Page 90 of The B!tch List

“Yep, for real. It would only be part-time, so you’d still need to find something else.”

“Anything, Nancy,” she cried, throwing her arms around me. “That would be like, awesome.”

“Okay then.” I hugged her and then held her at arm’s length. “It won’t be for a few months, because I need to get the place ready and maybe if you like it you could go to community college and get some qualifications.”

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about doing a business course you know. Jennifer made me realize that if I was older maybe I could have leased Cake Heaven from her.”

“Well that’s great, Lil. See how you do at my place and then decide which course you want to take.”

She grinned. “My mom is going to pee her pants when she finds out. She’s been trying to persuade me to go to college for like forever.” She hugged me again. “I’m going to go and tell her.” She paused. “If he needs to would you let Jacob enroll JJ for after school?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to offer yet, but maybe with you on board we can do breakfast and after school activities.” It was a great idea to be honest and would certainly help to boost the funds until I could get an actual teacher or qualify myself.

“Mom’s back from the bathroom. I’ll tell her now.” I looked over in the direction that Lily was headed and there was Kitty watching with everyone else as Ellie and Bronte walked in wearing similar outfits in red and cobalt blue fabric. Ellie’s was a cute romper suit while Bronte’s was a tight button through shirt dress which was nipped in at the waist with a belt. Weird though it was it kind of worked.

“I do believe my sister may well have lost her marbles.”

I turned to see Shaw with a bottle of beer and a glass of clear liquid in his hand. He put the glass on the table in front of me.

“You could be right,” I said and then nodded to the glass. “For me?”

“Yep. It’s vodka.” He grinned and the meaning behind it was clear.

As I looked at him, the breath was stolen from my lungs. All handsome and sexy, wearing a black t-shirt that stretched nicely across his chest. He also smelled delicious and there was cute little smile on his face that made me want to jump him right there and then.

Throwing any caution that I had to the wind, I picked it up and knocked it back, hoping that he understood whatthatmeant. I was done with being mad with him. Watching Jefferson and Kitty and seeing how happy they were made me realize that life was too damn short. Okay, they hadn’t been torn apart and I doubted Jefferson would have wanted a life without his wife Sondra in it, but the point was Sondra had died too soon. What if she hadn’t taken a chance with Jefferson? What if Ellie hadn’t seen Hunter in a different light after years of being friends? What if Carter and Bronte hadn’t decided to stop arguing long enough to have sex? There certainly wouldn’t be any Rett, or a second baby on the way. I’d gone over to the house earlier with every intent of telling Shaw that I believed him and would like to try and be something more than fuck buddies. After the people for child services had gone though, he only seemed intent on thanking me for the favor. He didn’t seem to understand what I’d meant by doing that favor.

“I probably should buy you the bottle,” Shaw said. “After the solid you did me today.”

“And get me drunk? Are you sure, because you know what happens when I get drunk on vodka.”

He nodded. “I certainly do.” He took a breath and then moved closer. His arm brushed mine, making my heart thud faster than was probably healthy. “I’m so sorry for what I said. I was only joking, and I would never use you to keep my daughter.”

I shrugged. “The funny thing is, if you’d asked me, I’d have done it anyway. You’re a great dad, Shaw, and you should be allowed to keep her.”

“I also know that Minnesota was talking shit when he said you only wanted me for my family.”

“And how do you know that?” I asked, a small giggle escaping.

“You fucking love my dick, Nancy. As if my mom and dad would be a bigger draw than that.”

I couldn’t help the giggle turning into a full-on laugh at his usual cockiness. A cockiness that in the past I’d been irritated by—or had I? Who the hell knew?

“How do you know?” I asked, nudging him with my hip. “It might be the worst dick that I’ve ever seen.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and your pussy isn’t magical. Now, are you going to kiss me or what?”

“Here, in front of everyone?”

“Why not? They all know that you’re crazy about me.”

“Do they though?” I tilted my head to one side and smiled at him. “I’m not even sure that I like you very much.”

Shaw’s mouth was close to my ear, and when he reached up to gently hold my earlobe between his thumb and forefinger, I thought my heart might punch its way out of my chest.

“I think you like me very much, Nancy Andrews. Because,” he licked his lips, “I really like you. An awful lot. So much so that I can honestly say that you’re mostly all I think about.”

“Mostly?”

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