Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
I just need to know she’s safe. She’s been losing weight; those precious curves are fading. I thought I noticed it in the grocery store, but I couldn’t be sure. Now I’m absolutely positive. She’s losing weight and she looks tired. Even a little discouraged.
When she first came in here, asking about the job, I could barely see past the blinding rage I felt toward Ledger. Call me an asshole but I don’t want any man around Chloe. I want to be the only one she sees, and when she looked at him, it felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
“Move in?” She sputters the words.
“It’s a full-time position,” I answer as if I haven’t been making this whole thing up on the spot. Her hair looks so soft. Would it be weird if I leaned close to sniff an employee’s hair? Probably. Definitely.
She’s barely been hired two minutes and I’m already in danger of losing my fucking mind. This is not going well.
When Abby lets out a contented sigh in her arms, Chloe’s expression softens. I want to lean over and give my kid a high five. She may not realize it, but she just sealed the deal for me.
“For how long?”
“A year,” I say because telling her forever is probably a bad idea.
“I would save on rent.” Dammit, is that why she’s losing weight and looking so tired, because she’s under financial pressure?
The thought makes me sick. I don’t want Chloe to be worried about anything. It’s time to sell her on this. “My spare bedroom has a private bathroom with its own shower and tub.”
Fuck, now I’m thinking about Chloe naked and that’s not good. I need to be thinking professional thoughts. Nanny thoughts. “Plus, you’d be close to Abby. Not that I expect you to watch her every night.”
“Maybe we could trade off nights.”
“Sure,” I answer, already knowing that even if I have the night off, I won’t take it. My brain is different these days. Everything is about Abby and if she so much as sniffles at night, I’m awake. I used to be able to sleep through a hurricane. Now she makes the tiniest squeak and I’m fully alert.
She beams at me, a relieved smile on her face. “I can move in tomorrow, if that’s good.”
“How’s Abby?” Ledger asks as I shove a big bite of burger into my mouth. West brought the ones from Ernie’s that I like so much. Now the three of us are eating lunch together in my office. We have to go out later and work on one of the tractors. It’s the worst time of year for our machinery to break down, which means it always does.
“Fussy.” Cash said it’s normal for her to go through periods where she seems fussier. He called it growing pains. But I hate it, makes me feel like I’m failing at this parenting thing. What would Abby’s mom say if she could see her now? Would she be happy with the job I’m doing, or would she regret giving her to me and take her back?
My heart seizes at the thought. I can’t let her go. She’s the reason my heart beats now. Well, her and a certain brunette. Which is why I spend as little time with Chloe as possible. I don’t want her figuring it out and feeling uncomfortable around me.
“Babies are like that, according to Mom,” West says. Ever since he got together with my sister, he talks a lot about families and babies and marriage.
I grunt in response. They’re on the other side of the desk, getting crumbs and special sauce on my paperwork. With Chloe here, I should be catching up on some of it. But I’m not. Seems I spend a little too much time thinking about those kissable lips to get much done.
Mom has been pestering me to hire someone to help me in the office. She said something or another about how I work too much or too hard. I’m not entirely sure. I’d started thinking about Chloe again and there went any hope I had of concentrating.
“Where is she anyway?” Ledger asks. He’s chewing his food too much. An eating disorder fucked with his mind as a teenager. He thinks I don’t know. But I found the bills for that fancy outpatient treatment center Dad helped him get into. All this time, everyone thought he went to basketball camp for a few hours each day.
“With Chloe. They went into town.” Chloe said something about needing yarn for her latest project. Apparently, she knits Christmas gifts. I want to ask her who the scarves are for. I want to know why she’s knitting so many pairs of mittens. Of course, I don’t ask. I barely say anything.
It’s been a week and she’s settling in. Her clothes are all over my living room couch. Her shoes, keys, and wallet are scattered on my kitchen island. Her reading tablet and planner are on the coffee table. I shouldn’t love all those little things so much, but I do.