“You have no idea.” He sent her a sizzling smile over Precious’ curly head.
She rolled her eyes and handed him and Precious a sandwich each.
He grinned as he opened his up. “So how many books have you read so far this summer?” he asked Precious as they began to eat.
She squinted her eyes and chewed on her upper lip, just as her mother used to do when she was in deep thought. His heart did a double take at the simple memory.
“Seven…no… eight… yeah… eight!” Precious said, beaming.
“So when you finish the one you’re presently reading, it will be nine?”
“Uh-huh. Belinda’s only read five, Daddy. She told me when we talked on the phone yesterday.”
“Well, she’s been on vacation in Maine visiting her grandparents. Belinda is Precious’ best friend,” he told Michelle. “She lives a couple streets over from us.”
“Oh, I know all about Belinda,” Michelle said.
“Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read and do other productive stuff,” Precious said around a bite of her sandwich.
Erik caught and held Michelle’s gaze. Up until a month ago, he would have agreed with his daughter. After all, keeping the mind busy was the principle he’d been instilling in her for the past two years. But thanks to Michelle, he’d come to understand the value of relaxation and leisure time again. Like the way it used to be before...
He smiled at his daughter. “Well, Muffin, sometimes our minds need a break from reading and—uhh, productive stuff. Sometimes we need to put away the books, take out the ball, and play.”
Play seemed to be the trigger word his daughter needed to hear, Erik thought as he watched her drop a half eaten apple on the quilt and reach for a plastic bag of crumbs from the picnic basket.
“Can I go feed the ducks, Daddy?”
“Okay, but don’t get too close to the edge. I don’t want to have to fish you from that filthy water,” he said of the pond some fifty feet away where ducks clucked loudly.
“I won’t.” She jumped up and took off.
“You’re a good father,” Michelle said, taking a sip of water from a bottle.
“Ha. That’s not what you thought a month ago.”
“I never thought you were bad, just a bit too demanding.”
Erik studied her thoughtfully for a moment. “I’m glad you came along when you did. Precious had two other nannies and neither of them challenged me even though they must have known that I’d been asking too much of her. Why weren’t you afraid of me?”
She shrugged and plucked a grape from a bunch. “I’ve had to fight for everything I’ve ever had in this life. Robert taught me to stand up for myself ever since I was a little girl. He told me that even when I’m afraid to never let it show, never let my enemy know I’m quivering inside. If I see someone I love being taken advantage of, especially if that someone can’t speak for herself, I advocate.”
“You do love my daughter, don’t you?”
“Yes.” She popped the grape into her mouth and glanced off to the pond where the ducks clucked happily as Precious fed them the breadcrumbs.#p#分页标题#e#
Erik followed her gaze as he slowly sipped his iced tea. It was just like old times, he thought as he put the empty bottle in the basket. Feeling relaxed and very much at peace for the moment, he stretched out and closed his eyes.
With Precious gone, and Erik relaxing beside her, Michelle raised her face to the sky as a jet engine hummed high and far above them. A light breeze rustled through her short stresses and caressed her face. She smiled and pulled her legs up under her. Hugging her arms around them, she rested her chin on her knees as her thoughts filtered back to last night and the sweet tender moments she’d shared with Erik and his daughter in their home. Not once did he make her feel like a nanny, or an outsider.
Now that she thought about it, she was happy that he hadn’t done the expected and made love to her, even though he’d admitted that he wanted to. It showed that he respected her, thought of her as more than a sexual object. She’d never had that from a man. She liked it.
Michelle glanced at Erik lying supine on the quilt next to her. His knees were bent and his hands were clasped behind his head. The steady rise and fall of his chest suggested that he might have fallen asleep. For the first time, she noted how thick and long his lashes were and how they curled against his cheekbones as he slept. A potent and magnificent man he was, Michelle thought, as her whole being seemed to fill with wanting.