Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Thanks to kindergarten and it being Mark’s day for pick up, Aurora was able to go to the office. Her charity, Future Fast Track, FFT for short, provided housing for kids like herself who had nowhere to go. Even now, Linc was looking into finding a building and she was trying to figure out how they could manage it.
But her charity provided a lot more than just a place to stay. It also offered skills training, education and support, with the goal of helping these kids become self-sufficient adults. The charity also aided them in making connections, to help them in avenues of employment or education.
Since she couldn’t help every foster child in the country, she’d started in Nassau County where she’d lived. The main requirement to qualify was that the young person had to have remained in the foster care system until his/her eighteenth birthday. Then Aurora and her partners—Sasha, Cassidy and the assistant she’d hired, Billie Coale, once a foster child herself—worked to get them help.
Today had been a good day and Aurora arrived home, planning to grab a snack before she picked up Leah from Mark’s.
But instead of being able to grab a few minutes of peace and something to eat, Aurora came home to chaos. An unfamiliar landscape truck was parked out front and she walked around back to see what was going on. Three men were constructing a white wooden playhouse with a pink door—an impressive looking full-size playhouse that had to have cost a fortune.
She shook her head and glanced around, immediately catching sight of Nick. Wearing a pair of jeans, a gray t-shirt with muscles bulging from the sleeves, his face covered with scruff, and sunglasses over his eyes, he looked scrumptious and very, very kissable.
He also had an overly satisfied expression on his face that wiped out her desire and replaced the feeling with fury.
“She’s going to love it, right?” He gestured to the house in progress. “It has a fake kitchen with a sink, stovetop, and utensils. There’s a doorbell that rings. And the sign with her name on it will be ready by the time of her party.”
The sound of hammers echoed throughout the yard. Her neighbors probably wanted to throttle her. Oh God. Had Leah seen this from next door? “Are you kidding me?” she asked him, now riled up enough to let him have it. Had he even heard what she’d told him?
“Excuse me.” A man Aurora hadn’t noticed, walked over to Nick. “I’m the electrician. The guys said to speak to you about porch lights?” The guy pointed to the playhouse, which had mini light fixtures on either side of the front door.
A squeak escaped Aurora’s throat and Nick had the good grace to wince before facing the man. “Tom is the contractor,” Nick said. “He’s the guy in the baseball hat. He’ll work with you on whatever you need.”
“Thanks.” The man strode across the lawn to find Tom.
Aurora glared at Nick. “Inside, now.” Without waiting, she spun and walked around front so she could let herself in.
He followed and once she’d turned off the alarm, she put her purse down on the couch in the family room. She’d tried counting to ten and back, but it didn’t make a dent in her fury.
Doing her best to remain calm, she turned to face him, finding him way too close. It was difficult to really let into him when all she wanted to do was grab him and kiss him senseless.
“Nick, I said to buy her a plastic playhouse, not an actual house that needed construction!”
He nodded. “I get that. I do. But every little girl would love a place like that to play in.”
She opened her mouth to argue but he held up a hand and she let him continue.
“Soon enough, Leah is going to find out I’m her father. I’d like her to know I didn’t just bring any old present but something special.” He looked at her with pleading eyes.
She sighed, understanding his need to make up for lost time but this wasn’t the way to go about it. “You’ve seen Leah. She’s an easygoing kid. She already likes you, Mr. Nick.” She couldn’t help the grin lifting her lips.
He laughed. “You’re right. I’m just nervous I’m going to screw things up, so I figured a grand gesture would hide my flaws.”
Dammit. Just when she’d worked up a healthy, well-deserved dose of anger, he’d had to open himself up and let his vulnerability show. She sighed. “You don’t need a grand gesture, and you definitely don’t need to buy her love. She’s going to be thrilled just to have a father.”
That was definitely true. Kindergarten had been fairly easy on Aurora. Mark helped her out now and then, and there were other children at school with different kind of families. There’d been one or two awkward events where she’d had to ask one of her brothers to step in—the daddy/daughter picnic for one—but overall, she’d managed.