AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Go take a shower and get ready for work, Patrick." Her voice was dry, yet amused. "You don't want to be late."
"Work?" I echoed. I thought we'd already decided my new job was to ogle h
er.
Turning away, she set Skylar's carrier on the floor and slung this fancy looking purse thing with Skylar's name stitched across the side next to it. Then she went to unbuckle her baby. The entire time she was bent over, my gaze was fixated on her ass. And the only reason I could believe she'd been pregnant not quite a month ago was because I'd seen it with my own eyes.
Instead of taking her baby from the seat, she straightened and caught me staring. "Goodness gracious. You can check out my ass later. It's not going anywhere. Now scoot." She reached forward and began to ease Fighter out of my arms.
It was a testament of how crazy I was about her that I didn't snap her fingers off for trying to touch him. But after Saturday, I had some major attachment issues, yet another reason I couldn't go to work today. Leaving Julian just felt wrong. I really needed to sit there and hold him while I ogled the babysitter.
And then Tinker Bell made it even worse by immediately cooing as soon as she got him in her arms. "Oh my God. He's so cute. Look at those perfect cheekbones. He's going to be a model someday."
Julian stirred and opened his eyes. I tensed, ready to snag him back, because Eva was a stranger and would probably scare him. But he merely blinked at her a few times.
She grinned and kissed him on the nose. "Hey there, handsome. You're even more adorable when you open those big chocolate brown eyes. Yes, you are. My name is Eva. Some people call me E." She slid a grin my way. "Or Tinker Bell." Turning her attention back to my boy, she kept talking to him, explaining how he was going to hang out with her and Skylar today and they were going to have loads of fun.
I just kept staring. Tinker Bell was talking to him; Tristy would claim he couldn't respond, except that's exactly what he did. He responded by breaking out one his famous grins and making her melt.
"Aww." Glancing up at me, she said, "I think I just fell in love."
I was very nearly tempted to say, "So did I," but that was just stupid.
Wasn't it? Shit, having her here, watching my kid, was too dangerous for my peace of mind.
Eva sent me an odd frown as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. I shifted uncomfortably.
"What are you still doing, gawking at us?" she said. "Go! I'm on the clock and getting paid for this. You might want to do the same so you can afford me."
Finally, I grinned and shook my head. "I owe you . . . big time."
With a roll of her eyes, she waved me off. "I think you already paid me back the night you saved my daughter's life."
***
I had to work through my lunch break. It sucked ass.
All morning, I itched to get home and check on Julian. See Eva. Snuggle Skylar. My attention stayed more on the clock than under the hood of whatever car I was fixing. Then some rich douchebag in a fancy suit showed up with a flat tire. We weren't exactly a tire repair or replacement shop, but the only thing my boss saw was green flashing, so yeah, I was called in to fix the Bentley's tire. Not sure what a damn Bentley was doing in our neighborhood, but whatever.
Someone else must've thought he didn't belong either, because a knife-slash had given him the flat. It definitely wasn't an accidental blowout.
The prick owner stood over me the whole time, arms folded over his chest as he scrutinized every little thing I did and sneered at all my tattoos, but at least he didn't offer a critique. When I handed him the ticket to go in and pay, telling him he was all set up, he finally smiled, all his wrinkles puckering around a thin, white scar slashed high across his left cheekbone. But it wasn't a friendly smile. His eyes spelled out his true thoughts. They looked down on me and all my tattoos and piercings, telling me what a piece of shit they thought I was.
Rich people.
I'd love to see him try to make it in this neighborhood. Sometimes, to survive, you had to blend in and adapt, project an image of intimidation so sick motherfuckers would leave you alone.
Besides, I liked my badass appearance, though I'm sure this look would never let me fit into the country club scene where Eva had been raised. Remembering she was in my apartment, surrounded by my low-class things, I dialed her up.
"Hey," I said as soon as she answered the phone, the melody of her voice making my pulse skyrocket.
"Hey!" She sounded upbeat and awake. Watching two kids all day didn't seem to have worn her out yet. "What's going on?"
"Just checking in. I was going to stop by on my lunch break, but we had a car come in at the last second." I stepped away from the Bentley as the rich suit strolled from the cashier's desk and pulled his keys from his pocket. His gaze was on me as he opened his door, so I sent him a respectful nod. "Have a good one."
His return smile was a little too knowing for my taste, so I kept watching him as he slid into his ride.
"We're doing great here," Eva told me as I stared. "Julian just had his lunch and went down for a nap, so Skylar got bored and nodded off too. I don't know how I coordinated getting them both to sleep at the same time, but I even impressed myself."
