“When are you due?” I ask.
“Eight weeks left to go,” she says, “so I’m glad you’re here. I can’t keep up with the place anymore. And once little Chewie comes, I’ll be staying at home with him.”
“The job is out here?” I ask, my heart sinking.
Smiling, she says, “Yeah, basically, I run the house day-to-day. Since the maid quit last week, I’ve been doing some light cleaning, too, but it’s getting hard. Besides that, I just answer the phone, get the mail and the groceries, make sure the stable hands are tending to the horses, pay them every week, and help plan some events for Slade’s company. I’m going to be staying on as long as I can to help you learn the routine. And maybe you can help me not be scared to death of pushing this kid out.”
She starts to laugh, and Jon gives her a little hug. I can’t believe I ever thought Jon was a goon. He’s hardly scary, and the two of them together are disgustingly happy. And they’re both being so nice to me. Jon knows I was at the party with Slade’s dad, but clearly, Slade hasn’t told them everything. I doubt they’d want me around then.
“Why don’t you show Paige around?” Jon says.
Adjusting Finn on my hip, I say, “I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can take this job.”
Catrine looks at Jon in confusion. I guess she thought this was a done deal. She asks, “Why?”
“I don’t have a car. And no public transportation comes out this far, so . . .”
“Jon, did you tell her anything?” Catrine asks, shaking her head. “Slade has a room ready for you and Finn.”
“A room?” I ask. “He expects me to live here? With him?”
I feel my heart doing these weird somersaults in my chest. Is this some Cinderella story to him? Where the rich man swoops in and saves the poor girl? Is that what I am? I guess, in Slade’s eyes, it would be more like Pretty Woman, where the rich guy saves the prostitute. Well, I’ve got news for him.
She lightly strokes my arm. “He’s hardly here. Just come see the room.”
“Do you live here?” I ask.
“No,” she says.
“Does the hired help normally live here? Or am I the first?”
Finn starts to cry and fuss. God, sometimes I wish I was a baby and could just scream whenever I feel like it. Jon wraps his arm around his wife. “You’d be the first.”
Now I get Slade’s game. He thinks I’m moving in here to be his full-time plaything. Well, no one owns me. Adjusting the diaper bag on my shoulder, I say, “I’d like to go home, please.”
“Sorry I’m late. Is there a problem?” I hear Slade’s commanding voice and turn, finding him lingering in the doorway. He’s dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans, completely opposite from the suit he wore at the party. It’s kind of hard to decide which way he looks better, not that I’m thinking about that.
“Let’s give them a moment,” Jon says, leading Catrine toward the door.
She turns back to me. “Would you like me to take the baby? We could show him the horses.”
I glare right into Slade’s blue eyes. “Thank you, but I won’t be staying.”
They walk out without further interruption of our staring contest. Slade’s blue eyes spark, clearly enjoying our little game. Finn squirms in my arms, his back arching, before releasing the most explosive sounding poop you’ve ever heard, forcing me to lose. Slade slips his hand to his mouth, trying to cover up a smile, but it’s too big to contain.
“The joys of motherhood,” he says, chuckling a little.
“Yeah, one of many,” I say, looking around for a place to change him.
“Come,” Slade says, motioning with his hand. Either I follow him or risk poop leaking from the diaper. It’s not a hard choice.
I follow Slade down a little hallway, and he opens a door, stepping aside for me to enter. But I freeze at the threshold. This, apparently, is “my” room. A huge bed with a fluffy white comforter dominates the room. There’s a crib in the corner, a rocker, and a changing table complete with diapers, ointments, and wipes.
Slade sticks his hands in the pocket of his jeans. “Hope it’s alright. I could put Finn in his own room, but you two were sharing a room at your place, so I just figured that would be best. Thought you both would be more comfortable together.”
“That’s very thoughtful,” I say, taking a step inside. Maybe I misjudged him and the situation. He obviously isn’t thinking about fucking me or making me his personal plaything if he put Finn and me together in a room.
Placing Finn down on the changing table, I start to clean him up. I’ve never done this on a changing table before outside of public bathrooms. At home, I usually just put a pad down on the floor. And as if I wasn’t self-conscious enough, Slade is leaning against the doorframe, watching my every move.
I give Finn’s tummy a little jiggle, loving his cute little innie belly button.
“I really do need someone here to take over for Catrine. There are no ulterior motives. I’m not paying to sleep with you. In fact, if you work for me, then you’re retired from all that shit,” Slade says.
He really likes to boss people around, but that’s one order I can live with. I snap Finn’s onesie, holding up the dirty diaper. “I’ve got enough other shit to handle.” Slade smiles a little, and I realize I did that on purpose. Made him smile. I like his smile a little too much.
“What about your father?” I ask, seeing a vein bulge in his neck. “I mean, does he come here? I just want to be prepared if I’m going to run into him.”
“No. I can count on one hand how many times he’s been out here. We aren’t particularly close.” I nod, placing Finn on my hip. “Before we go any further,” he asks, “do you still want to leave?”
“There’s something you should know first,” I say.
One of his eyebrows rises as if he thinks he already knows everything he needs to know about me. What could be worse than what he already thinks? “What’s that?”
“I don’t do windows,” I say, trying not to smile.
He chuckles, giving Finn’s belly a little tickle. “Your mommy has a smart mouth.”
Our eyes meet for just a fraction of a second before I break the connection. “What else should I know?”
“First,” he says, walking me to a panel on the wall, “the alarm. It’s imperative you keep the alarm on, especially at night.” He gives me the code, making me arm and disarm it several times to make sure I have the hang of it. It’s funny. He lives on this massive estate, where I’m sure no one will bother him, but he has a state-of-the-art alarm system. In contrast, no one in the run-down slum where I lived, where you actually might need the police, has an alarm. No one could afford it.
Slade leads me around the house, giving me a little tour. Five bedrooms, four bathrooms, an office, a library, a workout room. More space than one man could possibly need, and I haven’t even seen the outside of the property.
Slade’s bedroom is all the way on the opposite side of the house. It would be entirely possible for him to be here and us not even see each other. I’m sure that’s the way he’ll want it. He’s used to living alone, and he’s definitely not used to having a baby around.