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“Oh, hey…” She trailed off, sounding guarded.
I walked into the living room, nearly tripping over one of Mila’s Barbie cars.
“Umm, sorry, I know it’s late.”
She gave a little laugh. “It’s only eight-thirty.”
Right, not late to a twenty-year-old. She probably partied back in California.
“Well, I would like to talk to you about your offer.”
“Okay.”
The living room was a disaster. I needed to have the girls pick up their toys before bed.
“Uh, well, is the offer for watching them tomorrow still open?”
She paused for a moment, and the girls started yelling upstairs. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“It is…”
Mila ran down the stairs shrieking at the top of her lungs. “Daddy, she put stickers all over my favorite Barbie!”
“So what? It’s just a dumb Barbie. You’re such a baby, Mila.” Seraph trailed after her sister, yelling just as loud.
Fucking hell.
“Girls, I’m on the phone.” I covered the receiver, but it was no use, they were already in a full-blown argument.
I heard Haley lightly laughing in my ear.
“Want to just call me back, or text me?”
“Uh…” I maneuvered around the kids and toys until I was in the kitchen, but the girls followed me. This was a bit more serious than a text. I also needed to be able to talk to her without being interrupted every five seconds. If she were here in person, the girls wouldn’t behave like this. They’d want her to be their babysitter, so they’d want her to be able to sit and talk with me without being interrupted.
“Would you be willing to come over? I know that seems weird, but it’s strictly professional, and the girls are here, so…”
There, that clearly established I was just asking her to come to my house at nearly nine at night because we had business to discuss.
“Sure, can you text me your address? I’m in sweats, so I’ll have to get dressed really quick.”
“We’re all in sweats too. Just come over, it’s not a big deal.”
Besides, maybe it would help to see her undone a bit. She was usually so perfect: no hair out of place, her skin looking like something from an app filter, and her lashes were the longest I had ever seen on a real person. She was young, but she intimidated the hell out of me, and I didn’t intimidate easily.
“Uh, okay. Sure, I’ll be there in a few minutes then.”
“Okay, thanks, I’ll text you the address.”
I hung up and sagged back into the chair, realizing I had tuned out the girl’s argument. They were starting to tire out, which meant I needed to finish up their bedtime routine.
* * *
This was a dumb idea.
My gut was screaming at me to just leave her at the door, let her knock and realize I’d changed my mind. She would get back in her car and leave. The end.
She’d already insulted me once. This whole plan of asking her to help with the girls was stupid. So fucking stupid.
