He shifts his weight on his feet and shoves his hand into his back pocket, retrieving his wallet. He opens the billfold and hands me several crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.
Shit.
He really wants me to get lost.
Okay, for four hundred dollars, I can do that. No more questions. Got it.
“Is there anything you want me to spend this on? Clothes for Amelia?” I ask.
He leans closer and glances me over. I swear he’s going to say lingerie and a bra that isn’t quite so see-through. “Whatever you think,Airplane Girl.”
I exhale a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
So we’re back to that. “You can’t come up with a more original nickname for me?”
“Oh, I can, but seeing how you’re my employee, I’d hate for you to sue me for sexual harassment.”
“Okay,Panty Thief.” I smirk, stuffing his crisp wad of hundreds into my boobs.
He bites down on his bottom lip for a fraction of a second. “Don’t you have a wallet?”
“Yeah, upstairs,” I say, and point toward the stairs.
“Well, go get it,” he snaps.
I nod and take a tentative step, but before I turn around, I can’t help but ask, “Are you doing this because you don’t trust me around your brother, or you don’t trust your brother around me?”
“I don’t trust myself around you,” he snarls, and turns on his heels. “Don’t return until after dinner.”
“And what about Amelia?” I ask. Doesn’t Levi have work he has to do today from home? How will he get anything done with a five-year-old following him around and his younger brother visiting?
“She stays here with me.”
FIVE
Levi
I’m a dick, tossing money at the nanny and telling her to get lost.
But if I don’t get her out of the house, Connor won’t let up, and with the fact that she told me she dates girls, I just can’t focus right now.
Did she say that because Connor put her in a difficult position?
Or does she actually not like men?
Fuck.
I run my hand through my hair, grateful when she takes the car from the garage and heads out through the gate.
I should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but all I feel is dread. I’d rather Connor would have left, but Clare will be back.
She doesn’t have any place else to stay, and while I gave her a few hundred dollars to occupy herself with for the afternoon, it’s not enough to cover rent or a hotel long-term.
She’ll be back.
Besides, I have her clothes and luggage—which happens to be broken. I need to replace her suitcase with something more durable if Amelia has access to it. Besides, it’s the least I can do after she had to deal with my dunce of a brother.
I put Amelia in front of the television and find a channel with cartoons to keep her occupied.