A Matter of Honesty (5 page)

smiled. Hannah had already drifted off to sleep. Lauryn didn‘t know a lot about kids

but she knew enough to know she had gotten lucky to watch someone as well

behaved as Hannah. Closing her eyes she joined Hannah in slumber, finishing the nap

that she hadn‘t gotten the chance to complete earlier.

Lauryn looked up as she heard the front door close. A moment later she heard

Hannah‘s squeal of happiness. She pulled the chicken and rice casserole she had made

for dinner out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove. Steve appeared a second

later, carrying Hannah into the kitchen on his shoulders. Her heartbeat sped up at the

sight of him. He made her mouth water when she looked at him and she couldn‘t

understand why. She couldn‘t recall having such a strong reaction to a man, especially

when she had never dated outside of her race. There never had been an opportunity

to. Yes she was attracted to white men, hence her crush on Clive Owen, but she knew

a relationship between her and Clive wasn‘t going to happen in this lifetime. A

relationship with Steve was more of a reality, but even then she wasn‘t sure how

much.

“Good evening.”

She cleared her mind of any thoughts that might get her in trouble. Given her

track record lately, trouble might not be far away. “Good evening. How was work?”

“Pretty busy with the cleanup, but we did have more business than I thought

we would. How was your day?”

“It was good.”

“Did Hannah behave herself?

“Yes, she did.”

Steve took a deep breath and sniffed appreciatively. “What did you cook? It

smells great.”

She flushed at his compliment. “Chicken and rice casserole.”

He looked at the dish with anticipation. “Is it ready?”

She nodded, unable to speak.

Steve sighed, and removed Hannah from around his shoulders. “Good. I‘m going

to take Hannah upstairs to wash up.”

As Steve left the kitchen, Lauryn turned back to the cabinet and pulled down

three plates, trying to get her heartbeat to return to normal.

Steve was very attractive. He oozed charm and sex appeal. He was someone she

would probably date if she were a little older, or he a little younger. Even though she

had seen older men who dated younger women, there was no doubt in her mind that

she wasn‘t Steve‘s type.

She glanced up as she heard Steve and Hannah return, Hannah praising the

braid that Lauryn had fastened her hair up in. Picking up the casserole she glanced up

in surprise as Steve took it out of her hands.

“Your workday is over. Have a seat.”

Lauryn started to protest, but at the look he gave her, kept quiet and took a

seat next to Hannah, who was rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Hannah

had assisted in making the casserole dish. The miniature version of Steve was looking

forward to trying it. Bowing her head, Lauryn blessed her food before she began to

eat. She looked up as Steve moaned in pleasure. The look on his face was

indescribable

“This tastes great.”

Lauryn blushed. “Thank you.”

He shook his head making another sound of appreciation. “If you cook like this

every night, I‘ll have to give you another bonus.”

Lauryn‘s blush deepened. “That won‘t be necessary.”

Before Steve could reply, Hannah spoke up. “You were right, Lauryn, the peas

do taste good.”

Steve reached over and ruffled Hannah‘s hair, which earned him a frown. “Since

when have you started eating vegetables without complaining?”

“Since Lauryn told me it would help me to grow tall like her. I want to be tall

and pretty just like her.”

Steve looked over at Lauryn while speaking to Hannah. “And you will be.”

Lauryn felt warm all over at Steve‘s comment but she didn‘t reply. She didn‘t

want to embarrass herself by reading more into it than he meant.

They finished their meal and both Steve and Hannah helped her with the

dishes. When the last dish had been dried, Steve turned to Hannah.

“Well Hannah, it‘s bath time.”

Hannah looked at him with a pleading look. “Can Lauryn help me?”

Steve looked up at Lauryn and caught her gaze. “It‘s up to Lauryn.”

She was forced to break eye contact with him as Hannah bounced over to her,

dancing around her, singing “please” until Lauryn laughed and gave in. “Okay, I‘ll help

you.”

“Yes! Daddy, you can read me my bedtime story and tuck me in.”

With that said Hannah took off for the stairs, leaving Lauryn and Steve

standing together in an awkward silence.

Lauryn broke the silence first. “You don‘t mind me helping her with her bath,

do you?”

“Not at all. You ladies have fun.”

Lauryn followed after Hannah. When she reached the bathroom Hannah was

already down to her underwear. Lauryn leaned over to turn the water on, then added

Hannah‘s bubble bath to the water. Hannah slithered into the tub and began

splashing before the tub was even half full of water. It was hard not to smile at the

sight Hannah made. It brought back memories of bath times that Lauryn had shared

with her own mother.

Lauryn bathed Hannah thoroughly and washed her hair, only after promising

the little girl that she would braid it again, before taking her out and wrapping her in

a towel.

“I‘ll tell your daddy you‘re ready for your bedtime story.”

Hannah hugged Lauryn around her legs. Lauryn bent down to pick Hannah up.

“Goodnight Lauryn.”

“Goodnight Hannah.”

Lauryn set her back on her feet and Hannah hopped into the bed. Just as she

turned around Steve entered the room. He paused as he walked by her.

“Would you like to stay for the story?”

Lauryn shook her head. She felt she had already intruded on enough of their

time. “Maybe next time.”

“You sure?”

She nodded and backed out of the room, watching as Steve walked over to

Hannah‘s bed, a small part of her wishing she were the one being tucked in. Lauryn

turned, heading to her own room. A short time later she stepped out of the shower

and dried off, stopping in front of the full-length mirror. She ran her hands over her

smooth stomach before turning to the side to check herself out from that angle.

She had indeed lost weight. She couldn‘t be classified as thin because she still

had ample hips, but she was smaller than she used to be. She walked over to the

dresser and pulled out the satin slip she had bought today. Her weight loss had been

due to stress. Eating hadn‘t been high on her priority list; then again, prior to now she

had to be careful of how she spent her money. There had even been times when she

had gone without eating. Thanks to Steve that was something she didn‘t have to

worry about anymore.

Now she realized it gave her time to worry about other things. She pulled on

underwear then slipped into her robe and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Her

throat was so dry she had to have a glass of water before going to bed.

The house was so quiet. She wondered what Steve was doing. He should

definitely be finished with the bedtime story.

“Couldn‘t sleep?”

She started as Steve‘s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Her hand froze

halfway to her mouth when she caught sight of Steve. He had on flannel pajama pants

but no shirt. His chest was mouthwatering. Her gaze lowered. His stomach was flat

and defined, his chest muscular, and his arms nicely built. Her gaze followed him all

the way to the refrigerator.

Closing her eyes when he reached it, she took a deep breath. The man had an

awesome butt. He poured himself a glass of orange juice. Lauryn watched him

perform what she thought may be the sexiest thing she had ever seen. She flushed

when she realized where her thoughts had drifted. Dropping her face into her hands

to hide her shame, a groan escaped her when she saw her nipples had grown hard. She

jumped at the sound of Steve‘s voice, lifting her head slowly to look at him.

“Are you okay?”

She looked at him with puzzlement. “What?”

The corner of his mouth tilted upward. “I asked if you were okay. You groaned.”

She waved her hand in dismissal, embarrassed she had been caught making a

fool of herself. “I‘m fine. I was just lost in thought.”

“What were you thinking about?”

She shook her head. “Believe me, you don‘t want to know.”

Steve remained quiet and took another sip of his orange juice. “Well, I just came

down to get a drink before I went to bed. See you in the morning.”

“Would you like breakfast?”

“Only if you feel like cooking it.”

“I do. What time will you be up in the morning?”

“Eight-thirty. Goodnight.”

She smiled. “Goodnight.”

Lauryn watched as he left the kitchen, secretly wishing she were leaving with

him, to go up to his bedroom where he would make love to her the entire night. She

choked on a gasp when she realized where her mind had just gone to in her reverie.

Not wanting to get carried away with her wicked thoughts, she stood and

walked over to the sink, pouring away the remaining water in her glass. Tomorrow

was probably going to be a long day because she doubted she was going to get any

sleep tonight.

Several hours later Lauryn groaned in frustration, reaching out for her alarm

clock for the umpteenth time. She was almost tempted not to go for her run but she

had to. Exercise and eating right were important to her. She would never let her

health deteriorate the way that her father had let his.

Yet it was a struggle to open her eyes fully, so she settled for squinting. After

meeting Steve last night it had taken her forever to fall asleep. She had resorted to

reading a book to get her mind off him, but a romance novel was the only thing she

had bought while out shopping. The steamy cover had captured her attention.

Considering her already salacious thoughts about him it hadn‘t been a wise choice. So

she had resorted to just lying in the dark, hoping she could get all her Steve-related

thoughts out of her mind. Then maybe she would be able to go to sleep. It had

eventually worked, but judging from how tired she felt, it might not have been soon

enough.

Opening her eyes, she groaned in relief when she noticed it was still dark out.

She always went for her run in the early morning so the sun was rising by the time she

made it back in. It gave her time to cool down and take a shower before her day got

started. Forcing herself to get out of bed, she stepped out of the satin slip and into her

workout outfit, making her way to the kitchen. She had to make sure the coffee was

ready to brew.

With that done, she did a little stretching to warm up before taking off in a

light run. The rhythmic patter of her feet against the sidewalk was comforting to her.

She ran her usual mile, then turned around and headed back to the house. The two

miles had become easy to her. It was probably time for her to up the mileage a little. A

smile came to her face as she entered the house that was now her home. She believed

everything, even the bad things, happened for a reason. But in a way she was thankful

for the tornado that had come through Norman, for it had brought with it a second

chance for her.

She wouldn‘t have time to take a leisurely bath, but she could take one once she

had gotten Hannah off to school and finished fixing Steve‘s breakfast. Right now she

would have to settle for a shower to clean the evidence of her morning run from her

body. Initially, she had felt a little guilty taking the job once Steve told her Hannah

went to school for half of the day. Then she realized she could use that time to clean

as well as plan dinner and the guilt had faded away.

She entered Hannah‘s room and crossed to the bed.

“Hannah, time to wake up, sweetheart.”

Hannah grumbled before turning and snuggling deeper into the covers. Steve

had been right. Hannah was definitely hard to get up in the mornings. Still, she had

learned a little trick yesterday morning when she had been going through this ritual.

Lauryn pulled the covers back and whispered to Hannah, “If you don‘t wake up there

won‘t be time for blueberry pancakes. Then you‘ll have to eat the breakfast they serve

you at school.”

Hannah moaned and shook her head against the pillow without opening her

eyes. “But I don‘t want to eat breakfast at school.” Lauryn helped the grumbling

Hannah hurry getting ready and they were fortunate to make it downstairs in what

she knew was record time.

Lauryn breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn‘t easy taking over Steve‘s morning

ritual but he‘d relinquished the duty to her, while assuring her there would be

mornings when he would step in if necessary.

Hannah sat at the table patiently while Lauryn whipped up the blueberry

pancakes, eggs, and sausage. She sat down across from Hannah to eat. When they

were done she let Hannah help her load the dishwasher; they had a few minutes to

spare.

Lauryn helped her put her backpack on. She knelt down and hugged Hannah.

“You be good and have a good day.”

“Will you have my snack waiting when I get home?”

Lauryn smiled. “You know I will.”