Page 36 of Whiskey and Regret

“I kinda fucked up my finances by being oblivious so it’s not a choice. Besides, if I stayed here, I would have never got to meet you and that’s unacceptable, Frank.” She smiled and drew her shoulders in a little.

“Wow, you seriously packed that thing up,” Navy walked around the huge box Sunshine was in then stopped to look at me. “Are you going to need Xanax or anything to get through movers touching your harp? I remember when you had it moved from Mom and Dad’s house to this apartment and I swore you were going to pass out.”

“Was it that bad?” Frankie asked, making her way to my bedroom. The only thing left in there was my bed and half a closet full of clothes. Those were luxury pieces that I wanted to personally carry to Evander’s house.

“It was horrible. I can’t breathe until my baby is on solid ground and in her permanent place. I rested my hand on the box that held Sunshine and tried to still my racing heart.

What if they dropped her? What if they were too rough and a string popped? What if they banged her on a corner and created a huge split?

I shut my eyes and breathed through the incessant worries bouncing around in my head. I’d get to unpack and play her tomorrow night. All would be well. I had to stop focusing on what could go wrong.

“Stop worrying, Xari. Sunshine will be fine.” Navy smiled a little and rubbed my shoulder.

“What if she’s not though?” I asked, worry creeping back into my mind like slippery black oil.

“She will be. The good thing about it is that Senator Freeman only lives fifteen minutes away. How’s everything going with him? You’re not driving him crazy, are you?”

If anything, he was drivingmecrazy. Making me curious. Making me horny. Making me hungry.

“Of course I am. That’s what I do best. No surprise there. He likes me, even when he pretends not to. I’m wearing him down. I got him to call me Xari today.”

Navy’s sculpted brows lifted to her hairline and a small smile bent her full lips up. “Wow. You must be growing on him. I swore he’d call you Miss Lucas forever.”

“He puts up a front but I’m starting to see there’s more to him than meets the eye.” My mind wandered off to the story he was writing.

The vivid details in that sex scene made me wonder what kind of imagination Darling Dick had. With an ex-wife like Alexis, he couldn’t have gotten a chance to understand how to fuck a woman.

I wanted to teach him.

“Oh my god, this is so cute!” Frankie squealed from my bedroom.

“I see you’ve made a new best friend with that one in there,” Navy chuckled.

“Frankie is so fucking cool. I don’t even think she sees it. The fact that she’s so laid back and she doesn’t try too hard is perfect. I want her to stay like that forever. I know high school is coming though.”

“Ah yes. High school. The great equalizer.” Navy shot me a look and I rolled my eyes. High school was where she finally excelled once she dealt with dyslexia. High school was where I learned what it meant to feel alone in a sea of people. I learned that being different wasn’t as cool as they made it seem in elementary and middle school. Being different in high school meant you didn’t have a circle of friends.

Nobody understood my dedication to the harp or why I couldn’t hang out on Fridays. They saw me as a flake at first then in sophomore year I was a nerd and remained there for the remainder of high school.

It didn’t matter that I could dress circles around everyone calling me a nerd. All that mattered was my unwillingness to deviate from my schedule. It paid off with a Julliard scholarship though so I couldn’t be too mad.

“Let’s cross our fingers that Frankie stays sweet through high school. I’m going to make sure of it,” I said with a smile.

Navy folded her arms and slid her lips to the side. “You’re going to make sure of it? You sound like this job is long-term.”

Realization settled into hot prickles along the apples of my cheeks. I did make it sound like this nanny job was for good. That wasn’t the case at all. I shook my head quickly dispelling the insinuation.

“Even when I move on, I’ll keep in touch with Frankie.”

“Okay, Xari,” Navy smirked.

It was easy for her to see I had a soft spot for Frankie. How could I not? She reminded me of myself when I was her age. Snappy but unsure and vulnerable.

Hell, I was still like that today.

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