Page 25 of Just My Luck

“It’s in the fridge, where thirty-dollar face cream is supposed to live.”

Mia made a face at her, grabbed the cream from the fridge, and padded to the rear of the house, where their bedrooms were located. She and Eddie shared a room, Zara had explained, with only a curtain to separate them. This was apparently one of the tragic circumstances that kept Mia wearing all black.

“You wouldn’t have to watch Mia,” Zara assured him quickly. “She’s fifteen and very self-sufficient. She’d love to have someone around to help out with Eddie, so I doubt you’d get many hassles with her. She saves all her snarkiness for me. In answer to your question, Mia and Eddie are my half-brother and sister. My mother is dead, and their mother ran away with a cult leader. We all have the same father and he is currently unavailable for parenting duties.”

As she met his eyes, her face fell. His reluctance must be as obvious as his sunburn.

“I have no relevant experience,” he told her. “I’m the youngest in my family so I’ve never babysat. I’m not close to my nieces and nephews. You must be able to find someone better suited than me.”

“But Eddie likes you. And you’ve proved yourself to me by your actions. You might have saved his life today. Anyway.” She waved her hand in that way that he was starting to associate with her. “Think about it. I’m just putting it out there, but there’s no need to decide right away. Let’s change the subject.” She poured herself another glass of wine. “I looked up Lewis Hamilton. Belated laughter at that joke.”

He laughed too, although it hadn’t really been a joke. He knew the race car driver from a celebrity racing event in which wealthy people paid to drive with their favorite drivers. Hamilton had complimented him, although he probably shouldn’t take that too literally.

“Oh! Another thing. I almost forgot with all the craziness today. Remember that Japanese security dude who acted so strange at hale twelve?”

Every muscle in his body tightened. “Is he back?”

“Sort of. Big Joe saw him at the Kona Queen. He’s doing private security for some Japanese bigwig and his family. Which reminds me, I was going to look up Lincoln Kerr to see if he’s connected to this Tanaka guy. I mean, why did that dude name-drop Lincoln Kerr instead of his actual boss?”

She pulled out her phone. Lincoln panicked. If she looked him up right now, while he was sitting not three feet away from her, for sure she’d recognize him. He’d changed his appearance as much as possible—grown out a scruffy beard, allowed his face to get sunburned, let his hair get longer than the ruthless cropped style he usually favored. No one had recognized him so far. He wasn’t the kind of famous person anyone would recognize, so that wasn’t a shocker. But comparing him to an image on her phone…

He swept his hand against his glass and knocked it over. Wine spilled over the coffee table, which was fortunately empty since the last time he’d spurted wine onto it. He jumped to his feet. “Damn it. Not again!”

She put her phone away and rushed to the kitchen for that same roll of paper towels. Tearing off a length of paper, she handed it to him, and they both set to work mopping up the mess.

“I suppose you’ll never hire me now,” he joked. “That’s two strikes against me before I even start.”

“You’re not getting out of it that easy.” She wagged a finger at him. “The offer is still open. I’ll just make a point of keeping the coffee table cleared off.”

He smiled at that. She refilled his glass yet again.

“Please think about it. Manny-ing is much easier than gardening. I can write it all out for you. Best snacks, favorite books, library hours. You’d be striking a blow for gender equality, being a man in childcare. You already know where the Urgent Care is, so you’re halfway there.” She lifted her glass in a toast. “Cheers to maybe possibly considering it?”

She was irresistible. He clinked his glass against hers. Lincoln Kerr, Billionaire Manny. Was this really happening or had he hit his head a bit too hard when he’d caught Eddie?

12

The Kona low started slow with a day of steady drizzle. Although it made Zara’s job more difficult, it gave her a break on the childcare front. The gray skies made Mia extra morose, so she didn’t mind getting “stuck inside” with Eddie. Her friends were meeting later at their favorite coffee shop, Juicy Java, and Zara promised she could go so long as she watched Eddie until Zara got back from work.

Too bad about her brilliant “manny” idea.

Her powers of persuasion must be failing. She’d been so sure that Jim would accept her job offer. He liked Eddie, she knew that. Who wouldn’t like Eddie? He was the sweetest, most sensitive boy with the most endearing gap-toothed smile in the world. Whenever she thought about having kids, she imagined a boy like Eddie. Who would then grow into a teenager like Mia, she reminded herself. Not that she didn’t love Mia too, but fifteen-year-olds were no picnic, especially when they were struggling.

Her friend Buzzy dropped by the concierge desk around midday.

“Girl!” They hugged each other over the desk.

“It’s my day off and that hottie over there invited me here for lunch.” Buzzy gestured with her head toward a good-looking white man waiting near the entrance to the restaurant. It was packed because of the rain. Buzzy generally dated locals, but was always happy to make an exception for someone exceptional.

“Rawr.” Zara purred in appreciation. “Silver fox territory. Hey, thanks for taking care of Eddie. His stitches look topnotch.” She kissed her fingers like a chef.

“He doing okay? The poor kid looked plenty rattled.”

“Nothing a marathon game of Go Fish couldn’t fix.”

Buzzy nodded and caught a signal from her date. “Our table’s ready, but I’m gonna make him wait. See you at the beach?”

“It might be a few days. I heard they’re going to close the beaches because of the storm. Maybe I’ll finally get some study time.”