A Matter of Honesty

She paused before speaking, giving herself some time to think. This had to be a hallucination. She was going to wake up any moment now. Although she didn’t want to if it meant Steve was going to disappear. Biting her bottom lip, she was tempted to reach down to pinch herself. But if she wasn’t dreaming it was going to hurt, and she did bruise easily. Then again she didn’t want to pinch herself if it meant Steve was going to disappear. But figment of the imagination or not, if there was one thing she needed right now it was money.

Wanting to find out more about what he was offering before she agreed to anything, she spoke hesitantly. “I’m very good at cleaning and cooking. I did it for my father for years, but I’m not good with animals especially the scaly kind.”

Steve laughed out loud, causing a few people turned to look at them. She noticed it was a nice laugh and she would like to hear it more. Still she couldn’t believe she was entertaining this idea. They were strangers. But she needed a job.

He leaned closer to her. “Well I promise that cleaning my house will be a lot easier, since I’m a neat person, I also don’t have any pets.”

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I think you are a little old to need a nanny.”

He chuckled. “You are right, but my four-year-old daughter isn’t.”

Lauryn’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t hide her shock. She had to force herself to close her mouth. “Daughter?”

He nodded. “Yes, I have a little girl. Her name is Hannah and she is a angel.”

Lauryn remained quiet, not sure what to say. She looked at his hand, didn’t see a ring, and he hadn’t mentioned, a wife, but that didn’t mean anything in today’s world. A lot of men walked around without wedding rings on. But she would find out what was going on in his life relationship wise before she walked into the situation. She’d had enough surprises to last her a lifetime. “Your wife won’t mind will she?”

He smiled. “I’m not married. Never have been.”

“Girlfriend?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“What about Hannah’s mother?”

He sighed. “She isn’t in the picture. Hasn’t been for a while.”

Relief flowed through her veins, to find Steve wasn’t involved with another woman. Even though she might not stand a chance with him, she could see herself being jealous when it came to Steve. He was a very attractive man. Any other woman in her right mind that was dating him would probably feel the same way.