Cora’s mouth dropped open and her belly went all jiggly, like she was on a roller coaster and had just crested the highest hill. With that kind of money, plus what she’d been saving with all the babysitting, she could afford some sort of car. And maybe, just maybe, even to take a class at the community college, too. Which made her realize there was something else she needed to ask about, if she was going to take on a full-time job. “So, before this, I’d been wanting to look into volunteering at the animal shelter. Would you be okay with me doing something like that as long as I was available for Sam and Ben’s care and took care of my other duties?”
Slider nodded. “Animals, huh?”
She gave a little shrug. “Unlike people, their love is unconditional, so yeah.”
He tilted his head, and nailed her with a stare that suddenly felt like he might be able to see into the very heart of her. “I don’t see why that would be a problem, Cora.”
Yesyesyes! “Then your offer sounds fair to me,” she said, all cool-like, even though on the inside, she was jumping up and down like a schoolgirl. When was the last time she was this excited about something? When was the last time something this good had happened to her?
And it was all because of Slider and his beautiful boys.
Slider held out his hand.
Slowly, Cora slid her hand into his. Nothing so cliché as a spark happened, but that didn’t stop a few butterflies from taking flight inside her stomach at the heat of his skin, the rough caress of his working-man’s calluses, or the firmness of his grip. It reminded her of the way he’d touched her face that night at the hospital, and suddenly longing roared through her—to feel those big, rough hands on her even more. Maybe even to feel those big, rough hands on her everywhere.
But, dude, this man was her boss. Her boss whom she lived with. Her boss who was also the dad to two young kids whom she was also going to live with. Her boss who’d admitted to being a wreck over the loss of his beloved wife just a few years before.
So. Well, damn. Given all that, there could be no boss’s big, rough hands involved. But, fine. Whatever. That didn’t diminish her excitement about this new chance one bit.
“Thanks, Slider,” she said, an idiotic grin finally breaking through, but she was too happy to resist.
He gave her a single nod, his suddenly intense gaze locked onto hers. “No, thank you, Cora. Welcome to the family.”
Chapter 8
Slider opened a door he hadn’t walked through in almost two years—the door to the master bedroom. The room he’d shared with Kim through twelve years of marriage. The room in which she’d spent the last days of her life.
Dust motes swirled in the sunlight pouring through the windows. Slider flicked on the ceiling light over the room, mostly empty except for a few dressers and nightstands. Their bed was long since gone, the frame of which he’d stored in the attic, having been replaced by a hospital-type bed during the final months of her illness. But the medical device store had taken that away, too, leaving the room with a forgotten, neglected feeling.
One he was here, at long last, to rectify. For Cora, but also for himself.
“Can we help?”
Slider turned to find Sam and Ben in the hallway, warily looking at him. They hadn’t entered this room in the past two years either, not that Slider had ever forbidden it. “You guys sure you’re okay with this?” he asked, sensitive to their feelings since this was where they’d spent time with their mom at the end.
“Yeah, Dad. Cora needs a place to stay, and it’s just sitting empty,” Sam said. The boys had been ecstatic when, over Sunday-morning pancakes, Slider and Cora had announced that she’d be moving in. So ecstatic that, when it was time to take her home, they’d argued that she shouldn’t go. But she’d asked if she could officially start her new gig with them the following week so that Haven wouldn’t be living alone at the clubhouse while Dare was away. And that worked just fine for Slider, since he needed time for this.
Ben nodded. “It’s just a room, Dad.” He’d been only four when Kim died, and Slider suspected his memories of the months before were murky at best. But that wariness was still present in Sam’s eyes, which meant the kid was, at least on some level, putting on a brave front.
“Okay, then. I’d appreciate your help.”
Three hours later, they’d dusted everything, washed the windows and mopped the hardwood floor, and retrieved the queen-sized bed frame from storage. They’d also cleaned out and scoured the adjoining bathroom, perfect for Cora to have a little privacy. Finally, they’d bagged up the clothes from the closet and drawers. Slider had been worried about doing the last in front of them, but the boys had been all business about it. All business about everything except the more personal things on top of Kim’s dresser.