Page 43 of Small-Town Secrets

19

Aaron

Laurence settledChris on the couch in the living room, told him to be good and kissed him goodbye before he hurried out of the house because he was late for work. I watched him go and so did Chris.

To say that I felt a bit awkward would have been an understatement. I'd never babysat before aside from watching my younger brother every now and then.

But how hard could it be, really?

"So it's just you and me, huh?" I tried, standing awkwardly to the side of the couch.

Chris gave me a measuring look. "I want my Gameboy."

"Your daddy wants you to sleep."

The boy made a face. "But I'm not tired."

"You're sick and you need rest."

"But I'm not tired," Chris repeated. I had to admit, he had a pretty solid argument there—and I had no idea how to make unwilling children go to sleep.

"Maybe after you've had some food," I suggested, realizing that he hadn't had any breakfast yet.

"I'm not hungry." As soon as he was done speaking, he started coughing. He probably had a sore throat, didn't he? I frowned, remembering that his daddy had said something about feeding him soup.

"I'll make you some soup," I decided, leaving no room for argument. Laurence trusted me to take care of his son and I would. My client wasn't supposed to drop his dog off with me before noon, so I had time.

"What kind of soup?" Did I detect a hint of interest there?

"I don't know yet. What kind of soup do you like?"

"Tomato soup."

"Okay. I can do that."

Probably.

* * *

Chris eyedme skeptically when I set a bowl of soup in front of him. That moment, he looked so much like his Daddy I almost had to laugh. Laurence had that same critical gaze whenever he was faced with something he didn't know.

"It's tomato soup," I said, as if it wasn't obvious.

Chris picked up a spoon and dragged it through the bowl. "It's not the same."

I could only guess he meant 'not the same as daddy's', which, of course it wasn't. I had some confidence in my cooking skills, but I wasn't his daddy, so I knew whatever I made, it would always be sub-par. Nothing I could do about that, though. "Try it. You might like it, even if it's not exactly the same."

Cautiously, Chris lifted the spoon to his mouth and tasted the soup.

"How is it?"

Chris let the spoon sink again. "It’s okay," he admitted, a bit grudgingly. It was almost as if he didn'twantto like it, and by association, me. Given his prior experiences with the alphas he'd lived with, I couldn't fault him for that. He'd never displayed any animosity toward me before, but this was the first time we were truly alone, and it seemed like he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

I knew the only thing I could do to gain his trust was to not be like Gregory or Howard.

I also knew that it was going to take time.

But if I wanted to be with Laurence...