Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry, I just—I had a feeling!” she whisper hissed. “Deke called me after the charity event yesterday and was saying he noticed something different about Javier. He said Javier kept looking for you during the event, and when you told me he interrupted your date that other night . . . well, now it’s all starting to make sense.”
“Wait. Really?” I asked. “He kept looking for me?”
“According to Deke, he definitely was. I told him that Javier was probably looking for you because you had Aleesa,” Vina went on, “but Deke swore something else was going on. He said something had changed between you and him. Said y’all were flirting, girl. Now I get it.” She couldn’t contain her grin.
“Okay, fine, it’s true. But y’all shouldn’t make a big deal about it. It’s just for fun right now. Nothing serious.” At least, I hoped we would still have fun. I wasn’t quite sure after last night.
“Okay, I get it.” She bobbed her head. “And that makes perfect sense for both of you, considering your pasts.”
“Exactly.” Why couldn’t Javier see it that way?
After thinking about it last night, I realized he’d expected a different answer from me. He’d told me he didn’t want us to stop having our fun . . . but what did he think would happen the more we had sex?
Someone would become attached, and I was going to make damn sure it wasn’t me. And the last thing I wanted was to hurt his feelings if he asked for more. Why ruin a good thing?
Besides, what good would a relationship between a broken woman and a widower be?
“So this is part of the reason why you’re moody today?” my sister asked, folding her arms.
“I’m not moody.”
“You are.”
“Okay, I might be. Sue me.”
“I will sue you if you don’t tell me what’s up.”
Something rattled on the other end of the table, and out of instinct, I reached over to grab Aleesa’s plate before it could topple and hit the floor.
“Sowwy, Tava,” Aleesa said in an apologetic little voice.
“It’s okay, love.” I watched her climb out of her chair just to stand at my side.
“Can I have iPad?”
I sighed. “If you get the iPad, you can only watch it for ten minutes, okay? You watched too much of it in the car, and your dad will never shut up about it if he finds out.”
“Okay.” She smiled at me, almost like she knew I’d forget and she’d fly right past her ten-minute limit. That happened more often than I cared to admit.
I dug into the backpack for her iPad and set it up on the table with the kickstand.
“Kids now are like little geniuses.” Davina watched Aleesa as she moved her finger around the screen. “Imagine if we would’ve had iPads at her age. What do you think we would be like now?”
“That’s a good question.” I laughed. “We’d have probably taken over the world.”
Davina snorted.
I drew in a deep breath through my nostrils before releasing it through parted lips.
“Okay.” I leaned closer to my sister. “The truth is that last night, we did explicit things in the hot tub. But right after, he said he wanted those things to keep happening. I told him it could as long as we didn’t get too deep or serious, you know? When I said that, it seemed to bother him, though.”
“Hmm.” Davina took a moment to mull that over. “Why do you think it bothered him?”
“I don’t know, but you’d think the last thing he wants is something even remotely close to a serious relationship. Especially with his nanny.”
“Maybe he’s just wanting a connection. Doesn’t mean it has to be serious. And he probably doesn’t see you as just the nanny anymore, Octavia. He might see you as family now.”
“Family members don’t fool around.”
She gave me the stink eye. “You know what I mean.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Look.” She rested an elbow on the table and looked into my eyes. “You’ve bonded with both of them. You’ve been around them for over half a year. You’re beautiful, smart, and kind. I’m truly surprised it took this long for something to happen between y’all, honestly. Me and Deke were betting on the timing. Looks like he won. Again.”
“Well . . . it wasn’t supposed to happen,” I informed her. “And he initiated it.”
“Really? You sure it wasn’t you?”
“No, it wasn’t me! He kissed me first.”
She laughed. “I’m just saying.”
“Don’t do that.” I pointed a finger at her, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t act like I’m some hoe ready to jump into any man’s bed.”
“I never said that, but you do have the tendency to take what you want.”
That was true. I liked what I liked. But still.
I folded my arms. “Anyway, I think I should just tell him we need to stop now before we take it too far.”