better. You need to take her temperature every four hours, if you can.”
Thad wasn’t totally clueless. He’d had the flu before, though never so bad that he collapsed from it. He didn’t want Veronica to become seriously ill and need to be hospitalized, so he planned to take all of Felicity’s advice.
“Thanks, Felicity.”
“I have this week off if you need a spare set of hands.”
Thad leaned over the kitchen bar and glanced down the hall toward the two bedrooms.
“Wait, do I need to know how to change diapers? That may be above my pay grade,” Thad said.
Felicity laughed. “She’s four. She’ll be potty trained.”
He blew out a breath. “That’s a relief.”
Felicity snorted a laugh. “Text me where she lives, and I’ll come by tomorrow to check on you if you want me to.”
“Thanks.” Thad ended the call, and the hairs in the back of his neck began to rise. He leaned over the kitchen bar again. Lyra’s door was cracked open and her tiny face now peered at him from the darkness. For a moment they just stared at each other, neither knowing what to do with the other.
“Lyra?” He said softly. It was an unusual name. He would have to ask Veronica where it came from later.
“Daddy?”
“Thad, kiddo. My name is Thad.” He left the kitchen and approached her door.
“Dad,” she said as if echoing him.
“Thad.” He emphasized the “th” sound.
Lyra just stared up at him.
“You should go back to bed.”
“Is mommy okay?” Something deep inside Thad’s chest fluttered at the way she asked him.
“She’s not feeling well. She’s got the flu.”
The little girl’s eyes widened. “I had the flu.” She told him in a loud whisper.
“Did you now?” Thad crouched down so that he was eye level with her. Lyra gave a big, exaggerated nod. “So Veronica must have gotten it from you.”
Lyra’s eyes grew wide. “I made mommy sick?”
“What? No… No, it’s not your fault.” He reached out and awkwardly patted Lyra’s shoulder. The girl suddenly pressed her tiny body against his chest, her arms curling around his neck. Before he could stop her, she’d burrowed into him like a trembling kitten. Poor kid…
Thad froze as a wave of unexpected protectiveness hit him, and, just as he had when he’d kissed Veronica, he felt a shift deep inside.
He slowly stood, still uncertain of what to do, as he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her room. He nudged her door open wide so he could carry her through. He lay her down on the bed and made her comfortable.
“Your mom is going to be fine. You were sick, but you got better, right?” he asked her. God, he wished he knew the right thing to say in this situation. He just wanted Lyra to feel better, but he had no idea what the magic words were.
She nodded, her bottom lip quivering. “Yeah.”
“That’s what’s going to happen with your mom. She’ll be sick for a while, but you and I will take care of her, won’t we?”
“Okay,” Lyra scrunched her fists against her eyes and yawned. When she reopened them, her eyes were solemn as she stared up at him.
“Will you sing me a song?” she asked.
“Which song?” Thad racked his brain for something a child would like to hear.
“Sing the Frozen song,” Lyra said she as she cuddled beneath the covers.
“I haven’t seen that movie.” He knew that it was a Disney song about a movie with ice and princesses, but beyond that, he was clueless on the lyrics. Sure he’d heard “Let it Go” a few times but not enough to just wing it from memory.
“Sing something, please.” Lyra’s tone grew softer as he tucked the blankets up around her neck. Her little face was so like Veronica’s it made him grin. It reminded him of dinner with her and Luigi with the accordion, and more importantly the song which had made Lyra’s mother giggle with delight.
He cleared his throat and started to sing “Bella Notte” from Lady and the Tramp.
Lyra’s eyes closed. She smiled and made a little kittenish sigh. “The puppy dog song,” she murmured before she fell asleep. He kept singing, letting her drift deeper into dreams before he finally rose from the bed and went to check on Veronica.
The world around Veronica was hazy and nauseating. She drifted restlessly in and out of sleep as hot flashes were replaced by cold sweats that soaked her clothes until she was freezing. Her teeth chattered and her body quaked with violent shivers hard enough to make her teeth and bones rattle.
“It’s okay. Just relax,” a deep voice soothed when she started to whimper. “You’re okay, honey.” A thermometer was pushed into her mouth.
“A hundred…” The voice murmured with concern. “Do you feel hot or cold?”
“Co—cold—” she stammered.
A second later, a hard warm body was beneath the blankets with her, holding her. Eventually the shaking ceased, replaced with aches that nearly numbed her to everything but the pain.
“Thad…” she whispered.
“I’m here,” he assured her.
This had to be a dream. A fevered hallucination. There was no way he was here holding her, taking care of her.
“Is Lyra okay?” she whispered. She hated this, hating feeling too weak to care for her child.
“Lyra is safe. She’s in bed. I sang her to sleep,” Thad said and tucked her hair back from her face as he tried to soothe her.
Definitely a dream. Veronica thought as she went blissfully still in his arms.
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but sometime before dawn she needed to use the restroom. Only she couldn’t move. She was trapped in the cage of Thad’s arms.
Not a dream.
He’d removed his sweater and had only a white T-shirt on. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, her skin warmed everywhere it touched him. His heartbeat was strong and steady against her face. She’d forgotten the feel of a man’s heartbeat, the way it made her feel…safe. The last thing Veronica wanted was to leave her bed and Thad’s embrace, but nature could not be ignored. She pushed gently against his chest. He didn’t stir.
“Thad,” she said.
“Yeah?” he grunted.
“I have to use the restroom.” She was more than a little mortified to admit it.
His eyes opened. They looked even darker in the dim light.
He sat up. “Let me help you.”
The room spun as she was tilted upright in his arms. She would have protested, but with the way everything had gone all tilt-a-whirl, she didn’t think it would be a good idea. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom. Her sink was cluttered with feminine hair care and skin care products she desperately wished she’d put away.
“Call me if you get dizzy or need help.” He made sure she had a grip on the countertop before he turned his back and shut the door between them to give her privacy.
When she was done, she took a few unsteady steps back to the sink to wash her hands. She stared at herself in the mirror. A pale-faced creature with sweat-soaked locks of hair hanging about her shoulders stared back at her. She looked like death warmed over. The last thing she wanted was for Thad to see her like this.
Maybe he hadn’t seen her looking so bedraggled when he brought her in here. She grabbed the hairbrush and dragged it through her tangled hair, then saw that wasn’t going to help so she pulled her hair over one shoulder and hastily braided it. Then she doused her face with cold water to try and bring some color back before moving toward the door. Thad was waiting for her, an exhausted but hopeful look on his face. God, even tired, he still looked a thousand times better than she felt on her best days.
“Feel any better? Worse?”
“Less nauseous, but really tired.” She gasped as he lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to bed.
They settled beneath the blankets and she moved without thought, seeking his warm body and curling up against him. When she realized what she’d done, trying to establish such small, yet so meaningful, intimacy, she started to retreat.
“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t pull away.” Thad brushed her hair with his fingers, and the sensation felt so exquisite that she trembled.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been in bed with someone like this since Parker died. It was instinct.”
He ran the back of his fingers over her cheek. “If I can ask you to do one thing, it’s to stop apologizing. Never apologize for reaching for me in bed. You’ll hurt my feelings.” His laughter was low, like a man just waking up from a long slumber. She remembered what it was like to feel that kind of laughter as it rumbled through her body. A man’s true delight… She’d missed that.
She scooted back into his arms, her head resting on his chest. “Aren’t you worried you’ll get sick?”
“I had a flu shot last week. And even if I do, I’ll have Simon and my assistant to take care of me. I even have a butler that handles the penthouse where I live.”
“A butler?” She tried not to laugh. For some reason she pictured an adorable old Alfred sort of man who helped Thad in his real estate Batcave.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“A little.” She giggled. “So what does your butler do?”
“He buttles.”
Veronica giggled some more.
“Mainly he sees to things being repaired, has guests brought up, handles small things like having clothes pressed, buttons sewn back on—”
“Buttons sewn back on? Do you lose a lot of buttons?”
“Er… yes, I do.” Thad cleared his throat. “Sometimes…in the bedroom, things get… you know.”
“Of course.” She remembered what it was like, to be swept away with passion so strongly that clothing became a casualty. Those memories made her bite back a smile.
“So they rip your clothes off?” Veronica asked. She couldn’t deny the thought appealed to her to. Thank God she was too weak, and he was wearing a T-shirt, because right then she was tempted to do it herself.
“Yes,” Thad admitted. “Some of my best suits have been ruined.”
“You poor baby.” She stifled a yawn, her eyes closing. Thad continued to stroke her hair as she drifted back to sleep.
When she woke again, she was no less tired than before, but something drew her from her weary sleep.
“Mommy…” Lyra’s voice was a bare whisper.
“Sweetie?” She rolled away from Thad, waking him up as she faced her daughter. She had her Princess Elsa PJs on and was leaning on the edge of the bed with big hopeful eyes.
“I’m hungry,” Lyra said. Her gaze strayed to Thad then back to Veronica.
“Okay. Let me just—” Veronica was halfway off the bed when Thad pulled her back down.
“Uh uh. You need to stay in bed. I’ll take care of this.” Thad slid out of bed and waved at Lyra. “Come on kiddo. Let’s get you some breakfast.”
Veronica desperately wanted to go with them, but she knew if she stood she would probably fall right back down. She blinked at the clock on her nightstand. Lyra always woke up around six, like clockwork. Normally Veronica would have already been up, showered, dressed, and ready to open the coffee shop.
The coffee shop! The panic that thought brought on sent her reaching blindly for her phone on her nightstand, but it was nowhere to be found. She’d find it later. For now, she wanted to make sure Thad didn’t accidentally burn the apartment down.
It took every ounce of her strength to leave the bed and move toward the door. She leaned on the walls as she stepped into the hall, hearing the sounds of Thad and Lyra in the kitchen.
“What do you want? Frosted Flakes? Or it looks like your other choice is Rice Crispies?”
Lyra bounced in her seat at the little kitchen table. “Crispies!”
“You got it, kiddo.” Thad retrieved the box of cereal from the pantry.
“Dad?” Lyra asked.
“Thad,” Thad corrected her. It was an unexpected shock for Veronica to hear Lyra calling someone dad. God, she hoped Thad didn’t get the wrong idea about that.
“Thad?” Lyra said with a confused frown.
“Yeah?”
“Can I have extra milk, please?” she asked.
“Of course. Say when.” Thad leaned over the her bowl and poured.
“When!” Lyra squealed as the cereal rose and threatened to spill. Lyra was so clearly overjoyed at Thad’s presence, which worried Veronica as to what would happen when Thad got tired of taking care of her.
“Mommy!” Lyra giggled with a mouthful of cereal. Thad turned and frowned.
“Hey, you need to stay in bed.” He set the milk back in the fridge and started toward her.
“Please, let me stay. I promise I’ll rest.”.
Thad scooped her up and after a moment, he nodded and gently deposited her on the couch. He covered her with the thick fleece blanket that had been draped over one arm of the couch.
“She’s fine,” Thad whispered to Veronica as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Let me handle it.”
“Thank you.” Veronica murmured and caught his hand before he could pull away. “I need my phone.”
“It’s okay. Zelda is going to be here in ten minutes to check on you and Lyra,” he said. “She said she’ll open the store today. She’s got your other two employees to work extra hours until you feel better.”
Veronica simply stared at him as he returned to the kitchen. When was the last time she’d been able to let someone else handle all of her worries? Not in a long time. Lyra looked between them, smiling and kicking her little feet where she sat at the table.
Completely torn between the comfort of the couch and her own anxiety, Veronica wasn’t sure what to do. It felt like she could actually relax for the first time in…she wasn’t sure how long. Yet there was a danger to feeling this free, to letting Thad take control over this part of her life. She felt like she was flying, but what if she suddenly realized she was actually free falling…
“Thad, could you bring me my purse? I still need to check my phone.”
“Here you go.” He brought her purse to her and she dug through it until she found her cell. Then she lay back on the couch and groaned as she checked her calendar.
Thad sat down beside her on the couch. “What is it?”
“Lyra has a birthday party… I should call and tell them she can’t come.”
“What time is the party?”
“Four. After her preschool gets out.”
“Who takes her to school?”
“My neighbor, Katie. She’s in high school. She walks Lyra to school and back. They usually get home around three-thirty.”
Thad stroked his chin. “I need to check my schedule, but I think I could take her.”
