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I squeezed her fingers. “You don’t need to worry about that right now.”
She shook her head miserably. “I slept with a man a few nights ago.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not against the law, Tammie. Despite what the Bible says, I like to think that God isn’t actually watching our every move. You deserve someone to love you.”
The hope drained out of her eyes. “It’s not like that. It’s… I didn’t know him. He offered me money…my boys were asleep the whole time, Zeph. I swear it. They didn’t even know he was there.”
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, and Tammie and I both jumped.
Tammie plastered on an embarrassed smile. “Hey, Toby!”
I glanced over my shoulder to find my mother holding hands with the toddler. Her face was pink, telling me she’d probably heard every word of Tammie’s confession.
“The nurses asked me to bring him back. He wanted a snack, but we weren’t sure of allergies.”
Tammie pushed to her feet and picked up the little boy with a bright smile for my mother. “Thank you so much. I’ll go get him a cookie from the vending machine. Zepherin, can you stay here with the other boys for a moment, please?”
“Of course.”
She smiled again and slipped past my mother with Toby on her hip.
My mother’s smile fell. “That’s your new friend? A prostitute?”
Daniel chose that moment to start coughing, and the fit lasted so long it drew the attention of the nurses outside at their station. They rushed in, adjusting some dials on the wall behind him that presumably controlled his oxygen flow. Tammie raced back in behind them, passing Toby over to me. By the time Daniel was settled again, and I’d said goodbye to Tammie, I couldn’t see my mother anywhere.
I wasn’t particularly sad to avoid another reminder I was a constant disappointment to her.
10
LYRIC
It turned out orgasms were good for my mood. Even a couple of days after my solo time in the bathroom, the glow lingered.
Or perhaps it was that I’d seen Zeph every day since.
The man always found a reason to hang out with me while I cleaned or was lingering in the daycare parking lot when I picked up Amelia.
If it had been anyone else, I might have found that behavior creepy, but he intrigued me in a way no other man had in a long time. Every piece of himself that he revealed only made me want to know more. I wanted to get beneath his skin, delve inside his head, and work out why the most gorgeous man I’d ever met had committed to a life few others ever would.
I wanted to know why he’d given up sex and love and companionship. Especially when the vibe between us felt anything but platonic at times. He was attracted to me. I was sure of it. Which only made the mystery of his profession deeper.
If I was being honest with myself, the fact he was off-limits only made me want to unravel him more.
I shook my hips in time to the beat of the song playing on my portable speaker, while my grandmother frowned at me.
“It would have sounded better on the record player. But Harry threw it out.”
Even my worry over her couldn’t get me down today. “I know, Gran. But at least we have music, right?”
She turned away to stare out the window.
I kissed her weathered cheek and picked up my keys from the kitchen counter. “I’m going to go get Amelia and bring her home, but I’ve called Peggy to come in early because I can’t stay. Eve called a meeting and needs me to come into the club early.”
Gran nodded. “Okay, then. Amelia and I will be fine. Zepherin left his sunglasses here the other day, though. Could you take them to him?”
I blinked in surprise at her sudden rush of clarity. I didn’t know she’d even been aware that Zeph wasn’t my grandfather.
“Sure. Where are they?”
