I caress her soft neck with my thumb, then drop it to dust her collarbone. “It’s not that I don’t want you, Lola. I do. But it’s too soon. You just broke up with Ethan yesterday. And I’m not some asshole who will take advantage of your heartbreak and vulnerability.”
She smiles sadly now, but I think I got through to her. She has to know I’m right about this.
She gets off my lap and gets dressed.
12
LOLA
It’s early morning when I tiptoe into the dark house. I’m relieved that Ileana and Isael are still asleep—until the light flicks on in the living room as I make my way across it toward my room.
Busted.
Ileana smirks at me. “Morning,” she says.
Crap. I’m holding my shoes in my hand, looking guilty as all hell, and I wince. “Morning, Ileana . . . I uh—”
She chuckles at seeing me squirm. “You’re a grown woman, Lola. You can have fun. And you don’t owe me any explanations.” She hesitates, then adds, “But I’d love to hear what’s going on in your life—if you’d like to talk about it. That’s two nights now you’ve been out all night.”
I plop on the love seat in front of her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t enjoy being so secretive with you, but I had to.”
Ileana’s hands wrap around a warm mug of tea, and she keeps it close to her body. “You’ve never kept secrets before. Have I said something—”
“No, god, Ileana, no. It’s just new, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”
She smiles warmly as she takes a sip of her tea. “Try me.”
After I drop my shoes and bag on the floor, I take a deep breath. If I’m moving in with Karl soon, I need to give her notice so she can find alternate babysitters for Isael. It’s time to tell her. “You know how Sofia had me clean Karl Sommer’s house?”
Ileana nods. “Oh, we didn’t talk much about that. You were so exhausted after.” She grins wide and perks up in her seat. “What’s his house like? Did you find any dirty secrets?”
I shake my head. “No. But he was there.”
“But I thought Sofia said they’d be working—”
“Bren canceled their meeting with some music executives last minute, and he overlooked telling Sofia.”
“Wait,” Ileana says. “So youmetKarl?”
I nod, and Ileana squeals with excitement.
“Shhhh, keep it down! You’ll wake Isael up.”
She winces, and we both freeze for a moment, listening for sounds, but none come, and I keep talking.
“He’s really nice. The house was a mess, but he made up for it with great pay. Then we started talking music, and he ordered pizza. Honestly, Ileana, it felt a little like a first date once I clocked out.”
Her jaw goes slack. “What?”
“I know. Then he asked me to come in a week—that was Saturday—and the house was spotless. Like, I think he cleaned before I got there.”
We both smile. “That was sweet,” Ileana says.
“It was, but then he had to scramble to find things for me to do. It was kind of funny, actually. In the end, he went grocery shopping with me.”
Her head tilts. “Really?”