Lucky guess. “I may have sort of agreed to be a nanny for the guy’s son. And the guy may kind of be a famous MLB pitcher. Jack Kerrigan…”
Lindsey reached across the table to punch me in the arm triumphantly.
“Ow,” I said, rubbing the spot.
“I knew it! Remember you always had a thing for that Patrick guy back in high school? The one who was on the baseball team?”
“Patrick was the equipment manager.”
Lindsey brushed this off as if it wasn’t important. “So,” she continued, looking immensely pleased with herself. “When’s the wedding?”
I shook my head. “Actually, I really like his kid. He’s sweet and I think I can help him open up some. That’s all this is about. And, well, Jack is going to pay me ten thousand dollars a month.”
Another punch thwacked into my other shoulder. At least Lindsey was considerate enough to spread the pain around, I guessed.
“I should’ve known.” She leaned back, focusing on something far off as she rubbed at her lower lip. “But what’s his real game here? Exorbitant price for a nanny. A deranged child. What’s the angle?” All that was missing was the moment where she dramatically turned and posed her questions to some invisible camera.
“I never said his son was deranged. I said he was sweet, and I thought I could help him. He also really seemed to get along with Griff.”
Lindsey ignored me, then slapped her palm on the table. “Maybe it’s one of those BDSM sex auction cults.”
Luca nodded slowly, as though the pieces were falling into place for him. “Yeah. That would explain a lot.”
I sighed. The only explanation I wanted was why I got saddled with two nutcases for friends.7JackDamon Rose rubbed a palm across his face, then sank back in the chair in his high-rise office at Rose Athletic. Behind him, Manhattan was being bathed in the rich orange glow of the setting sun. A few stray beams sliced into Damon’s office, highlighting the fact that there didn’t seem to be a single mote of dust floating through the sterile space.
The office was deadly quiet, and I knew just outside my son was waiting by the receptionist with his little drawing pad.
“You need more time,” Damon repeated. It wasn’t exactly a statement or a question. It was more like he was trying to turn the phrase over and search it for vulnerabilities.
“He’s my son,” I said. “I need to watch the two of them together until I’m comfortable leaving her alone with Ben.”
Damon met my eyes, then drummed his fingers on the desk. “It’s been a week since we made our proposal. How many times have you watched her with Ben?”
“Once,” I said. The truth was I’d wanted to give myself time to cool off. Something about the conversation she and I had over coffee left me buzzing with strange emotions. Excitement. Hope. They were things I’d learned to decide belonged to other people. The only thing at the end of the tunnel those feelings led to was disappointment. To women who bailed on their kids and the lives they lied about wanting.
“The season starts in two weeks,” Damon said.
I felt everything he wasn’t saying. I felt how it weighed on both of us. If I was going to reverse my decision and tell the team I’d be coming back, I didn’t have long to do it. Maybe they would shuffle around the roster for me, and they probably would. But I knew how Damon operated. He was a professional. He was the professional. He was the only agent I knew of that intimidated the coaches, and part of that reputation was professionalism.
Telling your team you suddenly wanted to play again and making them scramble at the last minute was not the way Damon operated. I knew he’d do whatever he could to avoid me dragging him into that, and I couldn’t completely blame the man. It was his business, but it was also my life.
“I’ll know before then,” I said.
“Good.”
“She’s coming tonight, actually.” I clenched my fists on my thighs, resenting how saying those few words aloud had lit a rush of excitement in me.
Damon leaned his elbows on the table, templing his fingers. “I get where you’re coming from. It may not seem like it, but I do. If I thought Luna needed me, I’d walk away from all of this in a heartbeat. So I don’t hold it against you.”
I nodded.
Damon held up a long finger, meeting my eye. “However. I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t find ways to overcome challenges like this. And that’s all we’re dealing with. A challenge.”
I thought about that, then wondered why I felt like I was dealing with two challenges. One was finding a way to fix whatever I’d apparently done to cause my son to withdraw into himself. The other was navigating this nanny situation without selfishly pursuing something else. Something I wanted. Something completely separate from the idea of Nola helping Ben.