Chapter 5

 
The next morning…
Erika got up a little bit earlier today so she could get to
Alexander’s earlier. They had to paint and set up furniture so she
wanted to get a head start. She showered and dressed in sweatpants
and its matching crop top hoodie while Asher slept. She didn’t
bother waking him up to dress him. She could always do that at
Alexander’s since Asher had a second home there. She arrived at his
building around 8. She figured she could grab some coffee when she
got there and be ready to work. Walking into the lobby, the man at
the desk looked at her quizzically, “Can I help you?” “Yes, I’m
here for Alexander Jenson’s penthouse.” He scoffed and glanced at
Asher, “Name?” “Erika Houston.” The man straightened, “Of course
ma’am. He put you on the list of people that can go right on up.”
He told her the elevator password and she headed up to his
penthouse. It was the password that led straight to his place. Each
floor had its own password. When she got to his floor, it opened
right into the place. She gasped. It was luxurious. It was
definitely modern, but male. If that made any sense. She looked
around for Alexander. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She had a
sinking suspicion that he wasn’t an early riser. She sat her purse
on the couch then Asher’s carseat where he was still asleep, then
found what she deemed was the master bedroom. She poked her head in
and sure enough, she saw a lump in the bed. She snickered and
walked crept over. Her eyes widened as she took in Alexander’s calm
sleeping face. He was gorgeous. She grabbed a pillow from the other
side of the bed and wacked him on the head. He bolted up, “What the
hell?” She burst out laughing, “Good morning.” He blinked at her
for a moment then relaxed, “Erika. What time is it?” “Around 8.”
“Why are you here so early?” “We have a lot of work to do.” He
sighed and flopped back onto the bed, but not before she caught a
view of his abbs. Delicious looking abbs. He must have caught her
staring because he smirked and asked, “Like what you see?” She
blushed, “Sorry!” He chuckled and pulled the sheet down a bit more.
Her eyes couldn’t help but follow. The lower he pulled the sheet,
the more she wanted to see. She was practically drooling by the
time he reached the rim of his boxers. Dammit. He doesn’t sleep naked, she
thought. Well, she thought she’d thought it until she noticed his
wide eyes. She blushed deep red, “Gah! I didn’t mean to say that
outloud. I’m just gonna go make coffee.” She scurried out of the
room, his laughs following her.
 
By the time
Alexander made it downstairs after taking a cold shower (because
his taunting hadn’t only affected her), Erika had made coffee and
was digging through his fridge for food. “I hope you don’t mind,”
she said. “Nope. Help yourself.” “You want something?” “Sure.” He
went over to Asher who was crawling around on the carpet. “Here,
let’s get you some toys,” he said, quickly heading over to the pile
of baby supplies in the corner of his living room. He retrieved
Asher a few toys and he seemed satisfied with that. Alexander
played with him while Erika cooked. A feeling of contentment and
happiness washed over him. He wanted something like this- with
Asher, for sure, and maybe even with Erika, too. But before his
thoughts could get too out of hand, Erika was announcing that
breakfast was ready. He scooped up Asher and took him to the
kitchen to wash his hands, then he went into the dining room. Erika
had made bacon, eggs, and pancakes. “Yum,” he said, now wishing
he’d at least set up Asher’s high chair last night. But the boy
seemed to know it was breakfast time because he started fussing.
“Okay, okay, I’ll feed you,” Erika said. “Did you bring a bottle?”
Alexander asked. She shook her head, “I only do that for when we’re
out. If we’re at home, I breastfeed him.” Why did he like that she
referred to his penthouse as home? “I see.” “You don’t mind if I
breastfeed him here do you? It’s nothing you haven’t seen already.”
He laughed, “I don’t mind. Go ahead.” His view was riveted to the
top swell of her breast as she pulled her shirt down and got Asher
situated. Well damn. Now he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to eat,
despite the fact that his mouth was watering.
 
After
breakfast, Alexander washed the dishes while Erika burped the baby
and settled him down for a nap. Then, they headed to the room
beside the master bedroom and laid plastic over the carpet. It was
already empty so there was no need to cover any furniture.
Alexander poured some paint into a tray after he mixed it. “That’s
a beautiful color,” she breathed. He grinned, “I thought so too.”
“Have you ever painted a room before?” He shook his head, “No. I
usually hire people to do that kind of stuff.” “Then…?” He smiled
softly, “This room is special- it’s for my son. I want to do
everything in here with my own hands. Paying someone just doesn’t
feel right.” Erika was for sure that was the moment she fell in
love with Alexander George Jenson II. She gulped down her emotions
and nodded. He seemed to know she needed a minute so he went to
work assembling the rollers. Once they were ready, she instructed
him on how to paint and then they got to work. They talked about
the layout as they worked, so by time they were done, they had a
good idea of what Asher’s room would look like.
 
After painting
the room, they needed to take a break and let it dry so they headed
to the living room to begin assembling the crib. “Well fuck. Build
a company from the ground up. No problem. Build a crib? I’m
clueless,” he said. She laughed, “We’ll just follow the
instructions.” He mock glared at her, “Of course, Sherlock.” She
placed all the pieces on the carpet and they got to work, laughing
their way through the process. They next assembled the changing
table, which was nowhere near as hard. “I’m pretty proud of us,” he
said as they were stretched on the carpet. “Me too,” she said,
propped up on her elbow beside him. Their gazes met and Alexander
swore there was love shining from her eyes. He blinked and it was
still there. He tugged on the hair tie keeping her hair up in a
messy bun, causing the fiery red strands to cascade down her
shoulders. He ran his fingers through them then tugged her down and
kissed her. No sense denying whatever this was burning between
them. Their lips barely met before Asher began fussing. She pulled
back, amusement dancing in her eyes, “The prince calls.” He
grinned, not minding being interrupted at all. There would be
plenty more times to kiss her. While she fed Asher, he went and
checked on the room. The paint was fairly dry but Alexander wanted
to make sure it was 100% dry before they began bringing things in.
He checked the time; it was 6:00pm. Maybe he’d order take-out for
dinner. He headed back into the living room where Erika was feeding
Asher. He looked so content. Her eyes met his over the top of
Asher’s head. Yup. That was love. Alexander had seen it enough
times between his parents, between Jackson and Catherine, and
shining from his own eyes at Tracey to know the emotion. And if the
fact that she loved him didn’t cause the wind to whoosh out of his
lungs, he didn’t know what would.
 
After she fed
Asher and put him in his crib, although still in the living room
but off to the side, to sleep, Alexander suggested ordering dinner.
They settled on pizza because hell, who didn’t love pizza? They did
have a debate over the best brand but they smoothly agreed on the
toppings: everything. When the pizza arrived, they settled onto the
couch and found something to watch on Netflix. She snuggled into
his side and before she knew it, she felt her eyelids
drooping.
 
By the time
the movie went off, Erika was asleep. He scooped her up and carried
her to his bedroom, stripping her out of her sweatpants and hoodie
that had paint on them. He tucked her in then formed a little bowl
in the middle out of blankets where he put Asher. Finally, he
stripped out of his clothes, down to his boxers, and climbed into
bed on the other side of the bowl. He couldn’t help but watch his
son and Erika sleep soundly for a moment before he laid down to
sleep himself. His last thought was that he’d never been
happier.