Page 31 of Whiskey and Regret

“No. You won’t. I’ll pick up my daughter from school. Go get in the truck, Francesca.” Alexis rolled her eyes and brushed past Xari who seemed to have red waves of anger rolling off her.

“Have a good day, sweetheart,” I said with a groan.

“You think you can hire an expensive piece of pussy to be Frankie’s nanny so you can have your way with her while my daughter sleeps across the hall?” She scoffed. “I’ll never allow her to pick my baby up. I’ll never allow her to be around Frankie.”

“You think I hired Miss Lucas so I could fuck her?” My voice was a growl. Xari snapped her espresso eyes to mine, bewildered. “I can fuck whoever I want to. I don’t need to hire anyone to stick my dick in.”

“I don’t put anything past you, Evander,” she fired back.

“If you keep Frankie from Miss Lucas she won’t forgive you.”

“What? Because they’re best friends or something? Give me a fucking break. She doesn’t know Frankie. You can find someone else. Not her though.”

“What the hell did I do to you?” Xari asked. Her body went stiff beneath the fluid lines of her blouse and pants.

“Evander, tell your help to keep her mouth shut.”

“Help? You must have lost what little bit of mind you had left. Just because I’m Frankie’s nanny, doesn’t mean I get to be silenced. I’m trying so fucking hard not to slice you from head to toe with my tongue because I need this job and this money but if you ever talk about me like I’m invisible again, I promise I’ll either make you cry or make you want to kill me.”

Well shit. I didn’t have to say much in Xari’s defense at all. She already had Alexis foaming at the mouth, ready to bite her head off. I hid my smirk and turned to my ex-wife.

“Hurry up and drop Frankie off, Alexis.”

“I’m coming back here to talk about this little situation, Evander. Don’t think you’re off the hook. You or your little plaything.”

“I can assure you I’m not this man’s plaything. Even if we were fucking, he wouldn’t know what to do with me.” Xari tipped her freckle-sprinkled nose in the air and left the kitchen.

Alexis started in on me, nagging and bitching but I could barely hear her over the steady thumping of the organ in my chest. Adrenaline shot through my veins like liquid caffeine. I stared at Miss Lucas’ ass while she swayed down the hall. That little girl had no fucking idea who she was tempting. She had no idea what I would do to her.

Bonita Applebum, you gotta put me on.

Bonita. Bonita. Bonita.

“Do you hear me talking to you, Van?” Alexis’s voice split my thoughts in two. I blinked and focused on her. I had a mounting problem on my hands if I didn’t get her on board with Miss Lucas being the nanny.

“Take Frankie to school,”

I sighed, walking away from her. “Don’t come back here to discuss anything. We can talk over the phone. I have to get ready for work.” I ushered her out the front door while she fussed non-stop. Her voice was a cheese grater shredding my brain into thin ribbons.

Once the door closed and silence fell around my shoulders like a warm blanket, I was finally able to breathe.

…

NINE

“Hey,” Freeman said from the doorway of Frankie’s room. I hadn’t officially moved in yet but my things were scheduled to be brought in tomorrow. With his ex-wife on a rampage, I didn’t know if he’d still hire me. He seemed to be able to stand his ground when she was around but that could have all been bark and no bite.

“Hey. Is filter face gone?” I folded my arms across my chest. Freeman cracked the smallest smile before nodding and walking in.

“I’m sorry about that, Miss Lucas.” He rubbed the back of his neck and cast his stare at the floor. I used the quiet seconds to study him dressed down in basketball shorts and a tank top. It gave me a chance to see his tattoos and muscles.

His arms were sculpted from bronze and covered in artwork. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw glimpses of his tattoos peeking from beneath his sleeves. Every layer Freeman peeled back seemed to intrigue me more.

“You called me Xari before she came over.” I took a step closer to him. I don’t know why. Maybe I liked his scent.

“Did I?”

“You’re full of shit, Evander.”