The Housekeeper's Billionaire Boss (Caprock Canyon Romance Book 3) Read online

  “You had me at pie.” She snickered.

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “That’s a movie I haven’t seen.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “We need to remedy that. It’s a great movie.”

  “Jerry Maguire was about sports. I think we both know my talent lies with channel surfing on the couch.”

  She scoffed. “You should thank your lucky genetic stars for a metabolism that allows you to do that.”

  “Every cookie I eat, I do so in honor of my parents.” Laughing, he stepped back. “Okay, getting ready.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips and disappeared into his room.

  Then it hit her. She liked him more than pie. Turning, she stepped inside her room and shut the door, wondering when that had happened. She would have rather stood in her bedroom doorway talking to Josiah than eating pie.

  With a sigh, she ran her hand through her hair and shook her head. Even weirder was that he spoke her language. She’d acknowledged it before, but anyone can speak someone’s language when they first meet. That was easy, but he was still speaking her language.

  They’d had full-blown discussions in front of his family, and they’d all looked at the two of them like they were speaking in a foreign tongue. The movie references, music lyrics, video games…all of it.

  Groaning, she squeezed her eyes shut, working to push away all the things running through her mind. She wasn’t ready for a relationship. Not when she was fighting to keep Ellie. As if that wasn’t stressful enough on its own, she was tempted to add a tiara, or in Molly’s case, a relationship.

  She pulled out the clothes she was going to wear, laying them on the bed, and then walked to the bathroom. Her heart was an as-you-wish away from winning the battle against her head.

  Why was she even considering any of this? Yes, there was mutual kissing that had taken place, serious quality mutual kissing, but at this point, she couldn’t be certain he wanted her or Ellie. Maybe he’d only kissed her because he felt sorry for her. Add to that, he didn’t have many friends. What if he only kissed her because he was lonely and she was convenient? Worse, what if she’d only kissed him because she was stressed and needed a distraction? It didn’t feel that way, but could she be sure of what she was feeling? The answer was no, even if the little voice in the back of her head said otherwise.

  For the moment, she’d push it all away, go to the farmer’s market, and enjoy herself. Hopefully, she could drown her doubts and sorrows with a pie. Something. Anything that would keep her mind from running in dizzying circles.

  * * *

  Pausing at the entrance to the farmer’s market, Molly inhaled and nearly went into a diabetic coma. Pie, cake, jellies, jams, cookies…she could see table after table of things she wanted to eat. Of course, pie was a given. The thread in her jeans was already locking arms in preparation for the smorgasbord of sweets she was going to consume.

  “I should have worn my Thanksgiving pants,” she said as she looked at Josiah. “Seriously, I could see moving here just to be close to this.”

  Nodding, Josiah said, “Uh, yeah. My couch-slouching days would be numbered if I lived here year-round.” He waved, and Molly followed his line of sight and found Caroline and King walking toward them. King was holding Travis while Caroline held Ellie. Both were bundled up almost to A Christmas Story level. Good thing they weren’t in the middle of potty training, or someone would be doing a lot of laundry.

  As they approached, King smiled. “Look who’s here, Travis.” Gabby’s little boy grinned and leaned his head against King’s shoulder. “What is this bashful business? You’ve never been shy a day in your life.” King tickled the baby’s tummy, and he giggled.

  “Ellie is loving this,” Caroline said. “She is just bright-eyed and looking around.” Josiah’s mom kissed Ellie’s cheek. “Sweet girl.”

  Every time Molly thought she’d seen the depth of this family’s kindness, she was shown it went further down than she could imagine. “Thank you for bringing Ellie.”

  Caroline handed her over to Molly. “Well, sure.”

  Molly laid her cheek against Ellie’s, soaking her up. It crushed her to think Ellie could be taken from her. She hadn’t known how much she could love someone until she held this tiny little person in her hands.

  Josiah put his arm around her back, leaned in, and set his lips against Molly’s ear. “I won’t let her get taken.”

  She pressed her head against the side of Josiah’s face. At that moment, she was surrounded by her two most favorite people in the world. It gave her a sense of belonging like she’d never had before.

  “Thank you,” she whispered…and quickly remembered his parents were right there. Watching them. Embarrassment climbed from her stomach and hit her ears faster than Mario avoiding barrels. Molly cast her gaze to the ground and wished the earth would swallow her whole.

  “Okay, I think the three of us are going to go look around for a while,” Josiah said as if sensing how awkward she felt.

  “Sounds good. We’ll see you…I guess when we see you. Have fun.”

  Molly waited until they’d walked a good distance and she was sure his parents were far enough away that she could relax. “Was it just me that felt…weird?” Was that even the right word?

  He laughed. “Uh, I did a little? But I could see where your mind was going, and I cared more about that than feeling embarrassed. You’re worried, and my parents understand that.”

  She nodded. “It’s hard not to worry. That lawyer might be awesome, but this is Texas. The court system hates taking kids away from their birth parents to start with. Add in a single mom who works as a housekeeper and compare that to a stable older couple who are still rather young, and I just don’t know how it’ll turn out.”

  When he didn’t say anything, she looked up at him. “What?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing.”

  She leveled her eyes at him. “Really?”

  “I have thoughts that I’m not…sure I should speak aloud. I like our friendship. I don’t want to do anything that would either alienate you or jeopardize keeping you and Ellie in my life. It’s not worth it to me.”

  Wrapping her fingers around his forearm, she pulled him to a stop. Before continuing the conversation, she laid Ellie in the stroller and buckled her in. “Okay, spill it.”

  Shaking his head, he said, “No way.”

  Molly pinched her lips together and put her hands on her hips. “Yes way.”

  “No.” His voice went up an octave.

  She looked around and then spotted exactly what she needed. “There’s a pie-eating contest in an hour. I win; you spill. You win; you still spill.”

  His eyebrows knitted together. “How does that help me?”

  “One way or another, you’re going to tell me.”

  “Fine, but if I’m going to tell you, it’ll be after the contest. Maybe the sugar high will work in my favor.”

  Her eyebrows lifted to her hairline. “That’s where you’re wrong!”

  “I guess we’ll see, huh?” He flashed a goofy smile, and she nearly sighed.

  Sheesh, if she fell any harder for the guy, she’d need medical attention. What was happening to her? Just a few weeks ago, she was a single mom with zero thoughts of romance or interest. Now, she was staring down the shaft of Cupid’s stupid arrow and peeking through her fingers as she waited for it to nail her right between the eyes.

  She just needed to hold herself together until they got back to Dallas. Then she could have a little space, let things with Ellie settle down, and then see where she was. As she looked at him, though, the idea of a little space made her chest constrict. This was about as much space as she wanted. She was epically doomed.

  Chapter 14

  “I won fair and square,” Josiah said, staring down Molly after the pie-eating contest was over. He hadn’t won the contest, but he’d beat her by half a pie, and that was his only goal.

  They’d gone back and forth while they were at the farmer’s market,
and the second they’d returned to the house, Molly had asked his mom to watch Ellie so she could “have a private word with him.” It was like getting the look his dad would give if they were goofing off during church. Once he trained his gaze on you, you were done for.

  What hadn’t been part of his plan was to face down a fiery Molly Hines who had been clear what the rules were from the very beginning. Never mind that he’d not actually agreed to said rules.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she held his gaze. “Tell me now.”

  He raked his hand through his hair. It had been a wild millisecond thought. One that he didn’t want to share and should never have mentioned. Granted, that was the second time he’d had the thought, but that only equaled two milliseconds. In his book, it still counted as not fully thought out. Definitely not to the point that he could share it.

  She dropped her arms, crossed the room, and stopped in front of him, taking his face in her hands. “You are quite possibly the kindest, sweetest man I’ve ever known. Just tell me. It can’t be that bad.”

  “I was just trying to figure out a way to get us in a better position to keep Ellie. It was an errant thought. Something neither of us is ready for.” And he wasn’t. More than anything, he knew Molly wasn’t. Sharing a stupid, idle thought wasn’t worth the risk of driving her away and losing her. “It was nothing.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and she balled his shirt in her hands. “Not nothing. Spill it, pie breath.”

  He pulled away and crossed the room. “I…I wondered if getting married would help. You could be a stay-at-home mom if you wanted. I definitely have the money to provide for both you and Ellie. We could buy a house in one of the suburbs of Dallas. I could even adopt Ellie with you.”

  Glancing at her, seeing the wide-eyed, horrified look on her face, made him cringe. He shouldn’t have said anything. Why did he have to be the one West that couldn’t play poker? “See? That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

  Molly palmed her forehead and took a deep breath. Josiah wondered if she would pass out at any moment. His idea wasn’t just bad; it was something that shouldn’t have been spoken aloud. It was the Voldemort of ideas.

  “Wow,” was all that came out of her mouth.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. Why can’t I lie like a normal person? It would have made my life so much easier. Do you know how many times I was pummeled by my brothers and sister?” Sometimes, he wondered if there were lasting consequences. More than once, he’d chalked up his ability to remember useless trivia to the head trauma sustained as a child. That many poundings had to shake a wire loose.

  Her hand dropped to her side, and she chewed her lip. “Actually, that idea kinda makes sense.”

  Now it was his turn to be floored. “What?”

  “It’s a good idea,” she replied and then began pacing. “Well, other than the part where you adopt Ellie. I mean, you’d be on the hook for child support.” She stopped mid-stride and looked at him. “Otherwise, it’s a pretty sound argument in favor of tying the knot.”

  Josiah shook his head and blinked. “Are you serious?”

  “Are you?”

  “Well, yeah, but how serious is your serious? Because my serious is extra serious.” Then it caught up to him what he’d just proposed. Odd word choice for his brain to pick, but it fit.

  She closed the distance between them and stopped in front of him. “I will do anything to keep Ellie.” Her gaze drifted to the floor. “Anything,” she whispered.

  Of course, that would be the only reason she’d even consider being with him, but he was okay with that. For one, they hadn’t even been on a proper date. Secondly, he had his career to think about. If he did manage to win Realtor of the Year, there was a chance he’d become really busy. Was it really a good idea to start a family just as his career was taking off?

  Plus, they’d just really become friends, which was about as fast as either of them could go. The kissing put a weird spin on things, and he wasn’t quite sure how to make that puzzle piece fit. He just knew it didn’t translate to couple.

  Marriage was a big deal, though. It was so much more than physical. It was sharing your heart and soul with someone. But this wasn’t just about them anymore. A little girl was in the middle of this tug-of-war, and whatever advantages marriage gave them was worth it.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. “We’ll wait until the lawyer calls us back and go from there. If she thinks it’s a good idea, then we’ll do it.”

  As she lifted her gaze to his, they locked eyes. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  He’d also be talking to his dad, but Molly didn’t need to know that. It wasn’t so much that he was looking for approval as much as he was making sure he was considering all the ramifications of stepping up and being a husband and father. It was something he’d wanted, ached for at times even, but fatherhood wasn’t just something that was happening to him. It was a choice he was making. Josiah was confident he could do it. Having his dad back him up was something extra to fortify his confidence.

  “I don’t know about you, but I could use some Veronica Mars and some downtime,” he said.

  A smile lifted the corners of Molly’s lips. “Marshmallows unite.” She laughed.

  He winced. “Oh, don’t mention food. I think I’m going to be sick as it is.”

  “I told you you’d get sick. It’s like ordering tacos from that sushi place. It’s just wrong.” She shook her head. “And somehow the queso is always cold. Once is a fluke, but twice is food poisoning waiting to happen.”

  His eyebrows knitted together. “You know that place?”

  “Well, yeah, they have tacos for fifty cents on Tuesdays. There is no little thing wrong with those…calling them tacos is sacrilegious.” Narrowing her eyes, her mouth dropped open. “Oh my gosh, Josiah, don’t tell me you ordered from that place?”

  “Uh…” He rolled his lips and grimaced. “Maybe.”

  She gasped. “You did? Those things are lethal. Please tell me you didn’t keep the menu.”

  When he’d considered a list of soulmate requirements, this had been pretty high on the list. If nothing else, marrying her would keep him from ordering from a host of Dallas area Chum Buckets.

  A smile stretched on his lips. He could live with this. If they did get married, no, it wouldn’t technically be real, but having someone to talk to, laugh with, and keep him from getting food poisoning was a plus. People had married for less noble reasons.

  Josiah kissed her and hugged her tight. Yeah, this could work…if they had to marry. He’d just need to remember she didn’t really want him as much as she wanted to keep Ellie. While it stung a little, he understood that. And there was always the possibility of things changing in the future. He’d just hold on to that hope.

  * * *

  The sun was sitting dead center on the horizon as Josiah walked from the house to the barn. In an effort to give himself some space to think, he’d volunteered to clean the feed room in the barn. It garnered him some strange looks, but it had been worth it to get a moment of quiet to think.

  Not that he’d been doing much other than that since he’d told Molly about his idea to get married. With it being Christmas Eve, it would be several more days before the lawyer called, and it seemed that all his mind wanted to do was run in circles.

  He’d planned to talk to his dad, but every time he tried, it wouldn’t come out. How, exactly, could he start a conversation like that? His parents thought of marriage as sacred, and they’d instilled that into Josiah and all of his siblings. Marriage wasn’t something you did on a whim or to fix a problem. It was a commitment to another person, and not once did you enter it with the idea that divorce was an option. Whether they would end it was probably something they needed to discuss at some point.

  “Josiah!” With the sound of his name, he turned and found Bear quickly catching up to him. “Hey, I thought I’d help.”

  Josiah eyed him. �
�Yeah, right. You just don’t trust me to do it the way you would.”

  His brother stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and shrugged. “I live here. You don’t. May as well be the way I want things done.”

  Okay, so he had a point, but the idea of cleaning the feed room was to get away and think. Not to be hounded about every detail. “How about you give me a quick tutorial, and I’ll do it?”

  “How about we work on it together, and you tell me what’s eating you?” His brother smiled.

  “Why can’t a guy just get some peace?”

  Bear stopped him as they reached the barn. “That little girl is sweet as can be, and I know the idea that someone could come along and take her is worrisome to you.”

  “I don’t want her taken from Molly or me.”

  “I know.” Bear pulled the barn door open, stepped inside, and waited for Josiah to follow him in before shutting it behind them. “I can’t fathom how Molly’s feeling. Birth momma or not, she’s been taking care of her, getting up at night with her, loving her.”

  “Exactly,” Josiah replied. “Why would her mom want to do that? What purpose does it serve to take Ellie and lose Molly? Because that’s what will happen. It will irrevocably harm their relationship.”

  Bear faced him and leaned his shoulder against the wall. “It could also mean you getting your heart broken.”

  Josiah balked. “Me? No, I’m fine. It’s Molly I’m worried about.”

  Rubbing his knuckles along his jaw, Bear’s gaze drifted to the floor. A few minutes passed, and finally he lifted his gaze to Josiah’s. “I’ve seen how you look at her. You’re as lovesick as they come. Probably have been and didn’t even know it. Ain’t no other explanation for you inviting her home for Christmas. It might have been buried in that brain of yours, but you’ve liked her since you met her. You may have helped her out by giving her a job, but there was something there from the get-go.”