AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Doesn’t seem so amazing to me.” I try to get away with the lie, but my face betrays me, cheeks pulling my mouth into a grin at the image of Fi conquering her fear of bugs. “Fine. It was kind of awesome that she got over her fear, as long as she doesn’t raise a bug army. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“A bug army will be great. You’ll see.” She bumps me with her elbow. I feel the same twinge of electricity sear my nerves, and it makes my back stiffen. I should have sat even farther away.
I stand up and move so I’m outside of elbowing distance. “Look, I don’t want the help because I’m a stubborn guy, and I feel like I should be able to handle everything. Especially parenting.”
I don’t know why I’m admitting these things to her. I don’t admit my shortcomings to anyone. And of all people, I shouldn’t admit them to someone I don’t know. And yet, she makes me feel comfortable getting things off my chest. Admitting it feels like a relief.
She nods. “I get that. I’m the same way with my sister.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah, I kind of raised her from the time she was thirteen. Our parents died.”
No wonder she’s so patient. So good with spirited girls. “Wow, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
I suck in some air and blow out a breath because, I swear, looking at this woman makes me forget to breathe. “I want to do it all. But the reality is, I can’t do it all. At least not well.”
She nods, long and heavy movements as though it pains her to admit something she isn’t saying out loud. I don’t get the feeling she’s agreeing with me, but I think she understands. Like she has personal experience.
“I get that.”
Makes me want to know her better. But the last time I invested in a woman was with Fiona’s mom, and look at where it got me.
It also makes me edge closer toward believing what my family has been saying for a year—I need help.
“Yeah?”
Smiling, she stands up and fishes her keys from her purse. “Yeah. It’s what working women have been saying for—I don’t know—forever?”
“How about this: we do a trial run for a week or so, see how it goes?”
“You’re really resisting this. Hard to accept help, huh?”
At this point, I don’t feel like either of us needs me to answer.
The light is fading fast from the day, and now it’s dusky enough that I know she’ll have better visibility on the road. I do the thing I know will have implications for me in more ways than one—I extend my hand toward hers.
“Thank you for considering taking this on.” What I really mean is that I’m grateful to her for takingmeon. I know I’m a work in progress, but she doesn’t seem fazed by it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Deal. I’m off to Berkeley, but I’ll be back with all the Mary Poppins energy in the morning.”
When she puts her hand in mine to seal our arrangement, I feel it again—the electric zing that tells me I’m in deeper than I understand.
This buzzing heat when I touch her skin is something I’ve never felt. I’m not going to want it to fade away. Only it has to because she’s my employee now. Maybe that fact will force reality through my damned brain.
Ithasto. Reality is the only option I’ve got.
ChapterNine
Ruby
“You got it?”
My sister trudges from one end of the room to the other, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Her blond ponytail that started on top of her head now lists to the side with frizz surrounding her face like a swarm of gnats.
She didn’t take off her makeup last night, so she has eyeliner smeared under her eyes and the faint glow of red on her lips. I don’t ask her where she was because I know the answer: at her boyfriend Tim’s fraternity, where she sleeps when they’re not fighting, leaving me the place to myself.
