Page 21 of Teasing

I try to tell myself it’s because this arrangement will make life easier and Rosie happy, but the lie falls flat, even to myself.

Would she like it? Like him?

Fuck. I shouldn’t care, but the idea of her and him—son of a bitch.

“Seriously?” Jamie asks, looking dumbfounded. “You actually asked her? We figured there was no way you were going there.”

We?

“What the hell does that mean?” I groan, regretting the question even as I ask it.

“You fucking suck at asking for help, Mav. You know it. I know it. Hell, Rosie probably knows it. You’re more of anI’ll do it myselfguy. I figured half-pint was going to end up at practice with us tomorrow at the rate you were going.” He grabs theblueberries from the fridge and hands them to me to add to our shakes. “Looks like the baby bird is learning how to fly all on his own.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I laugh. “Why are you such an asshole?”

An asshole who’s not wrong, and I do know it.

I suck at asking for help.

“Because I’m one of the few people who actually knows you. For what it’s worth, I think Emmie’s a good choice to help with Rosie.” He moves behind me so he can see into the yard, and a strangled sound comes from his throat.

“The fuck?” I murmur as I turn around.

Well hell... Emmie’s bent over in downward dog.

Her tight ass high in the air and her hair spilling around her face like an angel.

And I might just be going to hell because I can’t tear my eyes away.

She’s young... Too young. Too sweet. And too goddamned employed by me.

“What’cha doin’, Daddy?”

Rosie moves in front of me and Jamie as we both try to act like we weren’t just caught ogling our neighbor. Real smooth.

“Getting ready to make you breakfast,mia piccola rosa.” I pick her up and sit her on the counter. “What are you in the mood for?”

She looks around the kitchen and smiles when she sees the blueberries on the counter. “Can I have a blueberry smoothie?”

“You sure can.” I drop a kiss on the top of her head, then move her to a chair at the kitchen table. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Rosie scrunches her nose and a single dimple pops in her left cheek. “About what, Daddy?”

“So you know how Aurora was supposed to stay with you tomorrow when I go to work?” She nods her head, and her messy hair falls in her face.

I love when she first wakes up. She looks more like my baby than the big girl she’s becoming. The rest of the day, she’s a tiny tornado. But in the mornings, she’s slower and sweeter and a little less independent. She still makes me feel needed.

“Well, she’s going to spend a few weeks traveling, so we had to find someone else to stay with you when I can’t.”

“Did you find someone good?” Wide brown eyes look up at me, so trusting, my heart grows like the grinch’s.

“I think so. What would you think of Emmie being your new nanny until we find someone else?” Jamie chokes behind me, and I don’t know if it’s from the idea of Emmie being Rosie’s nanny or if Emmie managed to get into an even more impressive position. And why does that thought make me want to hit my best friend?

“Emmie? Yes, please. She’s so pretty and so nice, and she has roses in her backyard and?—”

I run my hand over her hair, slowing her down before she hyperventilates. “I got you, sweets. That’s a yes for Emmie. I’ll get everything set up for tomorrow.” I tug her hair and smile down at my beautiful little girl. “You’ve got to promise me you’ll listen to her, but you might have to help her a little in the beginning too, okay? You know what you can eat and what you can’t, right?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

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