Page 22 of The Homemaker (The Chain of Lakes #1)
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alice
Commitment is messy. Keep it simple.
I can’t break the fourth wall, but I want to.
Murphy knows I remember him. But the second one of us acknowledges it, the illusion will be shattered. There will be questions and consequences. So why did he almost do it?
I have a good life. Good enough.
And so does he.
In the fall, he will marry Blair and move to New York. I will stay here and put most of my paycheck into savings so I can buy a house in Edina.
Single and alone.
During the holidays, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy Paddon will come home to visit. Perhaps they will bring their children, and I can be the nanny while the adults go to dinner and sit in a private box at the theater to watch The Nutcracker .
Maybe Vera will die, and Hunter will make me his secret lover.
As I serve breakfast to Blair, Murphy, and their children, I’ll overhear one of their kids saying he heard Grandpa Morrison making noises the previous night. Murphy will discreetly mumble to Blair, “Sounds like your dad found someone to suck his old, gray balls.”
Blair will gasp and slap his arm, but not before snorting. She’ll say, “Stop! That’s gross. Can you imagine who would be desperate enough to sleep with my old dad?”
“Do you have something you’d like to tell me?” Hunter asks, bringing me out of my ridiculous hallucination as I refill his coffee.
What is wrong with me? Why does my mind wander so far out of reality?
It’s just him and Murphy for an early breakfast. They have a tee time in an hour, and Blair and Vera are still in bed.
Murphy eyes me, glancing up from his plate of steak that Hunter has him eating every morning, too.
He shamed him with something about “real men” being carnivores.
But I like to believe that Murphy eats steak because I’m the one cooking it.
“Sorry. Was there something I was supposed to do for you?” I press my lips together and squint at Hunter.
“Yes. You’re supposed to work for me. But I got a text from my neighbor saying you baked him a pie for his birthday and spanked him in his birthday suit.”
Murphy snickers, pressing a fist to his mouth while coughing.
I shrug. “I was told by the powers that be that a good homemaker bakes pies for neighbors. But the spanking him in his birthday suit was on my own time.” I shoot him a toothy grin. “Not on the clock.”
Hunter scowls at Murphy when he won’t stop laughing.
“Did he try to steal you?” Hunter asks.
I nod.
“How much?”
“Double what you’re paying me.”
“Christ.” Hunter shakes his head. “Before you pack your bags and cross the line into enemy territory, just know that he won’t be paying you to cook him breakfast and do his laundry.
He’ll make you wear a bikini while you apply hemorrhoid cream to his ass.
I might be ‘needy’ according to the missus, but Rupert Rawlings is nothing but a blend of vanilla-flavored meal replacement sludge and dick enhancement drugs.
Now,” he takes one last sip of his coffee and stands, “if you’ll excuse me, I need to smother my wife with a pillow and brush my teeth so we don’t miss our tee time. ”
After offering a tight smile, I return to the kitchen.
“How does it feel to be the trophy for which two old guys are fighting over?” Murphy asks, bringing his dirty dishes to the kitchen.
“Just something to check off my bucket list.”
“Is that so? If that’s the case, I’d love to hear the rest of your bucket list.”
I take the dishes from Murphy. “Thanks. But you have to stop doing my job.”
“I’m just helping out. Do you want to know what else I like to do?”
“The dishes?” I turn my back and run water in the sink.
“When I go to the store, I like to organize the carts in the cart return so they’re in neat rows.”
I close my eyes for a second before adding soap to the water. He’s pushing so hard. That fourth wall will not last until the end of summer.
“That’s nice of you.”
“I think so too. But I once knew this woman who?—”
“Do you think she’s going to make it this time?” I ask, cutting him off.
“Who? What are you talking about?”
I scrub the plate with the sponge. “Blair. Do you think she’s going to make it down the aisle and say yes to you?”
There’s a long pause. In fact, I’m not sure he’s still in the room, so I glance over my shoulder. Murphy’s expression dies. He looks lost.
I turn back toward the sink. “It must be agonizing,” I say. “Loving someone with your whole heart, planning for a future, yet living with such uncertainty. Because you do, right? You love her with your whole heart?”
“Let’s go, Murphy,” Hunter calls from the back door.
My spine straightens and I hold my breath hostage when Murphy steps closer, so close the heat from his body singes my skin, so close that the mix of eucalyptus and sweet birch from his body wash fills my next breath.
“Thanks for breakfast,” he whispers in my ear, his face brushing my hair, and I feel it everywhere.
“Have you been to Disney?” Callen asks as we lie tangled under a chenille throw on the leather sofa at sunset.
“I have. Why?”
“Just curious.”
“Did you tell your wife you want to bring your girlfriend next time?” I tease his ribs while resting my head on his hairy chest.
“ Ex-wife. And no, I didn’t tell her that because I didn’t know I had a girlfriend. Are you applying for the position? Think you can handle being a homemaker and a girlfriend?”
I giggle. “You’re right. I’m not your girlfriend, just your lover.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I just worry that you had a terrible childhood, and I don’t want to flaunt my trips in front of you.”
“Then you should have left your Mickey ears at home.”
“Shut the fuck up.” He laughs. “I didn’t bring Mickey ears.”
“But you have a pair, right?”
“No. But I have a cool lightsaber that makes noises.”
I grin. “Did your kids have a fun time?”
“The best.”
“And you and your ex got along just fine?”
“We did.”
“Did you have vacation sex after the kids were asleep?”
“What?” He grabs my arms to lift me off his chest so he can see my face.
I sit up between his spread legs, pulling the blanket to my chest as I roll my eyes. “I’m kidding. Or not. It doesn’t matter, Callen. I don’t care if you did. I’m not your girlfriend.”
“Well, for the record, I do happen to care if you’re screwing some other guy, so maybe we should have a talk. We don’t have to be serious, but I prefer we be monogamous. Despite what you think, I’m a coach, not a player.”
“Cute,” I say, giving him a fake smile while standing. I drop the blanket and pull my black sundress over my head before padding to the bathroom.
When I return, he’s dressed and sitting on the edge of the sofa with his elbows on his knees and his head resting in his hands.
I stare at him for a few seconds before climbing over the sofa and hugging his back. “Callen, will you go steady with me?” I kiss his neck.
“Don’t. You make me sound insecure. And I don’t want this.” He shakes his head. “Or at least, I didn’t want this. Fuck, I don’t know. You’re giving me exactly what I thought I wanted, and now I’m acting like a goddamn pussy about it.”
I laugh before trapping his earlobe between my teeth.
“Let’s stick to lover or mistress,” he says.
“Mistress?” I crane my neck to look at him. “Can I be your mistress if you’re not married?”
He twists his lips to the side. “I think so. Basically, you’re my secret girlfriend. We sneak around and have sex. It feels naughty.”
“So we’ve decided to continue doing exactly what we have been doing?”
Callen returns a guilty smile. “Something like that.”
“Wanna go for a swim?”
He angles toward me, pulling me onto his lap. “Is that allowed?”
“They’ve gone to dinner and then a show. So they won’t be home until at least eleven, if not midnight. I’m allowed to use the pool.”
“Skinny dipping?” He lifts an eyebrow.
“I’m going to say no since there are several two-story houses with views of the pool.”
“And you’re opposed to public indecency? ”
I think of Rosie watching Murphy and me having sex on the dining room table through the faux wood Venetian blinds.
“No,” I say. “But since my job is tied to it, I think we should play it safe and wear suits.”
“I don’t have a suit.”
“You can wear your briefs. That’s sufficient.” I slide off his lap and offer my hand. “Come on, lover.”