“You’re going to live in a cardboard box while flipping burgers,” I repeat.
I listen a little too well sometimes.
She cringes as I repeat her words. “Again, I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, anything at all—”
Amelia squirms in my arms, reaching out for Clare.
“No, sweetie. You have to stay with your father,” Clare says.
Amelia leans back, pushing against me, struggling to understand what’s happening. It’s been a tiresome day. She wants to get down, and I’d be fine with that if I knew the kid wouldn’t bolt in front of a car.
I have trust issues right now, with Clare and Amelia.
Amelia reaches her arms out to Clare, again. The kid prefers this stranger over me, although I’m not exactly a person she knows either.
“Do you really not have a place to stay?” I ask, my jaw tight.
Why am I asking? Why am I considering offering her a roof over her head? The girl is trouble. I ought to walk away and never see her again. It would be better for everyone involved.
“I’ll be fine. I can couch surf with my friend. I mean, assuming her Russian Mafia fiancé doesn’t mind me staying over.”
I cough at her words. “You aren’t serious.” The longer we talk to Clare, the more Amelia seems to settle down. My little girl rests her head on my chest, watching the blonde the entire time, never taking her eyes off the woman.
Yeah, baby girl, me either. She’s gorgeous and sexy, yet irritates me all at the same time. Not to mention the age difference. I’d guess she’s barely cresting thirty, and I just hit forty.
It’s frustrating.
“I wish I were joking. But he is hot, and maybe he has a brother who’s available,” Clare says with a smirk.
I pray that she’s joking, but something tells me otherwise.
“Absolutely not.” I pause for a moment, hesitant to say the words. “I need a nanny for Amelia. You can stay with us.” She had mentioned on the airplane that she spent six years working at a preschool.
“Excuse me?” Her eyes widen, and she tilts her head, staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. I think I might have, after what happened today. It’s late; not enough sleep and being thrown into the mix with a kid has done something to my mind.
Am I so desperate for a nanny that I’ve offered nosey airplane girl a job working for me?
“You’ll get room and board. There will be a trial period. If you don’t screw things up, I might hire you permanently.”
Amelia stares up at me, her long, dark lashes fluttering closed. She seems to relax in my arms, like the weight of the world was just lifted from her chest.
Mine too.
Assuming that Clare says yes.
TWO
Clare
“You want to hire me after what happened in there?” I ask, gesturing toward the airport. I fucked up big time, shoving my nose into someone else’s business where it didn’t belong.
There’s a spacious, luxury black SUV that pulls up in front of the gentleman. I never caught his name. He didn’t give it to me, and I’d been too busy hounding him to ask for it now.
He stalls, and I really think he’s going to tell me it’s a cruel joke and to get lost.
“I don’t want to, but I think you’re what Amelia needs.”
I chuckle at his remark. I’m certainly not a soft touch. “And the pay?”