Page 6 of Cross My Heart
I look over to Molly. “Yes, please. Just put it on my desk…ah, at some point.”
Harper's screams are inconsolable. I know because I have been trying for two weeks, but once she starts, she goes on for hours.Can kids have colic at eleven months?I peek down at my beautiful baby girl and soften. I have to remember it’s not her fault.
“Molly, can you get the door, please? I’ll try to get her calmed down.”
“Yes, sir.”
I peek back down at Harper. “Please, baby girl, don’t scare off this nanny too. I hate to admit it, but I need help.”
Harper just stares at me and keeps on screaming.
I put her on my hip and sigh.When did I become a sigher? I hear Molly coming down the hall talking. When I look up, my chest constricts.What the hell?
“Mr. Cross, Lanie Heart to see you.” Molly stares at me like I have three heads, and maybe I do, but I can’t seem to form words. “Okay, well, I’ll leave you two to it then?” My assistant says quizzically. “Sara is in the contraption on the kitchen floor, and Tate is sitting at the table doing homework. I’ll be in your office.” She reminds me as she turns, leaving me staring at Lanie Heart.
Lanie Heart is beautiful, gorgeous even. I’ve never hurt for a woman’s attention, though it has been years since I’ve been affected by one. When the business took off—thankfully after Bitchzilla left—women were continually inundating me with unwanted attention, but I’m no idiot. While I know I’m good looking, I also know they see a handsome face covered in dollar signs.
No-fucking-thank-you!
Lanie Heart stands there with her hands on her hips and her head tilted to the side. She is staring between Harper and me, and I can’t read what she’s thinking. I can always read people, which makes her dangerous for all kinds of reasons.
She has skinny jeans on that cause her legs to continue for miles, matched with a t-shirt that says ‘The Northeast Kingdom’ on it.What is the Northeast Kingdom, some sort of video game?I make a mental note to Google that later. She isn’t in anything fancy, and yet the perfect fitting t-shirt has my blood running south. As if I need more reasons to be attracted to her, she has long, dirty blonde hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Hiring this girl isn’t going to work. I can’t have her living in my house. Nothing good will come of that.
Shit, how long have I been staring at her?She seems to be laughing at me and about to take action. Lanie is headed straight for me just as Molly walks back in.
“Mr. Cross, it’s nice to meet you. It seems like you have your hands full,” her voice melodies.
I watch on as she comes toe to toe with me. She is tall. Really fucking tall.I’m 6”5, and she has to be at least 6 feet. Harper, who is still screaming in my arms, reaches for her.
Wait, what the fuck? The pediatrician said she is going through something called stranger danger and hasn’t let anyone but me hold her in two months. That’s part of the reason I keep losing nannies. Not that I can blame them, but it’s their job, so they should be able to handle her.
I can’t take my eyes off Lanie Heart as she scoops up Harper, scanning the room with a scrunched-up nose. I take a covert glance around to determine what she sees—boxes and boxes of shit. Toys and baby gear are covering every available surface. As I scan the room, I realize Harper has stopped crying.
I glance down at her and back to Lanie Heart with wide eyes.What the hell is going on?Lanie Heart is smiling at Harper and kissing her cheeks, and my daughter is...laughing? Seriously, she’s laughing? I look back to Lanie Heart, and she has apparently had enough of my blundering. She turns, again looking around, and asks, “Which way to the kitchen?”
Molly and I both point through the doorway, dumbstruck, as Lanie Heart starts walking away, cuddling a now quiet Harper.
Molly has come up beside me, so I glance down at her. Under my breath, I say, “Who is she, fucking Mary Poppins?”
Molly begins to answer when I realize I said it pretty loudly because Lanie Heart turns her head over her shoulder and answers me.
“I prefer Maria, but I promise not to cut up your curtains for play clothes.” She glances around the room again, “Unless I find you dress them in suits and party dresses 24/7.” Giving me a crooked smile, then she walks through the door.
“What the hell is she talking about, who is Maria?” Molly wonders out loud.
I turn to Molly and almost smile. “I think she just made a Sound of Music reference.” And she isn’t shy about calling me out either. This could be bad. Very, very bad. I discreetly adjust myself and follow the path that Lanie ‘Maria’ Heart just walked.
Lanie
Chapter 3
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.Mr. Cross is hot. Like hotter than hot. Completely disheveled with dark hair a little too long and wild above his deep green eyes. He is so tall, he makes me feel small, and that’s no easy feat. I can’t even describe the wall of muscle that was his chest when I grabbed Harper from his arms.
Seriously, Lanie, you just took a man’s daughter out of his hands and walked away!I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I now have a calm baby on my hip, and I’m walking towards the kitchen, I think. This house is fucking nuts. Who needs a home this big?Focus, Lanie.
I heard the woman named Molly say Sara and Tate were in the kitchen, so I’m heading that way. I had walked into what I can only describe as a war zone. Mr. Cross, standing with a half-dressed screaming baby. Lord knows what is covering the front of his dress shirt. Or why he was standing in the middle of hundreds of boxes. There are toys everywhere and makeshift diaper changing stations all over the room. While it looks like the house will eventually be tastefully decorated, I can’t help but wonder how long they have lived here.
