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“Have fun and shoot me a text with what sounds good for dinner.”
Anders steps to my side and lifts Otto’s arm to wave at her. Then, making his voice higher than I could ever get mine, he sings, “Bye-bye, beautiful Nora. I wuv yooooou.”
Just. Count. To. Ten.
A few silent and strained minutes later, she’s out of the apartment, and I turn on my brother, who looks like tempting my wrath is his favorite pastime.
“Stop using my baby to flirt with Nora. She’s off-limits.”
“Is that what I was doing?” He takes Otto out of my arms and takes a sniff of his head. “Where’s the ‘new baby’ smell chicks are always talking about? He smells like sour milk.”
I blink. “The hell—”
I break off, shaking my head while I rein in my temper. “Fine, let’s give him a bath and change his outfit.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
I get Otto’s bath-time setup in place and start stripping him down. I’ve got a towel to cover him and a dish with warm water and a bit of extra-gentle, organic baby bath. Dipping the washcloth in, I run it under his neck and pits. Across his tiny little ribs, watching his expression shift and sharpen as I methodically clean him up.
When he’s clean and fresh, his wispy blond hair sticking up in a single spike because I can’t resist doing it, Anders nods to the whiteboard behind me.
“You know you can’t hook up with her.”
My jaw tightens, and I tamp down the impulse to hand Uncle Anders his nephew, sans diaper. Free the wee fire hose. Knowing my brother, he’d wait for Nora to get back and then start stripping his pee-soaked shirt off in front of her. Ask for some help getting cleaned up.
I hate him. “I’m not hooking up with her.”
“Not yet. Obviously.”
Obviously? I want to ask him what the hell that means, but he’s already going on.
“And don’t bother denying you want to either. The only time your eyes aren’t on your kid, they’re on her. Shit, every time I talk to you, you tell me some new, fascinating tidbit about her. You’re completely obvious.”
“No. I like her. But there’s a line.”
He snorts. “Axe. You can’t have her. It’s the whole power-dynamic thing. You’re the boss. It’s not an equal playing field.”
Ha!
“I’m going to stop you right there. Let’s put aside the fact that I’mnottrying to hook up with her. But so we’re clear on this power-dynamic thing… You’re right. Sort of. It’s not equal. But if you think anyone is in the power position besides Nora, you’re nuts. That woman holds all the cards.”
“Oh sure. So, it’syoursalary she’s controlling?”
“No. But I’m not controlling hers either. I’ve already paid her for the month. She could decide not to come back tonight, abandon us, and it wouldn’t cost her more than the twelve things she owns.”
Anders gapes. “Jesus, it’s worse than I thought. Are you in love with this chick? What the hell’s the matter with you? What if she did exactly that? What if she bails?”
Holding up my hand, I stop him. “I’d be screwed. But this is Nora we’re talking about. Rule-following Nora.”
“Fun-wrecking, know-it-all Nora.”
“Yeah.”
“Dude, do you hear yourself?” He chokes. “You practicallysighed.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.Dick.”
