Never Been Kissed

Ch.22 ↬ M

"I'd take him into work with me, but I need to go in for a meeting and he's just going to be bored out of his mind," Josh said, glancing down at Oscar.

Oscar was gazing up at me with two rosy stains marring his cheeks, his raven hair utterly dishevelled due to the fact that Josh liked to tousle his hair frequently. Now his hand was perched on his shoulder affectionately, a sight that warmed my heart. They were step-brothers, and Josh was doing his best to be responsible around him.

"What kind of meeting is held at six o'clock in the evening?" I questioned. It wasn't quite six, but I knew it would be by the time Josh returned to his office.

"The kind where our potential suppliers are out of state and work on a different time zone to us. We've approached them in the hopes that they can be persuaded to work with us for the manufacturing of store signs. We need their materials, and this meeting might be the closing factor. We've already sent them a contract, but they wanted one final meeting. It'll be done via Skype." As I ruminated over his words, Josh leaned in closer, pouting. "Please. You're his second favourite babysitter."

"Second favourite?" I parroted, glimpsing down at Oscar in a faux interrogating and intimidating manner.

Josh tousled Oscar's hair. "Obviously I'm his favourite."

"Obviously."

It was a rarity, and I'd only ever viewed it a handful of times, but when I did, I cherished it. There was something raw and vulnerable in the way he smiled without it being disarming and oozing with charm. This time, it was just a smile, boyish and youthful. As much as I loved his charming smiles and the way they had the power to make your skin flush, being on the receiving end of his boyish smiles was a sight to behold. Behind the suits and the CEO status, it was still just a young man trying to find his way. It was humbling.

"You okay with being with me?" I asked Oscar.

His delight was evident in the way his entire face lit up, nodding his head vigorously. Oscar was an adorable six-year-old, that fact you couldn't deny.

"Then I guess it's settled. Do you know what time you'll be finished?"

"Hopefully not late. Mom's out with some old friends tonight and Frank's got the nightshift so he's staying with me tonight. He's more excited about sleeping on the sofa than staying with me. Mom and Frank never let him do that, but he's promised not to tell." Josh turned his attention to Oscar, opened his mouth to say something before suspecting better of it. Finally, he said, "I don't need to tell you to be good for Madeline because I know you will, right?"

Oscar flashed me a wide and almost toothless grin. Adorable.

Before Josh could step back from Oscar and allow him to cross borders into my territory, he lowered himself to Oscar's level and whispered something in his ear. Clueless, I observed as the two pink blotches amplified to a flaming red and an amused Josh rose to his feet again. With an impish grin, he chuckled at Oscar before turning to me.

"I really appreciate this," he said, gently steering Oscar to stand next to me. "He's done his homework and he's just eaten dinner so... I guess just entertain him?"

"Why are you posing that as a question?"

Josh shrugged, the grin still present.

Truthfully, I was terrified. I'd never interacted much with kids, never mind babysat one for a few hours. In my head I was already provisionally planning what he could do: watch a movie. There's nothing wrong with that, right? He can have free reign of my Netflix... with my supervision. Keeping it PG around here.

"Oscar, go get settled on the sofa and I'll be in shortly, okay?"

Without another word, Oscar bounced across the threshold to my apartment. My gaze followed him until he nestled himself between the cushions on my sofa that were more to adorn the sofa than anything, but I didn't care.