Page 21 of That First Night
“So, you two fuck twits understand my situation now?” I say, louder than intended with my arms spread out in the air to make a goddamn point.
Looking back at that night with Peyton, I think maybe I did go a tad bit psycho over losing her. I mean, she didn’t get a chance to tell me that it was an epic orgasm, but I witnessed the way her body reacted to me. The way she moaned my name over and over, as her orgasm rippled through her body. Great, now I’m rocking a fucking semi. I need to get my brothers out of here before she shows up.
“You two need to go,” I say when the two of them don’t respond. “I don’t want you here when she shows up.”
Oliver throws himself back on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and crossing both legs. Both hands are behind his head signifying that he doesn’t plan on moving from his spot. “I’m good right here, big bro.”
“Get out, both of you.” I snap my arm out, pointing my finger at the open door.
“Fine, we’re going.” Marc throws his hands up in a surrender. “But we want updates tonight. Don’t forget about drinks tonight at Moores.”
“Fuck, is it Wednesday already? Shit, yeah I'll be there,” I confirm, running my hands through my hair.
When we all turned 21, we started meeting every Wednesday for ‘hump day’ drinks at Moores, a quiet bar in the city. We chose this day of the week because the bar isn’t too packed, and we always left with a chick that we can hump into Thursdays. Since we started that, a lot has changed. It’s about every other Wednesday now, give or take, and now it’s just Logan or Oliver bringing girls home. I mean if he’s even in town. Since James was born, it's been more of just getting together with Marc or Logan and decompressing from the work week.
“I’ll call you guys as I’m heading out,” I say to them as they walk out the door.
As much as I don’t feel like going out tonight, I think I am going to really need that whiskey after meeting with Peyton. I’m doing my damn hardest to get that night out of my brain and function like a normal human being when she’s around. She’s going to be my son’s nanny, so I have to reign it in and do my part to keep this professional.
I have to keep it this way because my son needs someone. Emiline told me all about their interaction before I walked up at the park yesterday and she was adamant that I needed to hire her because of how she interacted with him and not let her go. This is what he needs right now. More than that, that’s what hedeserveswhen I can’t be there for him.
I close the door behind my brothers, fall onto the loveseat in my office and call the front desk to let them know about Peyton coming. Now, I can have some quiet time to really focus on my thoughts.I can do this, you know, be in her presence after all these years. I know I can.I can’t do relationships anyway because I swore them off after Sheila burned me. I didn’t do them before her, but I tried to make one work for James. Epic fail. That alone is enough reason to control myself around Peyton and make sure no part of me even thinks about pursuing her. After an hour of internally battling with my own brain and attempting to get some emails answered, I hear a soft knock on the door.
“Yes, come in,” I call out.
Everything I just talked myself out of has gone out the fucking window as Peyton slowly walks into my office. She looks even more stunning than yesterday when I saw her at the park. Her long hair is let down with soft curls hanging over her almost bare shoulder. She is wearing a light blue sundress that matches her blue eyes and flows just above her knee.
“Peyton.” I can feel my voice crack when I say her name. “Please come in.”
“Thank you for meeting me on such short notice,” she says, staring at the ground as she takes a seat at the farthest seat across the room from me. “I just want to discuss some details of the job before I get started.”
“Of course, of course.” I cross the room, unbuttoning my suit jacket and lean against my desk. I cross my arms in front of my chest and continue, “James will be very excited to hear that the two first name nanny will be taking care of him.”
I think I have successfully broken the tension in the room when I hear her let out a light laugh. “I am very excited to be his nanny,” she says, looking up from the ground. “It seems like you have done a very good job raising him.”
Hit me right in the chest with that compliment, why don’t you?
“T-thank you for that. I do the best I can with the schedule I have,” I say, crossing the room to sit in the chair near her. I don’t feel like I am as close to her as I want to be, but it’s just enough space for this moment. Taking a seat, I lean back and cross my leg over the other resting my ankle on my thigh.
I can visibly see her swallow from her seat as she shuffles to cross her legs.
“What do you do here for work?” she asks, as she scans the room to take in the large office.
“I own Ford Enterprises,” I say confidently. “We invest in properties around the city. It’s mostly high-rise businesses and apartments.”
“But isn’t most of the city built full of high rises and large apartment buildings?” she asks.
I smirk a little at her question. “It is. And my name is on all of them.”
Her mouth falls open when the realization hits her. “Thomas Ford?”
“In the flesh,” I say, spreading my arms out wide.
She pauses as she fiddles with the hem of her dress. She’s sitting so close, yet so far away from me.
“The other day at the park, you said you just moved here. Where did you move from?” I take that moment to ask her. I want to dig into her life and get to know her the way I didn’t get to know her the first night.
Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she looks up and says, “I moved here from South Jersey. I grew up in a small town outside of the shore and it’s where I lived my whole life, up until a couple of days before I met you in the park.”
