Page 17 of Coach Me (Boston Blues #2)

Dex

I have many regrets. So, so many from today. Starting with letting my son see that damn bedspread being delivered. Lucie needed something for the bed and I had nothing on it because I let Kate take whatever the fuck she wanted when she moved out.

Yellow wasn’t the only color that was deliverable today, it just reminded me of Lucie. It reminded me of how beautiful she looked in her yellow sundress the first day we met. Finding out it was her favorite color wasn’t a total shock, but thanks to my son, I had to come up with a lie on the spot.

Then there was that mishap in the hallway that I’m sure will haunt me for all eternity, but the other main regret of the day was taking the phone back from Miles when he said, “Mommy wants to talk to you.”

Again, I should have known that my no-filter son would talk about the new nanny moving in today.

I get that while Kate gave up all rights to decision-making involving Miles, she would still have questions. Despite the short notice, I did get a general background check on Lucie—again, another small abuse of power using the Blues’ legal team.

Should I have been the one to tell my ex instead of Miles?

Yeah, probably. I definitely got an earful on that one.

I’d already had to answer a million and one questions my own mother had about hiring Lucie, but Kate’s came with more unnecessary questions.

What does Lucie look like? Is she pretty? How old is she?

Answers to those are ones I did not want to give, so it probably made matters worse, but I reminded Kate that none of it really mattered because Lucie’s here to stay.

My stress from the phone call must have carried with me throughout the rest of the afternoon, or our run-in in the hall has kept Lucie at a generous arm’s length.

Which is for the best. In spite of her joke in the living room this morning about being fired after these first two weeks and my attraction to her—I need a nanny and a homeschool teacher for Miles to be able to travel with me.

For the entire plane ride, Lucie gave all her attention to Miles, and while I’d catch her eyes wandering toward me a time or two, her eyes carried more concern for my quiet demeanor than anything else. Not that I should want to see something more in her eyes, that’s beside the point.

When our shuttle arrives at our hotel for the week, Miles yawns and holds his arms out for me. “I’m too tired to walk.”

I chuckle. “All that sitting for the last couple of hours has worn you out, huh?”

“Travel is exhausting,” Miles huffs.

Lucie comes around to my side. Her lips turn up when Miles rests his head on my shoulder. “I second that, bud. I think I’m going to crash as soon as I hit the bed.”

Miles giggles and lets out a very fake yawn. “Me too. ”

Lucie doesn’t look exhausted, though. She still shines just as bright with her blonde hair falling loosely over her shoulders and in her damn yellow. It doesn’t matter that it’s a crewneck, it could be a yellow bag and it would complement her so well.

My hand starts to move to brush some of her hair back behind her shoulder, but then I realize how fucking weird that would be and play it off as if I wanted to scratch Miles’s back.

Clearing my throat, I grunt out, “Let’s go inside and get checked in then.”

I make it about three steps into the lobby before Miles shoots his head up with a squeal. “Lucie, look at the water fountain! They have a water fountain inside! Can we go look at it, Dad? Please, please?”

Miles wiggles in my arms. “I thought you were exhausted?”

“But it’s a water fountain!”

“I don’t mind taking him, Dex,” Lucie says next to me. “Unless you want to? I can try to get us checked in.”

This small tug pulls in my chest. It may seem like a small gesture, and while Lucie has given Miles pretty much all of her attention since this whole thing started, she always takes into account my relationship with Miles first.

I set Miles down. “I think I’ll have to be the one to check in, but you guys go. I’ll meet you over there.”

Lucie gives me a small nod, but if she wanted to say anything, it’s cut off by Miles grabbing her hand and pulling her away.

“Come on, Lucie, let’s go!”

I watch them walk hand in hand for a moment. It’s almost too damn hard to look away. I know I said I need Lucie, but in what capacity, is my next question.

Shit, what have I gotten myself into?

Forcing myself to the reception desk, there’s an older lady smiling. “Hi, welcome to the Marriott. What’s the last name?”

“Larsen.”

After clicking on her keyboard for a moment, she looks back up. “Okay, we have a double queen room ready for you.”

“Um, there’s supposed to be a conjoined room with that, right? It could be under a different name. Lucie Anderson.”

I told Shannon to make sure our rooms going forward were conjoined. I might need her close to help with Miles, but I also need walls between us. I glance at the receptionist’s name tag—Alice. Alice needs to find me some walls.

She continues to type and click on her keyboard, but then frowns. “Nope, I actually don’t have that name in my system at all, and unfortunately, there are no conjoining rooms available.”

Motherfucker.

“Okay, what other options are there for…” My sentence dies at the conversation behind me.

“Hey, if there’s not an extra room, Dex’s nanny can bunk with me,” Jordan says.

The fuck she can.

“I wonder what that blonde hair would look like wrapped around?—”

Spinning away from the lobby desk, I’m ready to jump down his fucking throat, but then Will smacks the back of his head. “That’s my sister. Watch it. ”

“What, like you’re one to talk? Don’t be a fucking hypocrite, Anderson.”

Will takes a step toward Jordan, and, as the coach, I should probably step in, but I’d rather not.

“I’m not,” Will says calmly. “I’ll say this to anyone on this team, my sister is an adult, she can make her own damn decisions. I don’t need to know about them, but you will not disrespect her. Understood?”

Jordan's face is all too smug for my liking, but when Will doesn’t step down, he finally nods. “Understood.”

The receptionist clears her throat, bringing my attention back to her. “I’m sorry, Mr. Larsen, the only other options are the two king-bed rooms, or we have a suite that has two closed-off rooms and two baths. There is an additional cost?—”

“I’ll take it.” I just need walls.

After handing my card over to the receptionist, she returns with our new room keys. “Thank you.”

Turning away, I do my best to keep my mouth shut with Jordan.

A small curse is grumbled behind me. I get that I’m his coach. Things should probably be different between us, but I hated playing with the guy, and nothing but my role in the situation has changed.

I make my way over to the fountain but slow to a stop as I watch Lucie dig in her purse while Miles practically dances in anticipation in front of her. The smile on his face is already huge, but when she pulls out what I’m assuming is a coin, Miles's smile grows impossibly bigger.

Taking the coin, Miles walks over to the fountain as Lucie digs in her purse again, but this time she pulls out her phone to take a picture as Miles throws the coin over his shoulder.

In an instant, my phone buzzes in my pocket… God, please don’t let it be Kate calling to ruin this moment for me.

Except, it’s somehow worse. The text isn’t from my ex, it’s from Lucie. It’s the picture of Miles she just took. Fucking hell.

Walls—I definitely need walls and space between us if I’m going to make this work.

Reaching for my wallet, I go to pull out some more coins to take to Miles when Jordan passes by.

“Hey, Jordan,” I call on instinct.

He freezes in his tracks, but that smirk is on his face when he faces me. “Dex.”

Stepping in close just as Will did, I keep my voice even and low. “Anderson may not necessarily care if you take a run at his sister, but as for me—keep Lucie’s name out of your fucking mouth. I don’t want you going near her. Hell, consider her off-fucking-limits to even think about.”

“Careful, Dex. You’re sounding a little territorial over your nanny.”

“I am. So back the fuck off.” I walk past him before he can probably even register my response.

Telling him off like that will probably come back to bite me, but right now I can’t seem to care. I know Lucie is off-limits for me. It might be selfish, but I want to hold on to her light a little while longer.