Chapter 6

That thought left him just as confused as the first one. Maybe he’s having weird thoughts about Claire Sparks because he hasn’t taken a woman to his bed lately. One night would easily solve that problem. Heath made his way to the daycare as well, his feet automatically taking him to where Claire was. >>>>><<<<< “An’ then! An’ then! Auntie Claire’s gonna buy me ice cream!” Clay grinned up at his mom, Mai, as she helped him put on his shoes. “Oh, really?” Mai heard the clicking of heels and turned around with a questioning look towards Claire. “Did she, now?” Claire just grinned at her sis-in-law. “I can’t help but spoil the brat, Mai. Can you blame me?” “Mmhm.” She simply said with flat lips before finishing putting the shoes on her son. She lifted him onto his feet and stood up straight, looking down at her daughter, Belle, to see that she had already put on her shoes and was ready to go. “Well, if you get a tummy ache, mommy will know who’s to blame.” “Clay!” Belle whined. “It was a secret! Now we won’t get ice cream!” The boy’s eyes innocently widened in shock as his face fell. “Why?” Claire laughed and walked over to him before patting his and his sister’s heads. “Don’t worry.” she leaned down and whispered loudly, “We’ll go when your mommy’s away working.” Both of them nodded eagerly, making Claire’s smile widen before she stood up straight to come face to face with their mom. “C’mon Mai, you know I’m just joking around.” She raised a brow. “Oh really? What about that one time I came to pick them up and both their mouths and tongues were blue?” Claire shrugged. “They ate blue markers. Blame Elli. She wasn’t watching them properly.” She jabbed a thumb at her friend who was standing at the side, balancing a baby on her hip. Elli laughed. “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.” She sarcastically said and her assistant, Jenny, giggled. Mai rolled her eyes. “You sure you don’t actually belong in this daycare? As one of the kids?” “Oh, you wouldn’t want that. I’d probably bully Clay since he’s such a crybaby. I was a pretty mean kid, you know.” Mai’s lips twitched. “I bet.” She herded her kids to stand in front of her before she looked up at me again. “You coming to dinner tonight?” Claire pursed my lips before shrugging. “Maybe. But I’m most likely working overnight though, so don’t get any expectations.” “I’ll mention that to Simon.” Mai said before hugging Claire. “Don’t overwork too much. And the kids like it when you come over for a meal. Simon too. Your brother barely sees you with both of you working all the time.” Claire hugged her sister back. “Not tonight. But I promise soon.” They pulled away. “Okay, kids. Say bye to Auntie Claire.” “Bye Auntie.” Belle came to hug her knees and Clay followed his older sister. Claire grinned down at them before bending at her knees to peck her niece on the forehead and slobber a wet one to her younger nephew’s chubby cheek. “Ew!” Clay said, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand. Claire just laughed. “Alrighty. Kiss me goodbye too.” Her nephew gave her an even wetter one on her cheek, making her cringe back and copy his action. “Ew.” she whined, making Clay giggle. She turned to her niece and Belle did the same as Clay, making Claire clench her teeth and take it like a big girl. “Ew, Belle!” Belle just giggled too, making Claire laugh and grin at her before standing up. She looked at Mai, a smile still on her face. But she saw that her sis was staring towards the doorway with wide, questioning eyes. That could only mean one thing. Claire turned towards the door and saw Heath leaning one shoulder against the doorframe, observing Claire. His face was blank, but Claire thought she saw a spark of humor in his dark eyes. Quickly, she strode over to him and tugged his arm for him to follow. His lips quirked before he followed after her, wondering exactly where she was taking him. He had a pretty good idea as to what she wanted to talk about though. Back in the daycare room, Mai saw the smile tugging at the man’s lips right before he turned all the way around to follow after her sister-in-law. She immediately turned to Elli, the babysitter, with curiosity clear on her face. “Who was the hunk?” she asked. Elli smiled with humor. “I’m pretty sure Simon wouldn’t like hearing that coming from you.” Mai waved off her comment. “Just answer the question.” The babysitter chuckled before nodding towards the door. “That was Heath Bishop. He’s the new boss around here. The previous one’s son.” “So he’s Claire’s boss?” Mai said shocked, looking back at the door, even though the two of them were far gone now.