Free Taming Her Italian Boss by Unknown Page B

even went and found a blue scarf from her luggage and they circled it round the castle like a moat. Sofia took a role as site manager, instructing the adults where she wanted the next tower built and letting them know in no uncertain terms when their efforts didn’t meet her expectations.
    ‘She’s reminding me of someone else I know,’ Ruby muttered under her breath.
    Max hid a smile. Seriously, he was not that bad.
    She reached for a red triangular brick at the same time he did and their hands bumped. She pulled back and rested her bottom on her heels. ‘No, you have it. You’re the expert.’
    He picked it up and dropped it into her hand. ‘This isn’t a job I can accomplish on my own. I think the finishing touches require some definite feminine input to come up to our patron’s high standard.’
    She grinned back at him. ‘She is a bit of a slave driver.’ And then she put the brick above the main gate, making a porch, instead of the obvious place where he would have put it on top of the central turret. When she’d finished she stood up and brushed the carpet fibres off her black jeans.
    ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, realising he was disappointed she was leaving.
    He told himself it was because he needed her there as backup, that he didn’t want to be left alone with Sofia. What if she started crying again?
    ‘It’s lunch time,’ she said, smiling. ‘I think Sofia is getting hungry.’
    Max checked his watch. So it was. He’d forgotten how much he’d loved these blocks as a boy, how many rainy days just like this one he’d spent in this room, building forts and skyscrapers and alien space stations.
    He stood up and surveyed the creation they’d made together. Despite its flouncy, OTT design, he was quite proud of himself. And Ruby and Sofia, obviously. This really was a spectacular castle. He’d enjoyed himself, remembered just how much joy could be had from building and creating when the pressure wasn’t on. And he’d enjoyed the good-natured banter and arguments about which door should go where and just how ridiculously high Sleeping Beauty’s tower should be. Instead of feeling burdened and irritated, he felt...
    It took him a while to name the sensation. Probably because it had been absent from his life for so long.
    He felt relaxed.
    ‘That’s you relieved of duty for the morning, then,’ Ruby said and held out her hand for Sofia and asked her if she’d like lunch in Italian. Sofia nodded vigorously and began to tell Ruby exactly what she’d consent to eat. The list consisted of mainly chocolate and flavours of ice cream. Ruby just smiled and led her away and Max was left staring at Sofia’s castle.
    The smile slowly slid from his face. The tiny rainbow-coloured castle might have turned out well, but he still had no idea how to add the same flair to his design for the institute. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged back to the library. For some reason, he didn’t think turrets and a moat would be a hit with his clients.
    * * *
    Rather than the pearly mist of the day before, which had draped the whole city in soft, off-white tones, the next morning was bright and loud and colourful. Instead of setting the blocks up in the living room, Max led Ruby and Sofia outside to the dock.
    A minute later they were zipping through canals heading for somewhere Max said was a prime spot for what he had in mind. Ruby stared at the ‘equipment’ he’d brought with them that sat in the bottom of the boat. She guessed they must be doing fishing of some kind, because there were a couple of buckets, some nets and a line of dark wire, wrapped round a plastic reel, with a weight and a hook at one end.
    She looked down at the toddler in her arms. Didn’t fishing require patience and silence? She wasn’t sure how much of a good idea this was.
    She didn’t have the heart to mention that to Max, though. All traces of the frown that had been permanently etched into his forehead since