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With a sound of disgust, I said, "Fine. I'll take it. Thankseverso much."

"You're welcome."

He didn't mean it any more than I did. But hey, that was fine by me. I'd had more than enough of Mason Blastoviak.

Not just for tonight. But for a lifetime.

Chapter 46

Cami

The next couple of weeks passed in a long, depressing blur. Oh sure, I tried to be festive for Willow's sake, but it was tough going.

Even as we decorated the house and picked out Christmas presents for Mason – from Willow,notfrom me – my heart was heavier than it had been in a long time.

Mason and I weren't exactly ignoring each other, but wewereacting like polite strangers – or more accurately, like boss and employee.

Him being the boss of course.

On the upside, things across the river offered just enough distraction to stop me from wallowing in my own misery.

To my surprise, Livia was still toughing it out with the two unruly teens, which was pretty incredible, considering that she'd lasted only three days at herlastjob, which was a hundred times easier than her current gig.

For the previous job, she'd been working as a hand model in her dad's jewelry store, where her primary responsibility had involved trying on the merchandise.

Not even kidding.

But her nanny job? It looked like something else entirely. From the back window, Willow and I had a front-row seat to all the theatrics between her and her teenage charges.

They lockedherout.

She lockedthemout.

One time, theyallgot locked out and had to break a back window when theusualwindow got stuck.

And forget taking a dinghy across the river. Winter weather had arrived with a vengeance, dropping the temperatures so low that the river finally began to freeze. And although the water wasn't completely frozen over, the icy surface would be a detriment to almost any watercraft – dinghies included.

As far as the antics between Livia and the teenagers, to me, the whole thing seemed seriously unhinged. But apparently, they thought otherwise. I mean, why else would they keep on doing it?

Livia had come from money. Technically, she didn't need to work at all, so there was no reason for her stay if she was truly that miserable – unless she reallydidhave a thing for the dad.

And then, there were the teenagers themselves. They were too old for a nanny in the traditional sense. But the way it looked, they were liking theirnon-traditionalone a lot better – if only because she gave as good as she got.

I had to give Livia credit. She was proving to be a tough nut to crack.

But me? I wasn't tough.

Every time I saw Mason, my heart squeezed just a little, even as I debated going for his throat, speaking figuratively, that this.

But it wasn't until the day before my holiday departure that I made a fool of myself all over again, but in a totally different way.

Chapter 47

Mason

The way it looked, she hated me.

Good.