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I lose some patience. “Anyway, you’ll find the keys and the code to the alarm in there. I expect you to be at the house at 7am to get Isabel ready for the day. My daughter is my first priority and, therefore, yours.” Pinning him with a glare, I reiterate, “One small mishap, Remington. It only takes one.”
He stands to his full height before leaning over my desk to grab the items, nailing me with a stare. “For what it’s worth, I take my role and my charges very seriously.” Warm umber burns into me. I swear my cheeks flame. “I can also pick up your dry-cleaning, grocery shop, and cook.”
Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Kiara didn’t tell me he could cook, which is awesome because I fucking hate it.
“You’ll find that I’m quite hands-on.” He smirks as if he can’t help his innuendo.
I stiffen my spine to stave off the shudder my body wants to release. Giving him a smirk of my own, I pick up the line. “We’ll see about that.” Back to business. “Isabel has been attending Building Blocks Nursery School since she was six months old. She will continue to attend morning sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You’ll have those mornings off unless she is sick.”
Before he can utter another raspy syllable, I let the phone call through and swivel around to face the window, effectively dismissing the nanny. When I hear the door click shut, I hold my chest and exhale in relief.
“This is Miranda,” I greet with a genuine smile. I like Corissa and working with Fawlen Studios. They are one of our favorite clients.
“Hey,” she greets, matching my enthusiasm. “I just wanted to personally invite you to our annual customer appreciation picnic. We missed you last year.”
I couldn’t go because Isabel was sick. Not that I had a sitter on standby, anyway. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I have a toddler, and I can’t always find a babysitter.”
“How did I not know this? Of course, bring her with you. It’s a family event. There will be games and face painting.” Her voice is coated with excitement. “Please come, I never get to catch up with you outside of work.”
My smile is wistful. Corissa is authentic and funny, and exactly the kind of person I would love to hang out with if I had the time. “I know. I promise I’ll try.”
“Awesome, I’ll send the details to your assistant. I swear it’s a good time.”
A small laugh escapes me. “I don’t doubt it. See you soon.”
When the call ends, I set the phone down and massage the back of my neck.
When I turn around, I groan at the sight before me.
Jay and their technicolor dream coat are standing there, judging. “You’ve been holding out on me, baby girl. Why didn’t you tell me the nanny—who’s actually a manny, by the way—was so hot you could fry an egg with extra crispy bacon on his skin in the middle of a Chicago winter?”
I palm my head for the second time today, and it’s not even lunch yet. “I’m not holding out on you. I told you I was hiring a nanny.”
“Yeah, but you left out the part where he looks like Enrique Iglesias’s hotter younger brother.”
“That’s because I hadn’t noticed.” Except I have but if I say it out loud, that makes it real. And now that they’ve mentioned the Iglesias semblance, it’s all I see.
“Bullshit. You may be frigid, but you’re not dead.”
I bristle, folding my arms over my chest.
My friend’s eyebrows raise in a challenging stare.
I deflect with humor, pretending to wipe a tear from my eye. “You’re always so sweet to me.”
“I know. While you’re wiping your eyes, you might want to catch your nose too. There’s a little something there.”
Mortified, I pull my compact out and shove it in my face. Sure enough, I have a big ring of latte foam on my nose. Now I know why Remington was amused.
“Crap. I need him to take me seriously, and he won’t do that if I look like a doofus every time I see him.” The other day with the yogurt hair, and today with the latte nose.
Jay walks toward my desk, hands perched on their hips. “Sure, you want him to take you seriously. Mm-hmm. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a hot manny.”
“He is not hot.”
Jay crosses their arms. “Careful with the lies, Mars Bars. You don’t want to end up with a nose the size of a Chicago skyscraper.”
We have a stare-off with them tapping an impatient toe on the carpet.
