Page 26 of Mister Mom

She smiles again and my gaze drifts to the counter.

“Are you going to give me an answer to every reason?”

She nods.

“So in order for you to take the part…”

“You need to be his manny.”

“You’ll be working on finding someone else?”

“Yep, and then I’ll be sure to have someone before shooting starts on your film, too.”

The waitress comes over with a coffee pot, but I decline nicely, whereas Layla takes another cup.

“You don’t even know me,” I say.

“My manager did a police check on you last night.”

“You did a police check on me without asking?”

She smiles, placing her spoon on the shredded napkin on the table. “Of course. Do you think I’d let some weirdo watch my son?”

My heart rate picks up. Even though I know it would take an extensive background check to ever connect the two.

“One week, Layla, and I can’t make any promises about how he’ll be after that week. He could be swearing as much as a truck driver, hopped up on sugar, and have thumb callouses from video games.”

She laughs like I’m kidding. “So that’s a yes?” she asks, a contagious smile on her face.

“It’s an ‘I guess.’ Under protest.”

Her hands clap together and she bounces in her seat a little before calming back down.

“Thank you, Vance. I owe you.” The sincerity in her voice tells me she means it.

“Just do one hell of a job on this film.”

“I will. I promise. I’ll text you my address. You’re a lifesaver.”

Then we sit in silence as I contemplate what I just agreed to and whether or not I even had a choice not to accept. I don’t think so. Did I? I shouldn’t have helped the kid with the toy. I shouldn’t have put on that big-brother act, but I was trying to win Layla over so she’d take the part, not trying to apply for her nanny position.

I can handle anything for a week. Seven days. Easy-peasy. This kid thinks he’s tough but I can be a drill sergeant if I have to be. If one of us is going to break, it isn’t going to be me.

8

Vance

“You’re going to be her manny?” The questioning tone in Leo’s voice makes me lose some of my earlier confidence. Could I really screw this kid up in a matter of days?.

“But she agreed to take on the role, right?” Jagger takes a bite of his taco.

“Yeah, she agreed.” I push my plate away, for once not in the mood to eat.

Jagger and Leo went surfing this morning so I stopped here to meet up with them for lunch. Lucky for us, Heidi is off today, so we can have a conversation without Leo and I having to witness the endless flirting between her and Jagger.

“I don’t get it. Why can’t she find someone else?” Leo’s still questioning why I would agree to something like this and I can’t say I blame him, but I’m exhausted from talking about it and don’t care to go into details.

“If he wants his film made, he needs to do whatever it takes to get her to accept the role. If the manny is her ultimatum, then being the manny is it.” Jagger takes a quick swig of his beer and then points it in my direction. “Call me when you head to the park with the little guy, okay?” He winks over another mouthful of taco.

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