Me:That doesn’t even hurt my feelings.
Roman:Because you’re her dad. You’ll always want her to be better than you could ever dream of being.
Roman may have been wrong about a lot of things, but he was right about that. Kateryna was my girl, and she was going to have the best life. I’d make sure of it.
Chapter Twelve
Mazzy
Ihadn’ttakenafull breath in days, and now I was rushing around my little apartment, trying to make it presentable. Not that I cared what Ben thought about where I lived.
Except I did.
I wanted him to know Katty had a clean home, a cute room, and everything she could want—that I’d given her that.
Kylie was parked at my two-seater table, watching me scramble around my kitchenette. Technically, my apartment was separate from the house, but Kylie never let technicalities slow her down. If I left my door unlocked, she took it as an invitation and made herself at home. Most of the time, I didn’t mind. Today, her watchful, judgy eyes were pricking my nerves.
“What’s the point of this?” She flicked her hand toward me. “Your place is always clean.”
I looked up from my scrubbing, blowing a strand of hair out of my face. “I want it to shine.”
“Hmmm.” She rested her chin on her fist. “If I were you, I’d work on making yourself shine. You’re looking a little worse for wear, and that guy washot.”
“This isn’t about his hotness.” I looked down at my work clothes anyway, wondering what was so wrong with them, other than I’d been in them all day. I’d raced home from the office and had gotten straight to polishing every surface, but I didn’t think I lookedbad. “Should I change?”
“Yes, godyes.” She popped up, putting her hand out. “Give me the sponge. I’ll finish wiping down the counter for the hundredth time while you put on the gray jeans that make your butt look like you had a BBL, your white tank, and the cropped eggplant hoodie.”
I stared at her, blinking several times. “That was really specific.”
She yanked the sponge from me. “Ispecificallyknow what looks good on you. Even if you’re not trying to impress the hottie, why not do it? If I had your butt, I wouldn’t waste it in those trousers. No offense.”
I scoffed. “Full offense taken.” My trousers were fine, but…
I hurried to my bedroom as she called, “Gray jeans, Mazzy.”
I tossed a hand up but didn’t answer her. A huge part of me wanted to put onanythingother than what she suggested, but I grabbed the jeans and hoodie from my closet anyway. Kylie might have been blunt, but she’d yet to steer me wrong. After all, I wouldn’t be scrambling to get ready if she hadn’t given Ben my phone number.
Only after I pulled on the jeans and looked over my shoulder at my reflection in the mirror did I accept she was right. My buttdidlook incredible.
Kylie had left my door open when she’d come in, so I wasn’t surprised when I heard Katty and Aunt Barb’s voices approaching. When Ben’s voice joined in the mix, however, my stomach bottomed out.
He was early.
I’d been hoping to avoid this meeting for as long as I could. Kylie was enough to scare anyone away. Add in my aunt, and…well, we’d be lucky if Ben ever returned.
“This is my garage,” Katty announced. “Me and my mommy live in here.”
“Cool. I love it so far,” Ben replied.
“There’s only enough room for Mazzy and Kateryna. Don’t get any ideas,” my aunt grumbled.
“Ideas are the last thing I ever get,” Ben said.
Kylie snickered as I panicked, unsure what to do with myself or how to behave like a normal human. I ended up leaning against the kitchen counter, totally casual.
“You look good. Don’t worry,” Kylie murmured.
“I don’t care how I look. That doesn’t matter at all.”
