“Why do the puppies have to leave?” he asked Mark, as tears streamed down his face. All Trevor heard was only one puppy would get to stay and he was devastated about it.
Mark was completely taken aback. If he saw a child or woman crying, all he wanted to do was fix the problem, no matter what it was.
“We’ll keep all the puppies. There’s plenty of room for them to run around here. You can name them all,” Mark said in a bit of a panic. He would’ve given the kid a handful of hundred dollar bills if it would have made the tears stop.
“You promise?” Trevor asked, with some skepticism.
“Scouts honor.”
“Thank you,” Trevor said as the tears instantly evaporated and he launched himself into Mark’s arms. Mark held him close and felt his heart grow a little larger. He didn’t even notice the water soaking into his clothes.
Emily had to turn away from the scene before her. She could see herself falling for her boss and wouldn’t allow that to happen. She needed the job and men like Mark didn’t settle down with women like her so there was nothing that could happen between them more than sex and then her employment ending. She almost wished he was a standoffish bully, instead of a sexy cowboy with a soft heart for children.
“Trevor let’s head inside. I need to finish getting dinner prepared, so I can’t watch you out here anymore,” she said, turning towards the house.
“Ah Mom, I want to swim some more, please,” he begged her. She had such a soft spot for her son and she hated to tell him no but she really needed to finish her cooking.
“I’ll bring you out to swim tomorrow but I really need to finish dinner.”
“I was planning on taking a swim. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Mark said. “Hang with your mom in the kitchen for a few minutes while I run upstairs to change clothes,” he finished and then jogged up the stairs, not waiting for a reply from Emily.
She figured Mark was like his father and not used to being told no. She wasn’t going to argue with him. She had a talk with Trevor and told him to be on his best behavior.
Emily enjoyed herself in the kitchen while listening to the sounds of her son’s laughter through the open door. Before she knew it, everything was done so she headed upstairs to clean up. She checked on Trevor, who was more than content to be splashing around with Mark so allowed herself a luxuriously long bubble bath. She laid her head back against the tub, sighing out loud. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found such a great job with a kind boss who was also good to her son.
An hour later Emily was surprised by the sheer number of people who kept pouring into the house and out to the backyard. There had to be over a hundred of them milling around. Everyone was smiling and laughter could be heard above the sound of the country music playing in the background.
The grills were lit and the sweet smell of good meat being barbequed made her mouth water. She’d been so busy preparing food all day she’d forgotten to eat anything herself. She hadn’t been sure if she should join the party but Edward had told her staff was always invited.
“You must be Emily, the new cook?” asked a sexy dark haired man. Emily had been observing all the people around her and hadn’t noticed the couple walk over to her. They could have both graced the cover of GQ Magazine. She was a bit intimidated by them.
“Yes I am,” she finally managed to reply.
“It’s great to meet you Emily. I’m Amy and this obnoxious man here is Lucas, Mark’s older brother,” she said pleasantly.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” Emily replied shyly.
“Don’t let this crowd overwhelm you too much, they are all amazing people. My first time around them nearly scared me to death and now I can’t imagine how miserable my life would be without every member of this family,” she said. As Amy was talking, she looked up at her husband and gave him a tender look of love. Emily was unsure if they were done talking and she should walk away and leave them alone.
“Oh would you guys quit with the gazing thing, you are obviously making poor Emily here uncomfortable,” another extremely sexy man broke into the conversation, saving Emily.
“Whatever Alex, you can barely be ten feet away from poor Jessica,” Lucas teased his brother.
“Well when you’re right, I guess you’re right,” Alex said. “Hi I’m the middle brother Alex and my incredibly sexy wife is getting the kids all settled but will be over in a few minutes. I have to tell you Emily, you’re far hotter than the last cook,” he added with a wink.
Emily could feel her face turn a deep shade of red. She hated how her emotions were so easy to read. She didn’t know how to reply to Alex’s comment, so decided to not say anything.
“You boys just never grow up now, do you?” another voice said, which had Emily turning towards another very attractive woman, who was wrapping her arm in Alex’s. “Never mind them; they love to get a reaction out of a pretty lady. When they met poor Amy for the first time she got proposed to by all three brothers,” she said, with a glint in her eyes.
“By the way I’m Jessica and obviously married to this rogue here,” she said, indicating Alex. “They are all talk and no action though,” she teased her husband.
“Oh really, I take that as a challenge,” Alex said and then proceeded to dip Jessica low to the ground. She let out a giggle, sounding like a teenage girl, until his lips met hers and then it was obvious she’d forgotten anyone else was around.
“Um… you two want to go on upstairs or do you want to continue to embarrass my new cook?” Mark asked, while strolling up to the growing group.
Alex slowly lifted his head, only to glare at Mark. “I would much prefer to kick the crap out of you but that can wait until later,” he finally said and punched his brother in the arm. To Emily the punch looked hard enough to knock a normal man to the ground but Mark just laughed and asked his brother if that was all he had.
“You boys go help with the grilling. We’re going to sneak into the dessert,” Amy said and then put one arm through Emily and the other through Jessica and dragged them off towards the dessert table.
Emily had to hold back tears. She was overwhelmed at being included so easily with the obviously loving family. She’d never really had girlfriends before and hoped she would be around long enough to become great friends with the two women, as they seemed like people she would definitely want to know.