The Playboy's Proposal (Sorensen Family) by Ashlee Mallory Page B

thought. Enormous, actually, compared to her one bedroom. Which wasn’t surprising if she considered the fact that other than hers, there were no other units on this end of the tenth floor. His took up almost half the floor.
    Ellie sat up when she appeared, and Benny barely processed the navy and taupe décor of the room—nice but not particularly homey or comfortable for a child—before rushing to the little girl’s side. She gave Ella a big hug before leaning back to tuck some hair away from the girl’s damp and flushed face. “Maybe while your uncle gets you a glass of milk, I can tell you a story. Would you like that?”
    Ella nodded and clung to Benny’s hand before snuggling farther back in bed.
    Since Benny’s own nieces and nephew had moved back permanently nearly a year ago thanks to their dad skipping out on Daisy, Benny’d had to brush up on her storytelling skills, and after reading one particular book dozens of times—kids really liked repetition—she figured she could probably remember the gist of the tale about the bunny and her first day of school.
    By the time Henry returned with the glass of milk, Ella had already nodded off. Holding her finger to her mouth to stop him from speaking and waking his niece up, Benny tucked the covers around Ella’s small shoulders and turned off the light. Henry waited outside the door, still holding the glass of milk.
    “That’s it? You already got her back to sleep?”
    “What can I say? I’m good.”
    She headed back down the hall and into his living room, where another bluesy jazz song was now playing.
    “Would you mind sticking around for a few more minutes? Just to be sure she’s asleep?”
    She imagined that angelic face waking up in terror again and nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”
    “I’m having a drink. Can I get you something? I have red wine, if that’s your preference.” He smiled, and she wondered how he knew what she liked when she remembered the open bottle still on her kitchen counter and the glass waiting for her at home that he must have seen.
    “Sure.”
    She took a seat on a leather sofa and brought her bare feet up to tuck underneath her. With the lights dimmed like this, she was able to see the downtown skyline and the city before them. No wonder he was so popular with the ladies. All he needed was to plop himself down in front of that piano and hit a few keys and the women would be tossing their panties at him.
    She was dang close herself.
    “What’s with the piano? Do you actually play?”
    He didn’t even look at the instrument, just carried the two glasses of wine over. “Not anymore,” he said vaguely and handed her a glass before sitting opposite her. “Thanks for your help tonight. I was at my wits’ end, and when her mother didn’t pick up, I was seriously considering giving her some of the Benadryl packed in her bag just to try and get her back to sleep.”
    For someone who had apparently been at his wits’ end, Henry looked alarmingly suave and sexy, not a hair of that sleek and perfect blond coif out of place. His white linen shirt still crisp, and the way he sat back, so casual but poised reminded her of some commercial for men’s cologne.
    “It’s fine, really. But what’s going on with her mother? Anything serious?” She didn’t want to be intrusive—maybe the woman was sick and was in the hospital, for all Benny knew—but she was curious for Ella’s sake.
    Henry shook his head and took a drink of whatever was in his glass, something dark and caramel in color. “No. Other than forgetting what it’s like to grow up with an absent mother whose first and only loyalty was to her career, she’s just fine.”
    Huh. Benny didn’t really know too much about Henry Ellison other than he was likely worth millions alone because of his family’s company, he held late-night parties, and he was pretty good at his job at an ad agency. But it sounded like maybe growing up, his life wasn’t as charmed as she’d have