Chapter 83

Mia

When I woke, it was to the sound of a child giggling delightfully and a light, warm breeze caressing my face. It was as if the little girl was teasing me, deliberately blowing air on my skin to annoy me with the intention of raising me from my slumber. I immediately knew who the culprit was. After all, this playful scenario had happened quite frequently since I’d arrived here in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, to live with the billionaire James Maxwell in his million-dollar mansion.

My eyes fluttered open, an amused smile playing across my lips.

“Morning, Aria,” I said softly.

The little girl giggled some more, pleased I was finally awake as she had wanted.

She enthusiastically replied, “Good morning, Mia. I’m so excited today. Oh, I can’t wait! I can’t wait!” She wiggled her little body in my bed. “Aren’t you excited too?” she asked. She had refused to leave since the first night I’d unintentionally become a part of this household—a part of this rich and influential family.

That day had been the day I’d felt both out of place yet warmly welcomed at the same time by none other than Aria herself.

That evening when James and I had arrived, I’d stood there in front of this million-dollar mansion, the house I’d first ventured into when I’d come here to negotiate with James about my brother’s debt. I had felt awkward while I watched James hugging his daughter Aria and kissing her fondly. The handsome expression on his face was that of tenderness, a kind of deep love and affection that could never be broken, the likes of which I had never seen him exhibit before. It was heartwarming, sweet, and it tugged deep on my heartstrings. It was a side of James that made me fall for him even more.

Once Aria had finished hugging her father, she’d taken a step back, and her gaze drifted toward me. Once she had fully recognized me, she raced toward me and threw herself into my arms as if I were her long-lost mother.

In that instant, I felt something warm and fluttery touching my heart. As I impulsively wrapped my arms around her in response, I felt my body weaken in surrender. It was odd that I didn’t want to let her go, and I didn’t understand why.

Was it because Aria was so cute? Or was it because I had never hugged a little girl before, and when I had the chance, I found I liked it?

When Aria finally drew back, she giggled and shrieked in delight. Then she said, “Mia! Yay! Daddy finally brought you home.” She turned her attention to her father and said, “Thank you, Daddy.”

The dad must have found the situation entertaining, because his Prussian-blue eyes were twinkling.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he said. The smug expression on his face and that soft tone of voice made me feel as if I were a gift for his daughter, completely wrapped in beautiful glossy paper with a bow on top.

Back to me, Aria said, “Let’s go and make spaghetti Bolognese together and have it for dinner. Come on!”

With that, she grabbed my hand in her tiny one and pulled me along. Her eager actions almost made me lose my balance.

All that happened while both Alfie and Sammy, Aria’s two naughty, adorable canines, were enthusiastically barking at James and me in greeting, jumping about us in excitement.

Once I was steady on my feet, Aria led me toward the house, the dogs happily tagging along behind us.

As we passed James, I looked at him in mild confusion, pleading with my expression as to how I should deal with such a new situation. How should I react to his overexcited daughter’s behavior? After all, I had no experience with children and had no idea how I should behave with one around.

The blasted billionaire simply smiled at me with amusement as he watched his daughter drag me to slave away in the kitchen with her that evening.

Once dinner was over, James showed me to my bedroom, which I found out was right next to his.

How very convenient for him, especially for his intended nightly bedroom adventures with me. Not that we’d had any of those since our return, because the presence of his beloved little daughter ensured that. Every time he started making seductive advances toward me, Aria would appear, interrupting any further sexy, amorous acts between us. In fact, we hadn’t even had one good, passionate kiss since we’d arrived, let alone one hot, zealous night of mindless sex where James would drive me insane with pleasure as he had back in Vegas. Oddly enough, I found this vastly amusing, though James didn’t.

He was frustrated sexually; I could tell. But there was nothing we could do since protecting his daughter’s innocence was important.

I turned on my side so I could face Aria in the large bed. Then I made myself comfortable by wiggling my body and shuffling the duvet about us. Aria giggled and aided me. In the end, she was comfortably in my arms, her cute face snuggling close against my shoulder. She was small and cozy to hug, I thought fondly as I pulled her so she was almost squeezed in my arms.

Smiling, I gazed at her, marveling at how much she resembled James. Gosh, but the child was pretty with long dark hair, pale skin, and those Prussian-blue eyes that never ceased to fascinate me. They were James’ eyes, and I loved the color dearly.

“Are you excited to go to Disneyland?” Aria asked again because I hadn’t answered her the first time.

“Yes, I’m excited to go,” I said, nodding. “After all, I’ve never been to Disneyland before.”

In fact, I’d never been to any sort of land ever, not the fun, adventurous kind. The last enjoyable thing I remembered I had done with my family had been ten years ago when we’d gone on a summer vacation to that beach back in New Hampshire. The one just before the car accident that had claimed both my parents’ lives.

I immediately dismissed the thought about my dark past and listened to Aria asking me curiously, her eyes large in disbelief, “You’ve never been to Disneyland before?”

I shook my head and confirmed that cold, hard fact. “I haven’t.”

Her reaction was instant, changing from that of shocked disbelief to that of excitement once again.

“Then you’re so going to like it,” she said in her hyperactive, childish tone. “It’s so much fun. Daddy took me there twice before with my friends. It’s the best thing ever. And we’ve been to Dreamworld, Water World, and um…all sorts of fun places. Have you been to Dreamworld and Water World? And have you been to Aus-tra-lia, Mia? Daddy took me to Aus-tra-lia last year with Uncle Scott and Uncle Eric. It was so much fun. There’s cool animals like kangaroos and koalas. The koalas are so cute. Do you like koalas, Mia? We have to tell Daddy to take you there. To Dreamworld and Water World, I mean. It’s going to be so much fun… Then Uncle Scott and Uncle Eric could come as well ’cause we haven’t been to fun places together for so long.”

I couldn’t help myself and had to laugh. Aria’s pronunciation of Australia was so cute. And really, she was asking a lot of questions, but because she was so excited, she never allowed time for me to answer.

Aria nodded enthusiastically as she continued. “Yes. Yes. It’s gonna be so much fun.” She giggled as she snuggled her face against my neck, which tickled and made me laugh as well.

Aria and I must have been loud and so into our own happy, childlike world that we didn’t hear the door open. Loud noises of dogs barking drew our attention, which halted our laughter. I raised my head and eyed the door with curiosity.

The moment I saw the handsome man standing there, my heart skipped a beat—or maybe two or three. Then it continued to race furiously. My cheeks flushed red, and my eyes were bright as I smiled in greeting at the billionaire James Maxwell.

Aria, who had her body so close to mine, must have felt my racing heart and looked at me curiously.

“What’s wrong, Mia? You’re going red, and your heart is going so fast,” she asked innocently, concerned for my well-being. “Look, I can hear it. Boom! Boom! Woo… It’s so fast.”

My blush intensified. Lord! How do I explain this sort of reaction to an innocent six-year-old girl? That this sort of response—the heart racing, the rising of the body temperature, the intense blushing, and the bright eyes were all due to love. That when a woman saw the person she was in love with, this was how her body reacted? How?

Luckily, Aria’s demand for my answer was interrupted by Alfie and Sammy, who naughtily jumped onto the bed and started messing around, invading our space. Alfie barked loudly as he snuggled his little body between us while Sammy came and made himself comfortable on top of me.

Sammy wasn’t that big, but he was still heavy. I sighed and said, “Sammy! You naughty dog. Get off! You’re heavy.” I growled, shaking my body and trying to make the dog leave by pushing him away.

The canine refused to obey my pathetic command and snuggled closer, licking my cheek with adoration.

Aria started laughing because of my look of frustration. Soon both Alfie and Sammy joined in, barking outrageously loud. I thought the happy noise could be heard from outside the house, miles away. I was sure the rest of the people who were occupying the house, Ms. Lane, the prim and proper housekeeper, and Sophie, Aria’s beautiful nanny, must wonder what the heck was going on up here.

The master of the house himself, the notoriously handsome billionaire James Maxwell, simply stood there at the door with his arms folded across his chest, his body leaning slightly on the doorframe as he watched us with amusement. He seemed to enjoy the show, because he’d been doing that numerous times since our return.

Most mornings, he’d open the door and simply stand there, watching Aria and me giggle or talking nonsense before he ushered Aria to get ready for the day.

I sat up now, sliding Sammy down from my belly to my lap. I hugged the dog in adoration and said, “Morning, Sammy.”

Sammy gave me a bark in greeting and then licked my cheek again. I laughed as I slowly drifted my eyes to James, my heart still racing.

“Morning, James,” I said.

A snort from the arrogant billionaire came my way, which was followed by, “Morning, sunshine.”

Every time he referred to me as sunshine, I felt warm in my belly and a beautiful sensation passed along my spine. I tightened my arms around Sammy and asked, “What time are we leaving again?”

“Nine,” he replied. “Better get up and get ready.”

I nodded in agreement. It was seven thirty in the morning now, and Aria and I needed to shower, get dressed, and then have breakfast before departing.

Aria jumped up then and shrieked excitedly. “It’s nearly time to go. It’s nearly time to go.” To James she said, “Good morning, Daddy.”

James laughed and returned the greeting. “Morning, sweetheart.”

Aria continued to giggle, repeatedly chanting, “It’s time to go to Disneyland! It’s time to go to Disneyland!”

Alfie enthusiastically joined the chorus with his barking, even though he wasn’t going anywhere today. Not to Disneyland where James, Aria, and I were heading. And of course Aria’s beautiful nanny, Sophie.

On cue, the elegant brunette magically appeared at the doorway. Already dressed in a sexy summer dress with her hair chicly done and her face beautifully made up, she was dazzling standing there next to James. From where I was in bed, the sight of the two of them side by side was breathtaking. Now, this was the type of woman James should be with. Beautiful. Sexy. Confident.

Simply put, everything I wasn’t.

I swallowed at the enchanted vista before me and felt my heart wrench in pain.