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“So, you moving in or what?”she asked after a moment.
I was finally able to look away from her and toward where Bella was playing.
The whole thing was an awful idea.It would give me and Lux far too many excuses to act on whatever this thing was between us.
But, on the other hand, it would be really good for Bella.I’d be there when she woke up, when she came back from school, and I might even get to tuck her in before she went to sleep.
I mean, if Lux wants me to.I’m getting ahead of myself.I’ve only been here for a few days.
“I don’t think I should,” I finally replied.“Even if it would be easier to take care of her.I’m afraid?—”
“That you’ll fall in love with me?”She met me with a smirk that had heat rising up my face and burning my ears.
“So full of yourself.You’re the one pushing.I could easily argue that you’re the one who’s going to fall in love with me.”
“I don’t fall in love,” she said, somehow moving closer.My back was to the counter and her thigh was now between my legs.“I fuck.”
The heat intensified.Yep.This would be disastrous.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?”I asked.“This will complicate things.”
“Will it?”
There was a moment between us.Our eyes met.Our breaths stopped.
It would… right?I was Bella’s nanny.I was charged with taking care of her niece.A child who was severely grieving her parents’ death and who was living with a woman who didn’t have the faintest clue how to deal with it.
Probably because she hasn’t processed her sister’s death either.
“Juliette!Come time me!”
The trance between us was broken, and I took the chance to move toward the backyard, grateful for the distraction.
But Lux’s hand caught my wrist.My skin burned where she touchedme, and I couldn't help the gasp that made its way out of my mouth.
I turned back to look at her.All the joking was gone, and she met me with an expression I couldn't make out.
“Think about it,” she said, her voice steady and unwavering.I swallowed the knot in my throat, along with the automatic urge to say yes.
“The offer for the room or the offer for the fucking?”
A smile pulled at her lips.
“The room,” she answered.“I was teasing about the… other stuff.It may be a bad idea, but I don’t want Bella’s nanny to be homeless.It’s temporary anyway.”
“Temporary,” I muttered.How long was temporary?How long would I have this job?It seemed like I was about to lose it on a daily basis.But I still couldn't help but ask, “Will it come out of my paycheck?”
She shook her head.
“Think of it as a thank you for doing something I couldn't.”
She was making it too hard to refuse.My parents’ debts had been paid, but I wouldn't be able to afford my own apartment on this salary alone.I would still have to find some type of roommate situation so I wouldn’t touch Lucas’s college fund.I could always ask the girls if they wanted to find a place together, but I needed to be close to here, and that was far away from where they needed to be.
I was afraid to ask what she meant.Afraid of the answer and how it would complicate things even more.Her gaze was too hard to shake, the question too heavy to ignore.
So I asked anyway.
“Which is?”