Page 12 of The Last Thing (Baker Girls #4)

CHAPTER TWELVE

HALLIE

“Soph! Give me a hug. I’m leaving.”

Sophia bolts into the room and runs over to her dad.

So far, nannying her is going really well. She’s a bright burst of sunshine, she’s creative, she’s got a billion ideas about everything, and she loves to dance. I’ll never say no to a random dance party.

And as for Deck… I’ve kept things professional.

I help out, talk with him about how Sophia is doing, try to keep all the focus on her.

It’s become mandatory in Sophia’s eyes that I stay for dinner, but she’s such a chatterbox she keeps all the attention on her.

As soon as dinner’s over, I escape back to my apartment.

Deck never knocks on my door, but I swear sometimes I can feel his intense energy through the wall.

It doesn’t help that our rooms are so close together.

Only a thick wall between us. It’s not even brick.

But that’s fine. There’s a wall there, literally and metaphorically, and that’s all that matters.

“Love you, sweetheart. Have fun today,” he calls as Sophia leaves the room. Then he clears his throat. “Have a good day. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks. You too… Mr. Decker.”

He freezes with his hand on the door, and I hide a smile as I turn back to the sink. Once the door closes behind him, I let myself laugh.

Okay, maybe I’m blurring the professional lines a little bit, but I like having fun with him. And having fun keeps me from thinking too hard about that little speech he gave me the other night.

I was dangerously close to breaking my rule. Multiple rules. Only hookups, and don’t get involved with the client—though really, it’s a little late for that.

But I almost gave in to the wild chemistry between us. The sparks that fly every time he touches me.

Falling for Wilson Decker is a recipe for heartbreak.

I need to keep him in the fun zone. Fun friend zone. Fun, boss, friend, co-parent zone. Sounds totally manageable.

“I’ll smother him in his sleep. Find out where he’s working and make sure he has an accident on the job site. I?—”

“Calm down and come back from the murder place,” I say to Justin, who looks like he’s about to blow a gasket. “I’m not mad at him anymore.”

I’m sitting in the corner of the couch at his and Jade’s apartment. He’s sitting a couple spots over, fuming.

“Well, that makes one of us.”

“There’s more to the story.”

“Does it include an evil twin being the one who heard that and reacted like a fuckwad?”

“Oh, I hope not. I hate an evil twin plot,” Jade says as she walks into the room.

“No evil twin. He apologized and gave me a whole speech about how I deserve to be taken care of and that he’s the one who’s going to do it. And maybe a few things in there about how much he wants me and wishing he wouldn’t have let it be one night in the first place.”

“And then what? You threw your underwear at his face?” Jade asks playfully.

Justin’s brows lift. “What did you say?”

“Thanks. I don’t do love. Let’s co-parent and keep this professional. Bye.”

Justin throws his head back, laughing. “Aw, Hal. You like him.”

“How does anything I just said give you that idea?”

“You only run from things that scare you. And nothing scares you more than lo?—”

“Don’t you even say it, or I’ll punch you in the nads.”

Jade laughs, then hums the chorus of Love Story by Taylor Swift as she walks into the kitchen

“I hate you.”

“You love me,” she sings, pulling the refrigerator open.

Technically, I’m still getting to know Jade, but she’s awesome. And she makes Justin ridiculously happy.

Jade walks over to the couch and hands me a cup.

“What’s this?”

“Homemade banana vanilla shake. Justin made it earlier.”

I stick my lip out. “Thanks, buddy.”

“So much nicer than threatening my balls.”

“Would it be the worst thing to actually have feelings for this guy?” Jade asks.

“Yes,” I say dramatically. Because not only am I chaotic, I’m a massive drama queen at the moment.

They share a look, then they both whisper, “Afraid to fall.”

Jade glances at me, smirking. “And he fell first and hard.”

“He’s going to break through her walls.”

I take a loud slurp of my milkshake and glare at them.

“Glad you two are having fun with your romance tropes. I’m going to keep living in the real world.”

“No, you’re living in delusional Hallie land if you think you can keep the feelings you don’t want to admit you have for him locked down,” Justin says.

“You’re annoying.” I take a sip of my shake. “But I’ve really missed you.”

Jade and Justin exchange a glance, then Jade hops up again and kisses Justin on the cheek before she leaves the room.

Justin slides closer. “You okay, Hal? Besides the obvious chaos right now. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’ve known you too long, and it’s never worked. All this aside, the last few times I saw you, you had more of an edge than normal.”

“Well, that’s what happens when everyone leaves you behind.”

“Hallie.”

Fuck the stupid tears in my eyes.

Justin wraps an arm around me. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

“Why? You needed to do what was right for you.”

“But I didn’t reach out enough. Didn’t call or visit enough. I’m sorry for that. We’ve always been close, and I consider you my little sister. I hate that you ever felt left behind.”

I shrug. “It is what it is. I’ve been dead set on avoiding love. Everyone else left to find where their hearts were supposed to be. With mine closed off, it’s no wonder I ended up there alone.”

“You didn’t close off from us, though. You act like love is something to be scared of, but that’s the exact thing you’ve been missing from all of us.”

“You’re my family. It’s different.”

“I don’t think it is. And one day, you’re going to have to make a choice—do you want to become bitter and closed off or do you want to open your heart to something more? Either way, we’ll all still love you, but you should be happy too.”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Always.”

“This isn’t how I saw anything going. Sometimes it’s scary. Everything’s chaotic and I have no idea what I’m doing. But despite all that, I like where I am now. As crazy as it sounds, I think I’m happy.”

He chuckles and ruffles my hair. “I love that for you.”

“Twirl me!” Sophia grabs my hand, and I spin her around as we dance to Taylor Swift.

We should start making dinner soon, but I can’t deny Sophia a little dance party. Plus, they liven me up too. By this time of day, I’m usually exhausted, and a dance party gets me energized again.

I jump when the apartment door swings open a solid hour before Deck should be home.

I fumble for my phone to turn off the music as Sophia runs toward the door. “Nana!”

I spin around quickly, a smile plastered on my face, and look at Deck’s mother.

She’s about my height, though her body is fuller with beautiful curves. Her medium-length hair is graying brown and perfectly styled, and she’s wearing a bright smile that matches Sophia’s.

“Hi, Mrs. Decker. I’m Hallie.”

Her warm smile grows a little. “It’s nice to meet you. And please, call me Linnie. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I brought some groceries and thought I might make some dinner.”

Sophia frowns. “But we already have food to make.”

“We do, but we can make that any night. Let’s see what your nana brought. It’s probably even better. And maybe the three of us could cook it together.”

Sophia’s eyes light up at that, and Linnie walks over to me and rests a hand on my arm.

“I like you already.”

We share a laugh, then she follows Sophia into the kitchen where she starts unpacking the bag she brought.

I pull out my phone and quickly text Deck.

Me: Hey, no emergency. Your mom is here. I just want to know what she knows, so I’m prepared.

It’s not until she’s explaining to Sophia how to make the spinach and ricotta pasta bake that he texts back.

Deck: Sorry. Usually she mentions when she’s planning to stop by. As of now, she only knows you’re the nanny Sophia loves, who is also saving my ass.

Me: Good to know. Thanks.

I stare at my screen for a second, thinking of how sexy his ass looked naked.

Nope. I need to get my shit together, and thinking of Deck’s ass is not going to help me do that.

With that, I tuck my phone away and get to work helping in the kitchen.

Linnie is lovely, and it’s clear where Sophia gets a lot of her energy and charm from. I see some of it in Deck too, but from the way Linnie has been talking, he takes after his late father.

He only briefly mentioned that his dad passed away before Sophia was born, but it’s clear from the way his mom talks that the three of them were very close.

The door swings open, and Deck walks in, soaking wet. Sophia is halfway to him when she thinks better of hugging him.

“Why are you late and drenched?” Linnie asks.

It’s only then that I put it all together and glance at the window.

“Crap. When did it start raining? I didn’t put the top back on the Wrangler?—”

“I did it.” Deck looks at me, a drop of water dripping off his hair and running down his cheek.

He reaches up and pushes his hair back from his face.

“That was sweet of you, honey,” Linnie says.

“Yes.” I clear my throat. “You—you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s better than you cleaning out a wet car or struggling to put it on in the rain. It started raining when I had mostly finished, so you should be okay.”

I stare at him, and the expression in his eyes is so… earnest. It hits me right in the chest.

He wants to take care of me .

And there’s a part of me that’s soft for him and wants to let him.

That fear of having my heart crushed dances in the back of my mind. With him, it would be complete and total devastation. If I let him care for me the way he wants to… it would end up destroying me.

I can’t go there with him.

“Thank you, Mr. Decker.”

He goes rigid and his eyes flit to mine as he flexes and releases a fist.

He clears his throat. “No problem. I’ll just wash up, and then we can eat.”

I watch him walk out of the room and fight the urge to follow him. To thank him for real. But being alone with him—especially in his bedroom—would be a very bad idea.

I keep telling myself I won’t give in to the pull between us. But in moments like this, holding out feels like an impossibility.