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and even kind, he wasn’t warm and loving. She was only interested in someone who would love her with body, heart and soul. She wasn’t even sure Jeff had a soul.
    Which meant she should be grateful for his hospitality and should stop analyzing the man. After all, if he let her stay until her apartment was ready, it meant she could take a minivacation from the trauma that was her life. As her mother used to say, if someone offers you a gift, take it. If you don’t like it, you can always exchange it later.

Chapter 5
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    Ashley spent most of the day studying and sleeping. Around three, the sitter, one of Maggie’s preschool teachers, dropped off her daughter.
    “Tell me about your day,” she said when the sitter had left after refusing payment.
    “Cathy read us a whole book and I colored in the number book and we talked about our trip to the zoo next week.” Maggie shared the bounty of her experiences over a tuna sandwich.
    Ashley listened with half an ear, all the while trying to figure out how to raise the issue of payment with her host. It was one thing to stay in his house, but it was quite another for him to take financial responsibility for Maggie’s child care. It’s not as if he were the girl’s father. In fact, Damian had never once contributed a penny. She rubbed her temples. Thinking about Damian would only make her sad and frustrate her in equal measures, so she wouldn’t. And she vowed to talk to Jeff later about him paying for things that he shouldn’t.
    Maggie swallowed her mouthful of food. “Mommy, are you coming with us to the zoo?” her daughter asked. “Cathy said we need extra grown-ups and I couldn’t ‘member if you have school.”
    Blue eyes stared beseechingly. Ashley couldn’t help smiling, then touching her daughter’s cheek. “I don’t have classes, and if Cathy needs help I would be delighted to come along. I love seeing all the animals at the zoo.”
    “Do they gots kittens?”
    “Maybe some really big ones.”
    “I wish Uncle Jeff had kittens.”
    “I know you do, sweetie, but he doesn’t.” She hesitated, not sure how to find out if her daughter was comfortable without scaring her by the question. “Do you miss our apartment?”
    “A little.”
    Maggie drank her milk. The clips Jeff had put in her hair that morning were still crooked. Still, it had been very sweet of him to try.
    “I like staying here with Uncle Jeff,” Maggie volunteered. “He’s very nice.” She gave her mother an innocent smile. “Uncle Jeff likes cake. We could make him one.”
    Ashley couldn’t help wondering how much her daughter’s generosity had to do with her own affection for the dessert. Although baking something would be a nice gesture, a small thank-you for his kindnesses. She could even make dinner. Her car had been delivered earlier that afternoon. They could make a quick trip to the store and get everything they’d need.
    “You know, munchkin,” she said, lifting her daughter down from her chair and tapping the tip of her nose, “that’s a very good idea. Let me call Jeff’s office and see what time he’s going to be home. Then we can make a special cake and a special dinner for him.”
    She found the business card he’d left her and called his office. When she was put through to Brenda, she asked his assistant what time he would be heading home. Brenda put her on hold while she checked with him. As Ashley listened to the soft music, she had the sudden thought that this was all too weird. Would he think she was cooking for him to capture his interest? The way to a man’s heart and all that?
    Heat flared on her cheeks. She longed to hang up, but it was too late for that. Brenda already knew it was her on the line. She would have to say that she was offering a thank-you and nothing more.
    “He said he’ll be home at six-thirty,” Brenda announced cheerfully.
    “Ah, thanks.” Ashley wanted to explain but doubted Jeff’s assistant cared one way or the other.