Live In Position (34 page)

"Sophia, come on!" Victoria whined through my door.

I pushed him away.

"Stop," I scolded him and pointed to the bathroom door. He chuckled and walked through the door, closing it behind him. I sighed, rubbed my face, and stepped to the door. As soon as I pulled it open, I was met with Victoria standing with her arms crossed.

"Who were you talking to?" She swiveled her head, trying to peek into my room.

"No one," I shrugged. "What would you like for breakfast?" I ushered her away from my bedroom and down to the kitchen.

The entire way I had to field questions: 'Why was your door locked? It's never locked.' 'What took you so long to answer the door?' 'Why were you talking to yourself?' I silently groaned and tried to deter her inquisitive mind.

Finally, she gave up and we silently at breakfast together. Once we finished eating, we both cleaned up our spots and headed upstairs.

"Let's get dressed and then we can head out to start your school shopping, okay?"

She nodded at me and headed to her room. I got to my room and shut the door behind me, releasing a large breath.

What the hell am I doing? This was insane and just…well it was just such a damn cliché. I was
that
nanny now.

Shower therapy, here I come.

Chapter Eighteen

The shower had done wonders while I was in there, but as soon as my damp feet touched the cool tile, all of the regret and feelings flooded me. Whatever was going on between Dr. Bishop and me was looking more like a mistake, a disaster waiting to happen. I shook my head a couple of times and tried to focus on all of the errands I needed to do over the next two days. Things were about to become hectic again and I needed to be prepared. I also tried to figure out how I could avoid someone that constantly appeared out of nowhere, it's not as if I could predict when he'd grace me with his presence.

Wrapped in a soft bath towel, I walked to my closet for some comfortable shopping clothes. Settling on a pair of khaki cargo shorts and my Star Wars t-shirt, I tossed them onto the bed. Next I rummaged through my dresser for underwear, bra, and socks, tossing them to the bed as well.

Sitting on the edge of the bed I began to slip into my clothing. When I reached for my shirt I felt something underneath it. Pulling the shirt from the bed, I saw a small white note card lying there. Quickly, I slipped my shirt over my head and pulled my damp hair out from inside it.

I bit my lip nervously and picked up the note card, my fingertips playing with the edges. There was only one person that would have left a note on my bed this morning. At least it wasn't a stack of cash on the nightstand.

Internally I groaned at my ridiculous attempt at humor in this particular situation and flipped the note card open. The writing was not as refined as I would have imagined his to be. Instead it was much that of a doctor's scribbles on a prescription pad.

'Ms. Ashwood, Please allow me the pleasure of your company at lunch this Saturday. We will discuss details later tonight. Yours, Collin.'

With a sharp intake of breath and a warm tingling sensation at the center of my chest, I clutched the note to me. Yours, He signed it 'yours'. Does that really mean…whoa wait…we will discuss tonight. Is this his way of requesting me in bed tonight?

My mind was swirling at the request that would have probably been more of a direct order had he spoken the words to me himself.

"Sophia?" Victoria called out. Her voice was followed with the creak of my bedroom door. I opened my eyes and took one deep breath.

"You ready?"

She nodded.

"Let's get going." I slid the note into my top dresser drawer before exiting the bedroom and headed downstairs. Victoria was excited to go shopping and she raced down the stairs.

"Slow down princess." I heard Connor's voice before I saw him smiling at Victoria.

"Sorry." Victoria spoke bashfully.

"I just don't want you to get hurt little lady." He ruffled her hair and stepped back from her.

"Mr. Bishop," I greeted with a smile.

"Dear Sophia, I've told you to call me Connor." He smiled back to me.

"Sorry, Connor," I smiled again, "did you need help with something?"

"Oh, no," He shook his head. "I was just bringing some more things from the other house." I must have looked confused about him bringing things to Collin's house because he launched into an explanation without me asking one question. "Um, I will be staying here until I find another place." His tone was soft and sad.

"I thought…" I caught myself before I finished that sentence and quickly redirected the conversation. "That's great. It's been great having you here with us." I turned to Victoria quickly. "Let's get our shoes on."

"Okay!" She hurried toward the closet and started digging for shoes.

I turned back to Connor.

"We are going to do some school shopping. Do you need anything while we are out?"

Connor's face was blank for a moment and then a small grateful smile spread on his face.

"No, but thank you, for offering."

"No problem. We'll see you when we get back." I spoke and walked to get my shoes on. As I slipped on my shoes, I couldn't help but wonder why Connor was here and not with Juliet. They had seemed so close and adamant about being together. Deciding it wasn't really any of my business, we climbed into the car to go school shopping.

You would think with wearing uniforms to school, shopping would be simpler. It wasn't. We quickly picked out the skirts, jumpers, pants, and shirts; however, where socks and shoes
were concerned she could wear what she wanted. This resulted in the longest discussion in knee socks, tights, and bobby socks I had never thought possible. Then we got to the shoes and she had to have three different styles of black shoes along with two pairs of sneakers.

After all of the clothing purchases at the mall, we headed to Target where I pulled out the list of school supplies she would need. We started in one of the three aisles dedicated to paper, notebooks, pencils, pens, highlighters, protractors, and everything else. While looking for binders I came across a Trapper Keeper. Really, 'Trapper Keepers'? Those are still around?

"Ooohh, I want this one." Victoria was holding up a Lisa Frank folder.

"Well, that is certainly…um…bright." I giggled. She tossed the folder into the shopping cart.

We perused the aisles for almost an hour while she decided between The Little Mermaid and The Disney Princess' notebooks, and then between the iCarly and the Princess pencils. I was almost ready to tell her to buy both, but she finally made a decision and tossed the Princess pencils and the Princess notebook into the cart. After a few more decisions between things, we grabbed some groceries and headed back to home.

I was putting the groceries away when I realized we had been gone from the house for over five hours. It was nearing dinner time, so I pulled out ingredients to make tacos, Spanish rice, and corn bread. Victoria was still upstairs putting her clothes away in her closet and her new school supplies into the Gucci backpack she
had
to have, so I decided to start the cornbread.

Once the bread was halfway through its cooking time I decided to start the rest of dinner. I was chopping lettuce when Connor stepped into the kitchen.

"Wow that smells wonderful. What is it?"

I shrugged, "Just your standard cornbread and tacos."

He smiled. "It's been a very long time since I've eaten tacos."

"There will be plenty if you would like to join us for dinner tonight." I raised my brow at him in question.

His smile broadened. "I would really like that, Sophia, thank you."

"No problem," I winked at him and he chuckled.

It was about forty five minutes later when I had dinner completed and set out on the small, barely used, kitchen table. Connor was sitting at one end of the table while Victoria washed her hands in the downstairs bathroom. I set out three empty plates and three glasses of iced tea I had made while the ground beef cooked.

The three of us filled our plates, fixed our tacos, and began eating. We were all laughing as each of our tacos shells cracked and landed on our plate or in our lap, taco sauce staining our clothing and dripping down our fingers.

"I didn't realize we were having a family dinner night?" I turned in my seat and saw Dr. Bishop glancing around the table until his eyes fell intently on me. I bit my lip.

"Grab a plate Collin, these are delicious." Connor boasted. Collin's eyes stayed focused on mine; intense, cold, but with the hint of that conflicting green fire. I released my lip and stood up.

"Do you want me to get you a plate, Dr. Bishop?"

He smiled at me crookedly.

"Ms. Ashwood, I think you should call me Collin." My eyes widened and he seemed to be highly amused by my reaction. His smile spread over his whole mouth. "I can get my own plate, thank you." He walked toward the cabinet and I sat back down.

"You had better hurry before I eat everything," Connor chuckled. "It feels like it has been a lifetime since I've eaten homemade tacos."

It was a single innocent comment, but it made me stop for a moment. This was something uncommon to them. The typical family dinner, whether it had been tacos or meatloaf, was not a custom for them. Immediately I made a mental note to call and thank Carla for all of the home cooked family meals she had arranged to send to dad and me or that she would visit and cook for us when I lived at home.

The screech of the chair on my right brought me from my thoughts and I began eating again. Victoria giggled as the taco meat squeezed out of her father's shell and landed on his plate with a splat. It was the furrow of Dr. Bishop's brow that made me bite back laughter. His eyes shot over at me and I quickly looked back at my plate. Connor's laughter brought my head back up from my plate.

"Don't get so frustrated," he laughed, "we've all been dealing with it. Look at my lap." Connor stood and pointed to a greasy stain on his left thigh.

"I think Mrs. Baker keeps some stain remover in the laundry room." I motioned toward the room.

Connor waved it off.

"I'll worry about it later. First I am going to eat as much as I can." He looked at me with a wide grin. "Who knows how long it will be till I get these again." He gestured toward the food.

I laughed quietly.

"Well, if you let me know when you are home then I can assure that you are invited to dinner with us each night." I pushed away from the table and carried my plate to the sink.

While rinsing off my plate I felt the familiar warmth of his body against my back. I tensed up knowing Connor and Victoria could see the close proximity of our position. I felt his lips close to my right ear,

"Am I not invited to these dinners?"

His warm breath caused wave of tingling in my thighs. I cleared my throat before I could speak.

"Of course," I squeaked out. His lips were again next to my ear, but a knock at the door pulled his attention and body away from me. I immediately felt as if I could breathe again.

I turned around and caught the end of a silent conversation between Connor and Dr. Bishop as he walked from the room and toward the front door. When Connor's eyes shifted to me I felt the warmth of my blush creep over my skin. I quickly resumed rinsing dishes and placing them into the dishwasher.

"Where is she?" My body shuddered at the sound of his voice.

"She's not here." Collin responded coolly.

"Well, where did she go Collin? She has my sons with her and she won't answer my calls or –"

Connor moved from the kitchen table and toward Collin and Jonathan's conversation in the foyer.

"Jonathan," Connor greeted him curtly.

"Where did she go? What if the boys are –"

Connor cut him off.

"She is fine and I don't believe she wants you to know where she is. I will pass along the message for her to contact you or to have someone contact you about the boys."

"They are my sons too, Connor, she can't just leave with them." Jonathan growled. "I tried to see her and no one would let me in this goddamn house to speak to her."

"She didn't want to see you and Allison didn't need any more 'altercations' while she was trying to get better." Collin responded to him with force. "I suggest you have a seat and I will call Allison now."

Before things got any worse in the conversation, I collected Victoria and took her up to her room. We watched a movie and then she read a book while I worked on my laptop in her bed. Eventually she fell asleep, so I tucked her in and shut everything off in her room before I left for my own.

The first thing that caught my attention was the light in my room was on and I was sure I had turned them all off. Entering my room, the second thing I realized was the light was filtering from my bedroom. Maybe I forgot to turn off a bedside lamp.

I got to my bedroom door and saw the bedside lamp was indeed on. Also, Collin was lying on my bed with his laptop. He glanced up to me and smiled.

"I was wondering if you were going to ever come to bed."

I was conflicted between happy and confused with him being in my bed, waiting for me. Did he expect to come here every night and have sex? Was he just here to discuss lunch? I was confused.

The thud of his feet onto the carpeted floor snapped me out of my own head. When I looked up, he was standing in front of me.

"I assume you got my note?" He eyed me closely and cupped my face in his hand. I gave a half smile and nodded.