Free Maid to Crave (Man Maid #2) by Rebecca M. Avery Page B

she’d been trying to coax, pray and force since moving into the new house. He’d helped Zach make friends and adjust to school. It took twice as long for him to get his things and be ready to leave, but it was worth the wait to see his smile as child after child said goodbye to him.
    As Zach climbed into his seat in the back of the car and buckled himself in, he waved at a couple of other kids and said, “I don’t want it to be the weekend. I want tomorrow to be a school day, too.”
    Upon returning home, she made a snack for Zach and settled him in with a coloring book, crayons and cartoons before she headed back into her office to get some work done. She’d spent most of the day shopping and she needed to get her hours in and finish a few things that Tim wanted by Monday. The next time she looked up, it was past dinnertime. She quickly saved her work, logged off and headed out to find Zach.
    As she neared the living room, she stopped to listen to Zach reading a book. That stupid song that Seth had let him listen to had been stuck in her head all week, but it was really helping Zach sound out the words. His reading was improving daily. Heading to the kitchen, she could smell something simmering on the stove. Lifting the lid to the pot, she found potato soup. It smelled wonderful and she went in search of Seth to thank him for making dinner and all his help with shopping earlier. Entering the living room, she noticed that only Caleb and Zach were in there.
    She waited until Zach finished reading and then looked at Caleb. “Where is Seth?”
    “He had to work—” He stopped. “Um, he had some work to do for…Rusty. He said he’ll be by in the morning. The landlord says they should have the elevator working tonight, but if you don’t mind, I thought it would just be easier to move tomorrow. Is that okay?”
    “Yeah, sure, that’s fine,” she replied. She was surprised at the disappointment she felt that Seth was gone for the evening.
    “Seth is right. You have definitely been hitting the books. Excellent reading, little man. Excellent,” Caleb said to Zach. “Homework’s all done so I guess that makes you a free man for rest of the weekend.”
    Zach smiled and asked, “Is the soup stuff ready that Seth made?”
    When dinner was finished, Zach headed upstairs to his room and she found herself in the living room with Caleb. Against her better judgment, she wanted to know more about Seth. Did he have a girlfriend? Was he normally nice? Had he just been having an off day at the wedding? Was that why he’d said what he said about her? Why was he working two jobs? Was she not paying him enough? She hadn’t missed Caleb’s slip-up about Seth working this evening.
    Unwilling to start the conversation that she wanted to have, they instead talked about movies, the weather and the accident that had so badly interrupted Caleb’s life. He and Seth looked alike, had many of the same personality traits and the same sense of humor. Somehow, though, they were very different. Caleb was more like what she imagined a brother would be, with his easygoing style and mischievousness. Seth was intense and created an interest in her that was far from familial.
    “So what’s cooking up there in that brain of yours?” Caleb finally asked with a grin.
    Deciding she just didn’t have the guts to ask the questions she really wanted to know, she simply said, “Nothing. Just thinking I should try and get Zach in bed and then get some more work done.”
    “He’s not with a girlfriend if that’s what you’re thinking,” Caleb volunteered.
    “Oh, that’s none of my business. He can do whatever he wants when he’s not working for me,” she quickly explained.
    “You two are cracking me up,” Caleb said. “Neither one of you is willing to admit that you like the other and all my attempts to help you both have gone unnoticed—or at the very least aren’t being acted on. So I give. Either way, though, I’m telling you that