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“Breanna,” I say, but I’m not sure how to follow that up.
Thoughts war in my head. On one side, I can’t seem to get rid of the memory of Breanna and Jaxon together in the kitchen, the idea of us being a real family, instead of Breanna only coming over when I need her. I’m also having trouble keeping my mind focused on Breanna in front of me. My mind keeps going back to seeing her naked, to touching her, to feeling her against me.
My mouth goes dry.
“Yes?” she asks.
There’s no hint of sarcasm or defiance like I’ve seen in her. In fact, she’s smiling, like maybe she hopes I’m about to offer another bonus. She’s twisting her hands together in front of her, though, and I realize that I’m making her nervous.
Why would I make her nervous?
“Jaxon loves you,” I finally say. “I’m glad that I found you to take care of him. I haven’t had to worry about him, even when things have been hard at work.”
“I actually found you,” she says cheerfully.
I smile at that. “Okay, sure. But I’m glad that you came for the interview and didn’t walk away when you saw me answer the door.”
Breanna covers her smile with her hand. “I can’t believe you even let me come into your house for an interview after the way we met originally. Just so you know…I swear I wouldn’t have ever said anything to you if the waitress hadn’t told me…”
I hold up my hand. I’m still in shock that some waitress would think it was a fun game to play with me. “What were you doing there dressed like that then?”
“I was there to… pretend that I could have a normal life.”
“And why can’t you?” Our conversation has suddenly taken a deeper turn, but I don’t want to stop it. Jaxon is playing happily in the other room, and I see an anxiety hidden behind Breanna’s eyes. Something is going on with her. Maybe it’s something with her brother or maybe it’s something else.
Breanna licks her lips. “It’s… complicated. And not something I should get into.” She pats her pocket. “I appreciate the tip, and I do love taking care of Jaxon. He’s sweet.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Even when he’s having a temper tantrum about cheese powder?”
Breanna laughs. “How do you know about that?”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “I know everything that goes on in this house.”
Breanna glances over my head, back toward the kitchen, and I realize that she’s looking for cameras. She knows they’re here, but maybe she forgot about them.
“Well, just let me know next time you need me. I know you said you’re off tomorrow.”
“Yeah, just come Tuesday evening. My brother will be here by then, and we’ll have a night out before I have to work on Wednesday.”
Breanna nods, like she’s logging the information, then she turns to the front door again. This time, I let her go.
I go to the front door and watch as she tramps across the lawn in the direction of her house. After a minute, I can no longer see her.
I step back from the front door and try to process what just happened.
We had a normal conversation. We joked. And there was no hate happening between us. It was almost like we don’t hate each other.
But how is that possible?
Jaxon seems to sense that Breanna has left and I might be available to play now. He turns up and starts naming fun games that I should play with him.
“Wait a second, champ. I’m going to call your Uncle Garrett first.”
“Can I talk to him? I want to see what he looks like.”
I did promise to show Jaxon some photos, so I go digging through social media until I find one that shows Garrett’s face.
I study the photo alongside Jaxon. My brother has changed a lot since I’ve last seen him.
