Page 99 of At His Beck & Call

“Just a warning,” Oliver says. “They have more energy than you’ll know what to do with.”

“You obviously don’t know many six-year-olds,” I say, smiling at him, and he chuckles quietly.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Just some water, please. Do you have any juice Henry could have?”

Oliver opens the fridge, and I see an array of prepared meals, neatly arranged in little containers across the shelves.

“If either of you is hungry, we could cook a couple of these and share them. And you’re both welcome to anything else you want in the kitchen.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay, you don’t have to?—”

“Lissa.” I shut my mouth at that tone I know so well. I’ve heard it many times in his office. “I’d love for you to eat something if you’re hungry.”

His gaze is intense, and I look away, swallowing hard. Surprisingly, Iamkind of hungry even though it hasn’t been that long since I had dinner.

The small amount of food in Truman’s bowl has been wolfed down already, and he scampers over to a door on the right-hand side of the kitchen. Oliver snorts, rolling his eyes.

“He wants to embarrass me now,” he murmurs.

I’m intrigued and walk over to where Truman is standing. Oliver follows reluctantly, sighing.

“Don’t judge me too harshly.”

I open the door and stare in total amazement at what can only be described as a dog gymnasium. There are toys scattered all over the floor. There’s also a ball pit and a dog treadmill with a harness attached to it.

Henry shrieks in delight as Truman jumps up at him, running about the room and bringing over his toys in obvious excitement.

“He’s showing off,” Oliver says, frowning at the dog. He looks uncomfortable, like he knows how over-the-top this all is.

Why did he bring us here? Why didn’t he just pay for a cab and send us home?

“Are you both tired? Do you need to… uh…” He trails off, and I turn to him, raising my eyebrows, watching, fascinated, as the tips of his ears go red. “Do you need to change?”

“Oh. Uh. Probably,” I say, flushing when I’m reminded of the state of my underwear.

“You can use one of the bathrooms to get a shower if you’d like and change. I’m sure I can find you some clothes to wear.”

“That would be great.”

The shower in our apartment has a weak spray and barely gets warm, and Henry hates it almost as much as I do. The thought of him getting a really hot, cleansing shower after all those days in the hospital fills me with happiness, and Oliver seems to sense it.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room, and you can get cleaned up. I’ve got to take Truman out while you’re doing that so he can go to the bathroom and get out some energy.”

“I want to go, too!” Henry says excitedly.

Oliver looks at me questioningly.

“Not this time, Hen. We need to get you cleaned up and back to sleep,” I say, ruffling his hair.

Oliver looks at me and mouths, “Are you sure? I’m happy to take him.”

I give him a grateful smile and a little shake of the head.

“Alright, Hen, let’s get you all scrubbed up.”

Chapter 35