Page 44 of Bang

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes, it almost seems like you like him." She winced. "I mean, romantically."

I drew back. "Me? No. Definitely not." I hesitated. "I mean, sure, he's attractive, and really interesting. And smart, too, but…well, that doesn’t mean I like him."

Arden groaned, "Oh, my God. You have a crush on him."

"Oh, please. I do not." Of this, I was absolutely certain – or at least mostly certain.Okay, somewhat certain.

Sounding less than convinced, Arden said, "Are you sure?"

"Mostly." I tried to laugh. "To have a crush, you're supposed to like someone, remember?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So he's not exactly likeable." I paused to think. "I mean, he's great to Willow, and he's been a really generous employer."

I glanced around, taking in my luxurious surroundings. Even the breakfast nook, as cozy as it was, took up twice the space of my last kitchen and was ten times nicer. "And really, the job's not even hard."

Arden stared across the table. "You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"Because the jobmustbe hard if the nannies keep getting fired."

I saw her point. But unlike me, she didn't have the full story. In at least two cases, the nannies had been fired because they'd been, well, naughty I guess.

But was it any wonder?

Mason had it all – looks, money, and more fame than he obviously wanted. On top of that, he was quite simply the most intriguing person I'd ever met.

If it weren't for Willow, I might've said he had no heart. But sometimes, like when I saw him smile at his little sister, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a softer side buried somewhere deep inside him.

Across from me, Arden continued. "And he's been through four nannies in the past year alone. Do you realize, that's a new nanny every three months?"

It was a sobering reminder. If I followed the trend, this meant I had only two months before I, too, was kicked to the curb.

But that wasn't going to happen, because for one thing, I wasn't going to get naughty with anyone, especially Mason Blastoviak – even if the thought was stupidly appealing.

Absently, I replied, "Yeah, well…maybe he's had bad luck."

"But it's not just the nannies he has trouble with. Everybody's scared of him. When he walks into the office, people literally tremble."

Sometimes, I almost trembled, too, but in a totally different way. Regardless, I wasn't scared, not unless I counted my primal reaction to him, which was onlyslightlyterrifying.

Across from me, Arden added, "But heisgreat with Willow, so that's something, I guess."

"Which reminds me," I said. "I've got a question. When you and I first met Willow, before we even realized who she was, she told us that Mason was her dad. But she doesn't call him Dad. She calls him Mason."

"Yeah, I know."

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "But a while back, you told me that she begged Mason to let her call him Dad, and that he agreed."

"Oh,that." Arden, leaned forward. "It was when Willow was in pre-school. They were doing this Father's Day thing, and of course, Willowhasno father."

"Right. Because he died."

"He didn't just die," Arden said. "He took off for good while their mom was still pregnant."