Page 11 of Kiss Me Again

“Friday night. I was a McCluskey’s on Fourth—

“Wait, this washere? I thought it was in the city.”

“It was here.” I think back on the night and get warm deep inside. “I was drinking my sorrows away when an actual tall, dark, and handsome dude in a suit walked in.”

“Wow. Not your type—

“Nope. But inside of ten minutes, we left the bar and went to the Somerset Harbor Hotel.”

Her eyes bulge right out of their sockets. “You work fast. So? How was he?”

I take a deep breath and smile serenely. “Better than expected. By a lot.”

“Oh,” she swoons, “I am so jealous.” But then she straightens up. “Just don’t be pregnant.”

I laugh. “Slim chance of that, thanks to my IUD.”

“That’s good. Lily, I’ve missed you. I know you’re here for a crappy reason, but I’m glad you’re around for now.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“Any chance you’ll be working at a restaurant in town?”

I shake my head. “I am not ready to be in a kitchen again, especially one where I’m not in charge. It’s too soon. If I don’t ask, Mom will kill me. Any chance there’s a job for me at Billingsley?”

“Not there, but a parent was talking about needing a nanny. The job is temporary, the pay will be good, and the kids are great. High energy, but easy. The parents are divorced, but it’s amicable, so no drama there. The dad works all the time, and the ex-wife is about to go on an overseas trip for six weeks, I think. Might be a good transitional thing for you.”

“I’ve never nannied before.”

She shrugs. “Kids are like short adults who believe in magic, don’t know much, and have the physical coordination of a drunk college kid, so think of them as tiny, intoxicated philosophy students, and it’ll be just like when you worked at that college bar. You’ll do fine.”

Famous last words.

5

Cormac

Wednesday afternoon, and I’m still thinking about raspberries. It’s silly to obsess about the whole thing, but I can’t help it. Until I get a text from Abigail, asking to call if I have the time.Might take my mind off Lily.I shrug and dial her up. “Hey, is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. Well…not fine. But it will be. You’ll just have to be more flexible than usual, and I know how much you hate that.”

I frown. “That’s not exactly true, Abs.”

“Oh please. I bet you still have that knot on the back of your head from when I made you try yoga.”

“The human body is not meant to get into those positions. It’s not my fault that I fell.”

She giggles, and it makes me smile. “SomehowIcan get in them just fine.”

“Yeah, yeah. What’s all this about?”

“The nanny thing. We have gone through six, and with me leaving for France shortly, we need another one now, so the kids can get used to her.”

“Or you could skip the trip…”

She huffs. “Cormac, we talked about this. I told you months ago about Olivier’s family retreat and his grandmother’s ninetieth birthday—

“At a winery.”

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