Page 49 of Sweeter than Honey

Eli’s red mushroom night light is on, casting a bright glow over the bedroom. He’s fast asleep on his bed, his little eyelashes brushing his rosy cheeks. He’s wearing his favourite pajamas, with an image of Princess Pony on them. His hair is brushed and I bet if I checked the toothbrush in the bathroom, it would be wet.

He’s curled up on top of Renata, his peaceful face against her chest. She lies against the bed with one arm around him. When she spots me, she puts one finger to her lips, then points to my sleeping son.

I’m stunned. A warm, tingling feeling envelopes my entire body. This is thelastthing I expected to see. There’s a stack of books on the side table. Ones we definitely didn’t pick out last night. Did my boss…read my son a bedtime story and put him to sleep?

Renata carefully extricates herself from the slumbering Eli. I know that she’s a powerful vampire and whatever, but getting up without waking up a five-year-old is a whole separate skill set. Is she just goodateverything?

She rises from the bed and tucks Eli in gently, then we tip-toe out of the room. Well,Itip-toe. Renata glides.

We go down the stairs and into the hallway.

“Ms. Espina,” I whisper. “I’m so, so sorry…”

She puts a hand up to stop me. “No need to apologize, Lily. When I arose this evening, I found your son at your desk. The receptionist said that no one had picked him up…”

“My mother was supposed to.”

Renata gives me a knowing look. “I assumed something must have happened, and you weren’t picking up your phone, so I knew you must be busy.”

“There was an issue with Mrs. Harrigan,” I tell her. “But I amverysorry, Ms. Espina. Thank you so much for looking after Eli.”

“It was no trouble, Lily.” She pauses, an unreadable expression on her face. “I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you, before. The first time you brought him in to the office, I was taken off guard. Vampires don’t…have much experience with children.”

I think of her, curled up beside Eli on his bed. It certainly didn’t seem like she doesn’t have any experience with children. But I’m not going to argue with her. I’m just so relieved that Eli is all right, and that I’m not in any trouble.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Renata says. She frowns, and her brow furrows slightly.

“What is it?” I ask.

“He asked me to paint his nail bright red,” she says. “And obviously I couldn’t do that.”

My chest tightens. Renata told me she was hundreds of years old. She must have out-of-date ideas about gender. “Well, he…helikeshaving his nails painted…”

Renata shakes her head. “No, I mean that obviously red would be a terrible choice, given his complexion.” She raises her hand, showing me her fresh manicure, her nails a soft rose pink. “I took him to the spa, and we got matching shades. I hope that was all right.”

There’s a tender, aching feeling in my chest. For a moment, I feel like I’m going to burst into tears.

“Yes,” I whisper. “That’s all right.”

Shegives me a nod. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Lily.”

“Good night, Ms. Espina.”

Then she exits my suite, leaving me with the ache in my chest.

As I get myself ready for bed and slip below the covers, I can’t stop thinking about her, curled up beside Eli. Even Dylan was never so tender with him. And my mother…well, my motherneverwould have taken him out to get matching manicures, that’s for sure. When I opened the door, I think I saw Renata brush the hair out of his eyes before she realized I was standing there.

I feel like my heart is going to explode. Ineverwould have thought she’d be that way, especially after how she reacted to him the first time. It’s so strange. And yet…it doesn’t surprise me. Renata might seem harsh and unforgiving, to someone who doesn’t know her. But as I’ve worked with her, I’ve realized that she’s just very protective. She works hard at the hotel, and holds herself to a high standard, because she wants to take care of it for her family, and for all of the staff. She might seem intimidating, but I can tell that she cares very deeply about other people.

Like when she rescued me from that elevator, and saved my life with her blood.

My cheeks are hot, and I realize that I’m crying silent tears. Nobody’s ever cared for me the way that she does. My mom loves me, in her own way, but she always expects me to do things for her. And Dylan only liked me because I put up with all of his crap, and made him feel good about himself. He promised that he would pay for me to go to law school once Eli was born, but of course, that never happened. It was all about whathewanted. It was never about me.

But it’s different, with Renata. She sees me, and values what I do.

I thought it was just a silly crush on my boss.

But it’s not. It never was.