Page 5
Without any more thought, he changed the subject. No more questions about the kid, the family, the house, the job… as usual, onto the next thing about him. “I’m going golfing with the guys tomorrow. You wanna come?”
Ew. “No, I’m good, thanks.”
“Oh, come on, babe. It’ll be good for you to do something.”
Annoyed, I grilled him, “To do something? What is that supposed to mean?”
He took a drink of his soda. We were sitting outside at the Maple Lane Cafe. “I meeean, since you’ve been out of work, you haven’t done much. You gotta stay active if you don’t wanna gain weight.”
Yes, I’d put on a few pounds, but who fucking cared? “TJ, we are not discussing my weight…again. I don’t want to golf. I’ll probably go walk around the bookstore or something. Have fun though, yeah.”
“Babe… don’t be like that.”
As if the Gods knew I needed saving, my phone rang. I answered, “Hello?” It was Flora. She was offering me the job. Excited, I said, “I would love to accept. I can start tomorrow, yes. That’s no problem. I can be there at six a.m. Thank you so much, Ms. Thorne.” She told me to call her Flora. “Thank you, Flora. I honestly can’t wait to meet Ada.” When I hung up, I set my phone down and looked at TJ. I couldn’t stop smiling. “I got the job!”
His phone buzzed as he said, “Good job, babe. Hang on, I gotta take this.”
Fuck him and his, good job, babe. I got the job! My phone vibrated with a text, and it was Flora again.
Flora: Dean can be a grump. It’s him, not you. Don’t take it personally. He’s extremely overprotective of Ada. I wanted to give you a heads up.
Me: Thank you! I appreciate that. Everything will be alright. Can’t wait to get started. Have a good night.
TJ sat back down. Annoyed, I said, “I got the job, TJ!”
His eyes never left his phone. “Yeah, that’s what you said, baby. Congratulations. I gotta go. Meeting the guys for golf.”
Confused, I asked, “Aren’t you meeting them tomorrow?”
Laughing, he said, “Yeah, but there’s some dinner thing at the club,” and got up to kiss me. “I’ll call you later.” Then he was gone.
The urge was strong to tell him not to bother, but I hadn’t worked up the courage for it yet. Our fathers worked together. According to them, and our mothers, we were the perfect couple. My ass. TJ is a narcissistic douche. I’m not sure how I didn’t see it before, but his increasingly self-absorbed and irritating ways were showing out. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my excitement, though. Time would fly and I couldn’t wait to meet Ada…and see Mr. Thorne again.
The server came back, so I paid for the check that TJ kindly left me with. To celebrate, I decided to stop at Pistachio Sweets Shop and get a Croffle! Fuck, TJ.
Chapter 5
Dean
The house was a mess. I was trying to clean it up before Eliana arrived for her first day. I still wasn’t sure how a five-year-old could create such chaos in such a short amount of time when I had everything cleaned the night before. “Ada!”
She echoed my tone. “Daddy!” She was such a little smartass for five years old. She’d been around Flora too long.
“Help me pick up your toys. Your new nanny will be here any minute.”
“What is that?” She was standing in front of me with her hands on her hips.
“Remember when I said Daddy’s work has been so busy, and Auntie Flora is busy with her wedding. I need help, so someone is going to come and babysit you while I’m working. You have to behave and be good to her. I don’t want to hear you were being bad, Ada.”
“I’m not bad, Daddy. I can help her know everything. Like where my toys go and where the bathroom is.”
I laughed. “I’m sure she will love to know where the bathroom is.” Right on time, the doorbell rang. “Ada, she’s here. Be a good girl. Deal?”
“Deal, daddy! I’m always good.” I chuckled again.
Opening the door, Eliana was standing there, all smiles, waiting for me to say something. “Hi. I mean, come in. Please. Sorry, the place is a mess. Ada has been a terror all night.” Eliana laughed. “I mean, not really. She’s a good kid, but she loves playing with her things and I can’t seem to get her to put them away.”
“No worries, Mr. Thorne. It’s something she and I can work on.”
