Maid for the Single Dad by Susan Meier Read Free Book Online Page B

eyes and made her wispy pale hair seem even more golden. “I just sit here until somebody gets up.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYes. She does. She’s fine.”
    Ellie spun around to face the door when Mac spoke. He stood on the threshold, not in last night’s pajama bottoms, but in a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt. Barefoot, he ambled into the kitchen.
    â€œShe likes an egg for breakfast, toast and some blueberries.”
    â€œAnd a glass of milk,” Lacy added with a grin.
    Staring at Mac, Ellie told her heart to settle down and her hormones to please take a vacation, but neither listened. Her heart tumbled in her chest and adrenaline surged through her blood. The man was just too good-looking. And he was dedicated to his kids. She’d never met a man who changed diapers and awakened at four without complaint. Yet she still felt something was off.
    Suddenly the entire situation began to make sense. He was a great dad, seemingly a good person, and he was gorgeous…so she was attracted to him. But her experience with men wasn’t good. So while her hormones were loping off the charts, her common sense was trying to find things wrong with him.
    He wasn’t a mystery. She was the one with the problem. Or maybe their attraction was the problem.
    Still, she was the help and nothing more. From the nonchalant way he drifted into the kitchen and ambled to the table where Lacy sat, Ellie knew he had absolutely no interest in following up on the attraction he felt to her. After all, it was only physical. They hadn’t spoken beyond the work required for this job. What they felt for each other couldn’t be anything other than a healthy case of sexual attraction.
    A good relationship required so much more. Shared interests. Mutual likes and dislikes. Even a shared background would be nice. Her background was so different from his that they probably didn’t even share one similar childhood memory! She didn’t even need to remember all the other reasons they were wrong for each other. With pasts as different as theirs, none of that mattered.
    Reminded of her place, Ellie said, “We’re fine here, Mr. Carmichael. You can go back to bed.”
    Mac gave her a puzzled frown. “Mr. Carmichael?”
    Ellie winced. “You never did tell me what to call you.”
    â€œI’m Mac.” He paused significantly. “ Everyone calls me Mac.”
    â€œOkay, Mac,” she said, trying out the name and finding it was much easier to call him by his first name than it should be given that she was his maid. “I’ll take care of Lacy’s breakfast. You can go on back to bed.”
    â€œI’m home. I take care of the kids when I’m home. Remember?”
    â€œYes, but it’s so early.”
    â€œSo why don’t you go back to bed?”
    She pressed her had to her chest. “Me?”
    â€œThere’s no point in both of us being up at four.”
    He wasn’t angry and what he said made sense. Now that she’d totally squelched her instincts, the entire situation made perfect sense. She took a step backward, toward the door. “Okay, then. I guess I will go back to bed.”
    She turned to leave the kitchen, but Mac stopped her. “Ellie?”
    She faced him. “Yes?”
    â€œI don’t always get up with her. When I’m working I usually sleep through her early-morning-wake-up days. So I appreciate that you’re okay with this.”
    She couldn’t believe she’d let her intuition talk her into thinking there was something wrong here. Yes, she might not know where the kids’ mom was, but Mac was a normal man. A good dad. A good guy. She had been wrong to be suspicious of him.
    She smiled her best professional, I’m-your-maid smile. “You’re welcome.”
    She left the room, glad that everything was handled amicably. But halfway up the stairs she stopped as another question