Page 7 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

Axl got a great view of the elephants from the top of Brady’s shoulders.

He squealed with delight when one of them shot water out of its trunk.

She and Brady exchanged grins. A child’s laughter was contagious, especially when he was as adorable as Axl.

They stood there for a few minutes and let her little boy enjoy watching the elephants do their thing.

People smiled at them, and she heard one woman say, “Such a nice little family.”

Jessica didn’t bother to correct her.

“Your mom looks tired,” Brady said. “Let’s go get an ice cream cone and give her a chance to rest.”

She bit her lower lip and waited for Axl’s reaction.

“Can we go see the giraffes after ice cream?” Axl asked.

“We sure can,” Brady said without hesitation. “Can you spot the ice cream place from up there? I have no idea where it is, and I don’t want us to get lost. Do you see it?”

Jessica had no doubt Brady knew exactly where the ice cream stand was located. He’d obviously spotted it, and that was where his idea for a cold treat originated. For someone who didn’t know anything about kids, he was good with her son.

Axl glanced around. He bounced with excitement and pointed. “There it is! I see it. That way. We have to go that way.”

Brady grinned at Jessica, and she smiled with gratitude.

They followed her son’s loud directions to the little stand with a wooden ice cream cone decoration out front.

Brady set Axl down on a chair at an outside table and asked for her order. She wanted a large iced tea with lemon. Axl asked for a vanilla ice cream cone. They sat together and watched Brady go to the window. “Having fun, little man?” she asked her son.

He nodded several times. “Brady is fun. He should live with us like Mindy lives with Daddy.”

She choked on her own saliva and steered the conversation in another direction as quickly as she could so Brady wouldn’t overhear something that might upset him. “What was your favorite animal today?”

“Monkeys!”

Axl stood on his chair, and for a moment she thought he might blastoff into space like a tiny rocket.

He made monkey sounds and pretended to scratch himself while bouncing on his feet.

She started to order him to sit down, worried he might fall, but Brady said it before she could as he returned with a tray of food.

She hadn’t asked for anything to eat, but he had a basket of fries for her. To her surprise, Axl immediately complied with the softly spoken command. Brady didn’t have to raise his voice or threaten him with a time-out. Impressive.

“Thought you might be hungry,” he said as he set the fries in front of her. “I know I am.”

He had gotten himself his own basket of fries. She stared at him as he squirted enough ketchup on them to float a boat. His eyebrows went up, daring her to say something. Her son giggled at the sight.

“Are you having fun?” she asked Brady. “Be honest. Don’t spare my feelings.”

He leaned over the small table and whispered in her ear. “It’s not as much fun as the thing we usually do together, but I’m not complaining.”

Her cheeks burned with emotional heat. If her young, impressionable son wasn’t sitting right there, she would kiss Brady until his toes curled. She missed their secret nights of passion. Unfortunately, she had to live like a nun until the custody hearing.

She glanced around, looking for someone out of place, a loner without a friend or a child with them. Everyone she saw was with someone. Still, she felt like she was being watched. Maybe a private eye was taking pictures of them.

That reminded her she wanted a special photo of her two favorite boys.

She’d already snapped several of Axl and the animals he enjoyed learning about.

Later, she planned to put them in a scrapbook for him.

But there was one photo she wanted that she didn’t have yet.

She lifted her phone and got ready to snap it. “Smile, you two.”

Brady leaned sideways and put an arm around Axl. “Say, cheese.”

Both he and Axl grinned. “Cheeeeese.”

She snapped three quick pictures. “Got it.”

Brady grabbed a napkin and wiped Axl’s chin.

It was dripping with melted ice cream. More was running down the cone and his tiny fingers.

Brady dipped the napkin in his water before cleaning both of Axl’s hands.

Then he wrapped the cone in a few extra napkins and handed it back to her smiling little boy.

Her partner would never admit it, but he was a natural-born father. Knowing how much he would hate hearing that, she kept it to herself. She just sat there smiling at him, content to be in the moment.

Brady glanced up and caught her watching them.

He stared into her eyes. Deep. He seemed to be reaching into her soul, trying to find something intimate, something she didn’t necessarily want him to see.

She started to ask him why he was looking at her like that, but she didn’t have to say a word. He freely gave up the information.

“Let me photograph you,” he said. She started to hand him her phone, but he shook his head. “No. I want to take photos of you with my camera. Beautiful, professional photos.”

“Why? You took a lot of pictures of me when I modeled for you.”

He shook his head. “This would be different.”

“How?”

“When I photographed you before, you were a child. Now you are a woman.” He leaned across to her again and whispered, “We hadn’t had sex yet back then. I want to photograph you now that we’ve been intimate. I think it would be some of my best work.”

He sat back in his chair and continued to stare at her.

The feel of his heated gaze on her body made her inwardly melt.

She swallowed hard. He was making it more and more difficult to spend time in his world.

She couldn’t give in, couldn’t sleep with him again.

If she did, it would be an awful mistake, especially since she was halfway in love with him already.

“Let’s look at the giraffes and go home,” she said. “Axl needs a nap... and so do I.”

Brady looked hopeful.

She added, “Alone. I need to take a nap alone.”

Axl objected. “We haven’t been to Zoomazium yet, Mommy. You promised.”

Brady quirked an eyebrow at her. “What is a Zoomazium?”

“It’s the bestest most funnest place in the world,” Axl said.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s an indoor place for little kids to play, and I’m afraid I did promise him before I knew you were joining us.

Kids can go in through this little circle door, while lame adults have to use a regular door, and that’s just the start of the fun.

” She turned to her son. “Honey, I don’t think Brady wants to go there. We can do it some other time.”

Axl appeared on the verge of pitching a major fit.

“It’s okay,” Brady said. “We can go.”

She shook her head and scoffed. “You do not want to go in there. Trust me. There is always a huge crowd of kids, and they scream at the top of their lungs.”

If Brady didn’t like being around kids now, he would hate it after going inside the Zoomazium building. She didn’t want him to dig in his heels and never have a child because of something she did. It was the last place he needed to see.

“I’ll get my camera out of the car and take some photos out here while Axl has fun,” he said.

“But you don’t like photographing animals in captivity,” she said.

He made a face. “No. I prefer them in the wild where they belong, but it will be a good challenge for me, trying to get a decent photo of them behind bars. You two have fun, and I will meet you in an hour.”

He picked up three fries covered in dripping red and stuffed them into his mouth. He chewed and smiled at the same time. How could a man with ketchup on his lips be so sexy?

As soon as they were done eating, she took Axl to the Zoomazium.

Ice cream turned out to be a bad idea. The sugary treat had him running in literal circles around them even after an hour spent in the Zoomazium.

They decided to revisit his favorite animals again, so he could run off some energy before getting into the car with them.

∞∞∞

Poor little guy went to sleep almost instantly.

He was completely out before they escaped the crowded parking lot.

The steady hum of the engine and the rhythm of the road threatened to take Jessica down as well.

Her eyes drifted shut a few times, but she fought to stay awake.

It wasn’t fair to make Brady drive the whole way without any company.

He eventually told her to get some rest, and he turned the radio on.

She drifted off within seconds.

When she opened her eyes again, they were home.

Her home. Brady insisted on carrying Axl up to her condo so she wouldn’t have to wake him.

The sweet gesture surprised her. He looked good holding her son in his arms. Natural.

Even though he insisted he never wanted children of his own, she surmised he was born to be a father.

After they put Axl to bed, they went to the living room and sat on the couch. They drank iced tea, lots of ice. She felt sweaty, dirty, and ready for a cool shower. But she didn’t want to rush Brady out the door. He at least deserved a cold drink and some polite conversation.

“Thank you for driving today,” she said. “I hate dealing with traffic.”

“No problem,” he said.

She sipped her tea. “And thank you for being so kind to my son. He adores you.”

“It wasn’t a hardship.” Brady looked amused. “You don’t have to keep thanking me, you know. I had a great time, and I think Axl is a good kid.”

“He is.” She tried to smile, but her face crumpled. Tears filled her eyes as reality hit her. There was a possibility she might lose her son in the near future.

She turned away and blinked them rapidly. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to spoil such a perfect day by thinking about what might happen.”

Brady put an arm around her. She settled back against him, and he held her for a moment without talking.

For someone who was allergic to commitment, her partner sure knew how to comfort a woman.

He didn’t try to tell her what to do or act like she was making a big deal out of her problems when she shouldn’t.

He pressed his lips to her temple. “Do you want me to go?”

“Not yet.” She placed her hands on the arm looped around her and held on. “Can you stay a while?”

“I’ll stay as long as you want.”

She sighed and rested back against him. It would be so easy to stand up, take his hand, and walk him to her bedroom. But that would make things worse. She needed to focus on her son. If she was being followed by a private eye, spending any time alone with Brady was a bad idea.

“You should go,” she said, realizing how it would look to someone watching from the parking lot if he didn’t leave. “But thank you again for giving Axl an amazing day at the zoo.”

She walked him to the door. He bent down a few inches to give her a kiss on the corner of her mouth. His teasing grin made her want to pull him back into her condo. She squelched the urge as soon as it sprang to life.

“I still owe you a last night together,” she said.

He shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Fine. I’ll rephrase. I want to give you one more night, but we need to wait until Axl is all mine.”

“Understood.”

“Drive safely.”

She leaned against the door frame and watched him walk down the hallway to the elevator.

Her body sagged. She felt like she didn’t have a single bone left.

It was all too much. She was emotionally and physically drained.

A quick glance up and down the empty hallway made her feel better.

If Randy had someone watching her, at least they were being discreet and not camped out on her doorstep.

Within seconds of closing the door, she missed Brady.

It hurt her to think he didn’t feel the same way. Although he didn’t say anything about having a date, he probably did, and it was no doubt with a beautiful model.