Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“Is that chili I smell?”
“It is,” Dotty responded, her tone short and crisp. “It’s on the stove, I’m sure you can find your way there,” she grumbled and left the kitchen.
I frowned at Dotty’s back wondering what in the hell had gotten into her, but shrugged it off and set my work bag down before I moved further into the kitchen and washed my hands a little harder than I needed to.
“Can I go color Daddy?”
“Yeah, sure honey.”
Lena darted out of the kitchen without a care in the world and I envied her in that moment. The kitchen was silent, oppressively so, as I piled a bowl high with chili. “Just say what you have to say,” I barked at Alex.
He sighed loudly enough that I could almost feel his irritation with me, but I didn’t care because I was irritated with him too. “You were too harsh with Lucy.”
“What are you, standing up for your girlfriend now?”
He snorted a laugh. “You sound like a childish asshole, you know that right?” He shrugged. “And worse, you sound jealous. I wonder why that is. All of this in front of Lena too.”
I took the seat across from my best friend and glared at him. “Her job is to watch my daughter, not flirt with any man that rings the door bell.”
Alex stared at me with a serious expression before a loud laugh exploded out of him. “Flirting? You’re not serious, are you?”
I nodded and shoveled another spoon of chili in my mouth.
“You’re ridiculous, not to mention so jealous you can’t see straight.”
“I’m not jealous,” I growled. “I know what I saw.”
Alex rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, folded his arms and glared at me. Hard. “I know when a woman is flirting with me, and let me tell you that Lucy wasn’t. She was nice to me, that’s all.”
That was bullshit. “You mean to tell me that you showed up and she didn’t respond?”
He smiled. “She was shocked to see me on your doorstep, yeah, but that’s probably because you didn’t brag that your best friend is Alex Witter. Then again, why would you when you’re so much richer than me?”
Okay, I felt like an asshole for that. “Sorry. I was just upset.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay, man. I’d be upset too if I thought someone was trying to steal her from me.” His gaze narrowed angrily. “For the record, I would never try to steal your girl, and the moment I saw her, I knew exactly why you said she wasn’t my type. You wanted her for yourself.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but Alex shook his head.
“You think I don’t know when a woman is interested in me, or more so, in the superstar version of me? Trust me, I know exactly who likes me for me and who doesn’t, and Lucy wasn’t giving off any kind of bad vibes. Called me out on my record against the Tornadoes, if you can believe it.”
I smiled. “She doesn’t give anyone an inch.” And why didn’t I know she was a football fan?
“If anything, she treated me like I was her boyfriend’s best friend, not a potential date.” Alex let his words sink in and then he laughed, at me. “You screwed that all to hell though, without any help from me I might add.”
“I’m not a child Alex and I don’t need you to spare my feelings.”
“Believe me,” he laughed. “I’m not. You were an ass to her and you don’t deserve to have your feelings spared, I’m just telling you that she didn’t do what you crassly accused her of doing. She’s a nice woman, and a fan, nothing else.”
Shit.
“She’s going to quit.” And not only will I not get to see Lucy every day, but I’ll have to start the nanny search all over again. The thought of that didn’t sit well with me. As much as I pretended to dislike having her around, I liked having her here. I looked forward to it, dammit.
“Way to worry about the important things,” Alex snorted. “She likes the job and has nothing but good things to say about Lena, so she probably won’t quit. But whatever was happening with you two is probably over.”
“Who said anything was going on between us?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Seriously? I’ve never seen you get that bent out of shape about a woman you haven’t slept with.” He shrugged. “Besides, I got to know her a bit, and I would’ve been just as pissed off as you are right now if I thought I was about to lose her.”
What he didn’t say, didn’t have to say, was that my behavior had made me lose her anyway. “What’re you doing here anyway?” I asked, changing the subject from my fuck up to Alex’s. I knew the man well enough to know that if he managed to drag himself away from his glamorous lifestyle to my relatively boring home, he’d done something.