Page 37 of Marrying My Ex's Boss

“Okay, I’ll trust you on that.” He stood and shook hands with Marcus before winking at me when Marcus gave him a look for holding his hand out for me to shake.

He's such a freak. I can’t even shake another man’s hand.

‘I like a bossy, disgruntled Daddy. Look at him; he’s ready to rip poor Caleb’s head off.’

Caleb just laughed as he left the room.

“Now, do you understand why I haven’t been paying you?”

“You know, for some reason, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t being paid.”

“That means I’ve been doing things right. Carl and Monique stocked up your refrigerator and pantry before she left to go to Boston, and the way she shops, I doubt you’d need to do another grocery shopping anytime soon.”

“You did all that?”

“Of course, who else?” For the first time at the office, or anywhere else for that matter, I hugged him. “Thank you.”

JUSTINE

That whole thing got me thinking. It seemed as if I’d been in some kind of fog for the past month without realizing it. When I got home that evening in my chauffeur-driven car, I looked in the pantry, the fridge, and even the garage, where I noticed cases of the juice my kids liked stacked against the wall along with boxes of snacks. Someone had bought out the whole of Costco; it looked like.

“When did all of this happen?”

Christine, the teenage babysitter is the one who showed me where everything was. “I thought you knew.”

“Christine, when is the last time I paid you?”

“Last week, you even gave me a raise, don’t you remember?”

She pulled out her phone and showed me where I’d been sending money to her account. It was almost twice what I’d been paying her before. Christine lives with her single mother, along with her five brothers and sisters. I’d found her number years ago on a wall in the local grocery store where she’d listed herself looking for babysitting gigs.

This girl had given up going away to college to attend the local community college so she could stay home and help her mom with her siblings after their father passed. She and I have had many talks in the two years since we met, and I knew she had dreams of becoming a pediatric nurse.

She’s always been good to my kids and has a good head on her shoulders for one so young. “Christine, how would you like a job working at the daycare center at my job?” I hadn’t talked much about it with anyone else, but the center was finally finished, and I was in the process of finding the doctor and nurse Marcus said he wanted on site.

There were already about thirty kids enrolled, and more to come once everyone heard about the options being offered. I mean, seriously, with daycare being what it is these days, someone offering you free daycare where you can actually check in on your kids throughout the day, who in their right mind is going to pass that up?

There was even an app where they would be able to watch their kids on screen at any given time throughout the day from their office. Marcus had thought of everything and had gone all out.

The daycare was massive. I’m not sure what was there before, but there were about three rooms: one with cribs for the babies to sleep in, one for toddlers and older kids, and then there was the playroom and a room for classes.

I called Marcus after she’d left for the evening. “Have you been paying my babysitter?”

“I have, yes. By the way, now that we’re on the subject. The two au pairs will be working at the center as well, but I think when we travel with the kids in the future, you should bring her if she’s the one you prefer since they know her better.”

Damn! If the way to a man’s heart is his stomach, the way to a mother’s heart has got to be her children. He’d been doing so much with my kids in mind, and I hadn’t even noticed. I wasn’t even sure how to feel about it because it meant I had no more excuses.

He was doing everything right, and I can’t help but wonder if this is all real. My parents are no help and neither are my siblings. All they do is sing his praises all day, and no matter what I say to them, they take his side.

If I say we’re moving too fast, my mother claims that I already wasted ten years on a no-good piece of shit, but now that someone decent is actually wanting to be in my life and take care of me and the girls, I’m dragging my feet.

There’s no point in asking Justice shit because he’s like a broken record when it comes to Marcus. As far as that slut is concerned, Marcus can do no wrong.

“Are you still there?”

“I think I’m in love with you.” Oh shit. I hung up on him and ran to the bedroom to hide under the covers. What the hell did I just do?

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