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“Ouch. Throwing my own words back in my face.”
“You’ll live.” I leaned on a box, resting my chin on my arms. “Is it embarrassing if I say I don’t want you to leave?”
“No. I don’t want to leave either. I feel bad that you’re just being thrown into a new situation like this. But the girls are excited, so hopefully they’ll behave themselves. Somewhat. Just keep an eye on Poppy gathering odd ingredients. She seems to have a thing for explosives.”
“Where’s their mother?” I asked, quietly. “I’m not trying to pry, but I feel like I need to know what’s going on with them so I can be what they need from a nanny, you know what I mean?”
Brandon looked away for a second, then back. His jaw was working. “Yeah. I know what you mean. But you’re the first person to ever ask me that. Their mother lives in Florida. She has substance abuse problems and right now she’s in rehab again. They haven’t seen her in six months.”
“I see. I’m sure that’s upsetting to them.”
He nodded. “It is. Her moods are erratic. She hates me, though I’m not exactly sure why. She fought the divorce tooth and nail. She fought for custody tooth and nail, even though there was no way she was going to succeed. She’s a complicated person and the girls have had a hard time.”
I reached out and squeezed his arm. “So have you.”
“Yeah. But I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”
“Sure. But you shouldn’t always have to.”
Brandon instantly backed away from me. “I’m going to order some takeout for the girls. Is Chinese okay? What would you like?”
I was disappointed he was retreating, but not surprised. We weren’t in a relationship. He was the boss, I was the nanny, and we were just having sex. Or had had sex. He wasn’t going to give me a goodbye kiss, even though I really wanted one.
An image rose of him in my apartment, digging into Chinese food containers, wearing nothing but a towel and a satisfied smile.
Boundaries. We’d destroyed most of them, but we had to stay inside the confines of casual sex or we were going to be in serious trouble.
“I’ll take steamed vegetables.”
With a donut on the side.
Chapter Ten
Fresh off the flight to New Orleans, I sat with Matt, my best friend and offensive coordinator, in the hotel bar. It was classy and quiet, lots of traditional gold decor all around us.
“Are we moving?” Matt asked after ordering an old-fashioned.
“Yeah, you dumbass. It’s called the Carousel Bar. The bar is moving in a slow circle.”
“Oh, cool.?
? He looked around, eyeballing the street of the French Quarter outside the bar window. Despite the heat, people were walking up and down Royal Street. “Too bad we can’t hit the town tonight.”
“Yeah, that sucks.” Not really. I didn’t care about hitting the town at all. I cared about what was going on back in my apartment in New York. I had a pit in my gut thinking about Dakota and my daughters hanging out for the first time without me. I was feeling left out, to be totally honest. I was also a little worried what might come out of Dakota’s mouth. She was impulsive.
“Another day, another nanny, huh?” Matt shook his head. “Have you ever thought about bribing your parents to move in with you? That might be easier.”
“My parents have no interest in living in New York. Trust me, I asked them. I was informed they love me and my children but they love San Diego too and they’re entitled to live their own life. That’s a direct quote.” I didn’t blame them for that. They did deserve to live their life the way they wanted.
“Damn. The Macnamaras are holding tough.”
“My sister did offer for the girls to move in with her in Texas, but I can’t stand the thought of not seeing them all the time. Really not being the one raising them. Besides, it would open up a fucking can of worms with Bridget. She always hated my sister.”
“I don’t know what I would do without Shelly,” Matt said. “You know she’s the glue in our house. I’d be lost without her.”
Matt had been happily married for ten years. “Way to rub it in, asshole.”
He made a face. “Sorry, man.” Then he grinned. “But maybe if you weren’t such a prick, you could find someone.”
