Page 92 of Loving Leo

“Just in passing,” I lie and she narrows her gaze at me, much more intuitive than I thought.

“I don’t believe that. My children don’t associate with the staff.”

I bite my tongue and glance away, wishing she’d leave me alone because the longer she stays here the more chance I have of blurting something out I shouldn’t. I have terrible verbal diarrhea.

“I mean, they do,” I say softly and she takes a step closer. “You must not know them very well if you think that.”

She purses her lips and cocks her head, not liking my response. I bet no one talks back to her. I bet she always gets her way.

She’s so different than my mom.

“You were hired to do a job, not socialize with my children.”

“I didn’t approach them. They came to me.”

Her eye twitches. She doesn’t like that either.

“Just stay away from them. And do your job. After that, I never want to see you again.”

I give her a clipped nod, feeling my heart sink when I catch Heath making his way over to us with a purpose. It seems he’s at his wits end.

“Mother, you’re wanted,” he says, trying to get her away from me.

I appreciate the thought, but don’t want him involved. As nasty as she seems, she is his mother and I don’t want to come between them or be the reason there is any animosity in their family.

“I was busy taking care of things.”

“Well, you should not be working. Its your anniversary. Paul will take care of whatever the issue is. That’s what you’ve hired him to do.”

She huffs and then turns to walk away, just as Heath moves upto me. “You okay?” he asks softly and I grin up at him, just as his mother turns toward us once more and catches the way he gently touches my hand.

It’s obvious what this is.

She sees it and seethes. I swear smoke comes out of her ears.

Marching back to us, she grabs onto Heath’s arm and tugs him forward. I can do nothing but stand there and watch as she gets into his face, hissing angry words at him. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but I get the gist.

He gave us away.

His face is pale, his shoulders sinking as she pokes him in the chest. I don’t know if this is because I’m a man or the help. For some reason, I think it’s the latter.

I need to leave before things get worse. It’s almost time for me to go anyway, my shift is almost over. I hesitate just a moment, wanting to know what Heath wants me to do when I hear him say, “It’s nothing. Fuck. Just leave it!”

The way his voice rises, his eyes flicking to me, shame filling his tortured gaze says it all. I know why he did it, but still, it hurts.

I need a minute to gather my thoughts. I need some space.

Like I said, it’s better if I leave. I should have left hours ago. The minute I saw him I should have taken off.

This is a conflict of interest or some shit.

I’ve ruined things. I’ve ruined it all.

I move inside the house, setting the tray down and walking out without a backwards glance.

Heath and I can talk later.

Right now, I need to think about what this means.

---