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I send a text in response then start the car and tear off down the street.
Forty-Four
CASH
I arrive homewith the setting sun with two bouquets of flowers. I walk into the house and find June in the kitchen, finishing up dinner. It’s pasta tonight and it smells amazing. I set one of the bouquets on the table.
June turns around, clutching a slotted spoon. She scans me, as if she’s afraid that I’m hurt, then sighs. She looks genuinely happy to see me, but her gorgeous smile falters at the sight of the flowers in my hand.
“Alex is upstairs,” she says.
“These are for you.” I hold them out to her.
“Me.” She takes them from me, and before she can move her hand away, I catch her wrist and bring her into my arms.
“You deserve every flower in the world.”
“That would be terrible for the environment. And the bees. You know, the entire ecosystem would collapse.”
I kiss her lips gently.
June pushes away from me, her gaze teasing, and nods toward the kitchen doorway. “Don’t be naughty, Cash.”
“That’s all I want to do with you,” I say.
She smells the flowers and peeks at me over the petals.
This woman will be the death of me.
“So,” she says, pointing the flowers at me. “Judging by the lack of bruising and the fact that I didn’t have to bail you out with my nanny salary, you didn’t get into a fight with someone?”
“Technically, no.” I did text her, but I like that she’s worried about me. “Thanks for texting me about Olivia. I’ve spoken with my lawyer, and Olivia won’t be giving us trouble any more. She’s not allowed to live next door, and the police will take care of it.”
June nods. “That’s good. That’s good for Alex. I didn’t want her to see anything that would upset her.”
“You’re a fucking angel, you know that?”
“Then what are you?” she asks.
“An idiot who gets in fights and never talks about how he feels until it’s almost too late.”
She frowns. “What do you—?”
“My dad sold the bar to Deveraux,” I say. “Which means I don’t have to fix it up anymore.”
June’s head dips downward, and her shoulders sag. “You don’t need a nanny.”
I hate how sad she sounds. I hate it, but that small, evil fucking part of me craves it because it means that she wants to stay, even if it’s not my place to tell her to.
“I don’t” I say. “But June, I want you.”
She looks up at me. “Cash, this is—”
“I want you,” I repeat. “I don’t care if we have to do long distance while you study. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll provide for you. I’ll pay for your college tuition. I will make sure that you have everything you need.”
She’s already shaking her head. “I can’t let you do any of that. I have to do this on my own. I spent years with a guy who paid for everything and treated me like something to be wheeled out for guests or parties. I don’t want that life. I want to be who I was meant to be.” Tears shine in her eyes and start spilling down her cheeks. “I want you too, but I have to be—”
