The Billionaire's Housekeeper (Betsy Jones Book 1) - Unedited

The Billionaire's Housekeeper - Chapter 16

Humming softly under her breath, Betsy couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips as she moved around the kitchen. She found her way with ease even as her mind drifted. It had been the same ever since her date with Nick. She would find her mind wandering into daydreams at the most inconvenient moments. She couldn't help it. When he had kissed her scar and looked up at her, with no hint of disgust in his gaze, it had healed something within her. There was still so much further for her to go before she felt whole again but, until then, she would just enjoy all of these new feelings.

She giggled under her breath. It felt like she was floating. It was the only way that she could describe the sensation. A few days had already passed and the effect had not dimmed even though they had agreed to take it slow. Or at least as slow as they could when they were fake-dating to save his company and living in the same house.

Shaking her head, Betsy pulled herself back to the present. And it was just in time too. Lurching forwards, the blonder curled her fingers around a pair of small hands to stop them from releasing their contents. Still, a smattering of white flour escaped from between his fingers and drifted harmlessly on to the floor.

"Tommy," She chastised, staring down at the small boy as she pulled his hands away from Delilah's clean hair. "What did we say about playing nice?"

The three year old stared up at her through his lashes, his eyes wide and innocent. "Be nice to 'Lilah?" Tommy asked, his head tilting to the side and his nose scrunching up as if thinking of a difficult problem.

Betsy cursed her weakness. He had clearly been taking tips off of his big sister because he knew how to play her. The blonde felt her heart just about melting as he stared up at him. If she hadn't just caught him in the act, just inches from dropping handfuls of flour into his sister's hair, she would never have thought him responsible.

Shaking her head, Betsy fought to stop the smile from forming on her lips as she tapped him lightly on the nose. "Don't give me that look. I saw what you were going to do."

She guided him over to the bin and shook his hand gently over the open top until the last of the flour had been released from his grasp. She attempted to keep her face stern but the smile slipped through. Sensing he had won, Tommy moved in close and wrapped his arms around her legs, his chin resting on her thigh as he stared up at her. Ruffling his hair with her hand, Betsy tried not to think about the white hand prints that were now dusting the back of her jeans. Instead, she simply enjoyed the moment.

"How are you getting on?" Mabel Reed asked as she hobbled her way into the kitchen. A kitchen towel was slung over her shoulder even though it had been her first step into the kitchen all day.

"Good.  The cakes will be ready to go in the oven in the moment and the kids have already made the cards." Betsy replied, attempting to step forward but the little arms only tightened around her legs.

Laughing, Betsy swooped down and drew the small boy into her arms. She allowed a content sigh to escape her lips as his body immediately snuggled into hers. His forehead rested on the side of her neck even as Tommy's fingers twirled a strand of her curly hair which had escaped the tie.

"Thank you." Ms Reed spoke softly, but it drew Betsy's gaze up to the older woman.

Giving a light laugh, Betsy smiled at the older woman in confusion. "For what? It's only a couple of cupcakes." She shrugged her shoulders. "I just wish I had known it was his birthday sooner. Maybe then I could have bought him something nice for his birthday. Though what do you buy someone who already has everything?"

The older woman shook her head as she stepped closer to Betsy. Her wrinkled hand rested on the blonde's cheek for a long moment before smoothing through Tommy's hair. "Not for that. But for this." She nodded her head at the small boy. "You don't even know how much you have done for them all already. You don't need to buy Nicholas anything for his birthday. You're already giving the boy everything he could ever want."