by J. P. Comeau
“Asia won’t think that’s weird?”
I shrugged. “We’ll be up before her anyway for the sunrise, right?”
Her smile grew bigger. “Lead the way, then, handsome.”
And not another word was needed before I scooped her into my arms, walked her into my room, and tumbled into bed with her, ready to hold her in my arms all night long.
18
Eva
I drew in a deep breath and yawned as my eyes naturally fell open. The high thread-count sheets felt amazing against my sun-warmed skin. I stretched my arms over my head, feeling the sheet fall down just past my breasts. But, when my arms dropped, I heard someone grunt beside me, and a soft giggle sounded outside the door.
“Wake up, Daddy! We gotta do more swimming!”
I clapped my hand over my mouth, and Gavin bolted upright in his bed. He scrambled for his phone and groaned, realizing we had not only missed the sunrise but probably breakfast as well.
“Shit,” he hissed.
I pulled the sheet over my head while he got dressed. And when I heard him slip out the door, I slowly peeked out from beyond the covers. I heard Gavin coaxing Asia up the steps with promises of morning ice cream cones and sweet treats, buying me just enough time to leap out of bed and throw on clothes.
Then, with my head held high and my wits about me, I started out of the room and up toward the table near the kitchen on the yacht's main level, where Asia was already eating her fill of Neapolitan ice cream with whipped cream on top.
“Figured I’d bribe her,” Gavin said with a chuckle.
“Hi,” Asia said with her mouth full.
I decided to sit beside the little girl, figuring it was the safest option for now. “Leave some for the rest of us; I was hoping to have a bowl of ice cream myself.”
Asia giggled. “There are three whole gallons. You can have your own, okay?”
My eyebrows rose. “Sounds like a plan to me. You can just sit the carton in front of me, and I can dig a spoon into it.”
Asia laughed with delight. “No, you can’t, silly! Gotta use a bowl, like this.”
She made a show of lifting her bowl before she dipped her spoon into it and scooped up a massive bite of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. She got it all over her face, trying to get it into her little mouth, and the sight made me giggle. The chef hired to be with us for the weekend set a mug of coffee in front of me before placing a little tray down with creamer and sugar on it. Then, two massive plates of food were set in front of me.
One was filled with fruits of all shapes, colors, and sizes. And the other one was loaded with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes.
“Whoa,” Asia said.
I snickered. “Whoa, is right.”
Gavin unfolded the napkin around his silverware. “Now, this is what I call breakfast.”
Asia lowered her voice to a whisper. “Eva?”
I mocked her tone of voice. “Yes?”
“Are you gonna eat all that?”
I giggled and shook my head, still whispering. “Not at all. You wanna share?”
She scooted her bowl to me. “Share for a share?”
I dipped my spoon into her ice cream. “I love that idea. Thank you.”
“Thank you, too.”
The three of us passed our plates and bowls, sampling each other’s food and humming over how gloriously fresh it tasted. The sun rose slowly in the sky, beating down against us while the rushing ocean wind kept the napes of our necks cool. Waves sloshed against the boat as it softly rocked side to side. Asia scooted her chair close to me and tossed her legs into my lap as she polished off her great, big bowl of ice cream.
I was getting much too attached to the cute, button-nosed little girl, and I knew that spelled trouble for me in the long run, especially if I screwed things up with Gavin.
I need to talk to Margo and Ginger.
But, they wouldn’t be accessible until after we got back to the city.
I needed reassurance that what I was feeling wasn’t wrong. And if it was wrong, I needed my two best friends' advice to help me navigate these treacherous high seas. Things didn’t feel wrong between myself and Gavin, even though it felt weird to be fucking around with the man who had just hired me to be his nanny.
Did that make things wrong between us completely? Or were my insecurities getting in the way?
I really should’ve told the girls about this when we were on the phone last time.
I mean, things couldn’t go on like this, right? Things couldn’t just be happily ever after, then end. Right?
“Eva?”
Asia’s voice pulled me from my day dreams. “Yes, honey?”
“You wanna have a sleepover when we get home?”
I smiled. “I’d love to have a sleepover. Wanna sleep in your bed or mine?”
“We can do mine. I have a canopy, so we can sleep like princesses.”
“Oh, I like that idea a lot. Do princesses get snacks?”
Gavin cleared his throat. “Not in bed, they don’t.”
Asia giggled. “But we can have snacks before bed. That’s good, too.”
“What if we had the sleepover in my bed and had snacks there? Surely, Daddy doesn’t control what happens in my room.”
I felt Gavin’s eyes on me. “Wanna bet?”
My eyes met his. “Sure. What’s the wager?”
I tried to keep my smile buried, but when he smiled at me, I couldn’t take it. The damn thing spread across my face like wildfire, and soon we were all laughing and talking about these massive sleepover plans that snowballed out of control. We went from sleeping in my bed and having snacks to sleeping in the guesthouse, having seven different friends, and staying up all night to eat twelve different kinds of sugar-laced snacks.
“I think this is a good plan,” Asia said.
I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Daddy and I will talk about it, then let you know. How does that sound?”
She leaned close to me and whispered again, “Don’t let him win. He always wins, but I think you can take him.”
I peeked over at Gavin. “Me, too.”
He smirked. “Wanna bet?”
I giggled. “Sure, what’s the wager again?”
I got so wrapped up in the heart-warming conversation Asia and I were having that I didn’t realize Gavin had finished and gotten up from the table. It wasn’t until I looked over at him to get his opinion on something that I saw he wasn’t even sitting there any longer.
“Don’t worry, he does that a lot,” Asia said.
I nodded mindlessly. “Right. Uh, Asia?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you do me a favor?”
She yawned. “Okay.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Go downstairs to your room and take your time getting changed. We’re going to get in our bathing suits, let our food settle a bit, then we’re going to go swimming.”
Her eyes bulged. “In five minutes?”
I bopped her nose with my finger. “In thirty minutes.”
“Aww, man.”
I cupped her cheek. “We’ve got all day today and the morning tomorrow to do lots of swimming. No pouting, okay? In thirty minutes, we’ll jump in. But, you need to get your swimsuit on first and let that food rest.”
She jutted her bottom lip out. “I don’t know how to make it rest. They don’t have blankets or stuffed animals to keep them company.”
I shrugged. “I suppose you could eat one.”
“What?”
“Want me to get you a blanket? I hear they’re tasty with ketchup.”
She giggled with delight. “That’s gross, Eva! You don’t eat blankets.”
“Well, then get into your bathing suit and get underneath the covers of your bed. Because if you’re covered, then they’re covered, and they can rest for a bit before we go swimming for the rest of the day. Okay?”
She leaped up from her seat. “Okay, I can do that!”
She took of
f toward the steps and soon disappeared below the deck. Then, I set off in search of Gavin. I walked around the outside of the yacht and didn’t so much as hear his voice. So, I started downstairs to the lower level where our cabins were.
I heard Asia’s soft snoring coming from her room, which I fully expected. But, what I didn’t expect was to hear Gavin’s voice behind a closed door.
And when I inched it open, I found him perched on the edge of his bed with his back toward the door while on what seemed to be a video call.
“When do they need me by?” he asked.
I had no idea how the hell he had any sort of service in the middle of the ocean to use for a video call, but I also didn’t question it. However, I couldn’t stop myself from eavesdropping.
“So, the filming is in California?” he asked.
I strained to hear the foreign voice, but I didn’t catch what they were saying.
“Two weeks? Just to interview? What kind of interview is it?”
I furrowed my brow and closed my eyes, trying my best to pay attention.
“Yes, I know it’s a massive project,” Gavin said. “But, I’ve got my daughter, and I need—yes, I hired a nanny, but—I get that, dammit. It’s just—no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to curse at you. It’s—thank you. Yes. I agree; I am at the peak of my career.”
Then finally, the voice on the other side of the conversation grew loud enough for me to hear.
“That’s right, and with you being at the peak of your career comes demanding hours and even longer filming schedules. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Then, Gavin spoke the words that broke my heart. “More than anything, you know that.”
The foreign voice continued, “Then, it’s time to start acting like it. Two weeks in Hollywood, at the end of the month. Work it out, or I’ll have to suggest someone else on my roster for the job.”
“I’ll work it out. Whatever it takes.”
My heart sank to my feet, and I silently closed the door. Tears rushed my eyes as I backtracked toward the stairs and made my way toward the bar. I flagged down the bartender and mindlessly ordered a drink, hoping I could drown my tears in alcohol and suck it up before Gavin got back up here.
I was nothing but his daughter’s caretaker. I knew that now. And I surely couldn’t expect a man with a life like Gavin’s to put all of that aside—his dreams and his wants and his wishes—to be with someone like myself.
And while my heart broke for the things that could never be between us, I still hoped Gavin took the interview.
If anything, so he could continue chasing his dreams like he should have been in the first place.
19
Gavin
“I’m serious; I’ll make it work. I’ll be there for the interview,” I said.
My agent nodded. “Wonderful, I’ll let them know. And I’ll send you confirmation of your plane tickets as soon as I have them.”
“All right. Gotta go, but we’ll talk soon.”
He pointed at me. “I want to hear from you the second you’re on land. Don’t go dying on me or anything.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Trust me. You’ll get your paycheck. I promise.”
I hung up the video call without giving him a chance to rebut. I hated the way he talked with me sometimes, but he always had a point. And more often than not, he was right. I had taken a serious hiatus from my career because of this bullshit. If I stayed away much longer, I wouldn’t be nearly as relevant.
As my agent always barked at me, if I wasn’t willing to put in the work, someone else behind me was.
But, I still wanted to focus on the rest of the weekend. So, I quickly got changed into my bathing suit and headed up the stairs. I looked around for Eva and my daughter, wondering where the hell they had gotten off to. However, when I heard giggling and splashing around, all I had to do was look over the edge of the boat.
“Hey there!” I called out.
Asia looked up at me and waved. “Look, Daddy! Eva and I are playing dunks. Watch!”
She lunged at Eva, and the woman playfully screamed before she went under the water. Asia giggled with delight and swam around, flailing her arms dramatically as she shouted, “I win again!” The sight warmed my heart, but it also hung a question heavily in my mind.
Could I really jet off to Hollywood and leave my daughter in round-the-clock care with her? I mean, it was one thing to be gone daily. But, it was another thing not to step foot back into the house for two damn weeks. Did I trust Eva enough to take care of my daughter like that? There was so much I had to prepare if that was really the case. I had to call the doctors and get her on Asia’s HIPAA forms. I had to contact Asia’s school and let them know that someone else would be picking her up and dropping her off for a while because she’d start before I’d get back home from this damned thing.
Then, a thought occurred to me.
Most of my projects were in Hollywood. Most of my friends were in Hollywood. Hell, my fucking agent was in Hollywood, yet I lived in Florida, of all places. So, what if I moved? It wasn’t completely unheard of, and there were tons of homes always popping up on the market around that area. I could buy a house outright, pay the property taxes upfront for a few years, and ensure Asia a stable environment for the next five or so years until I got my career back up and running.
But, could I really uproot her away from all of this?
To Asia, Key Biscayne was home. All of her friends were here. Her mother still lived in this area, despite the issues we were currently having. And if I moved to Hollywood, what about Eva? Would she come with us and keep helping?
Could I really uproot both of them for something selfish like my career?
Water splashed against my face before my daughter started laughing. It pulled me out of my trance long enough to hear her yell, “Jump in, Daddy!” So, I did. I let myself forget about my worries for a split second, and I stood on the ledge of the boat before jumping in. I curled my knees up to my chest, listened as my daughter shrieked with joy, and then the cool water of the ocean wrapped around me as I tore into the crystal-clear waves that sloshed against our own little private island.
And when I came back up for air, I found Eva swimming toward me.
“You have to come to see what I found. Asia!”
My daughter turned around. “Yeah?”
“Come see what I found! Hurry!”
We all swam for the shoreline, and I saw what Eva was talking about. There were hundreds of little holes that had popped up everywhere, and every time the waves lapped against the shoreline, these little, tiny crabs popped their heads out in order to enjoy it. Asia giggled and clapped her hands as she bent down and looked into the teeny, tiny little holes. Eva leaned against me, her fingers playing with mine as I stole a soft kiss against the top of her head while no one was looking. And I watched my daughter dig around in the sand for the little crabs, committing the sight to memory. Because I knew in the blink of an eye, she’d be a teenager and want nothing to do with me.
“This was a great catch,” I said.
Eva giggled. “I knew she’d like them. The waves carried me to shore, and I stepped on one. That’s how I found them.”
I peered down at her. “You okay? Do I need to take a look at your foot?”
She giggled and looked up into my eyes. “They’re so tiny that it felt like I stepped on a sharp edge more than anything. It didn’t even break the skin.”
I took her hand within mine. “As long as you’re all right.”
She kissed the back of my hand. “I’ll always be all right when I’m with you.”
Her words soared my heart into the heavens, but it gave me even more to think about. We spent the day swimming and splashing around with one another, and when our stomachs started growling around four in the afternoon, we swam back to the yacht. We climbed up and smelled the chef already preparing dinner for us, so we parted ways to shower and get changed into fresh pairs of clothes.
But, once we emerged for dinner, I heard my daughter’s snoring echoing down the small cabin hallway.
Eva giggled. “Poor girl wore herself out.”
I placed my hand on the small of her back. “We’ll save her some. I’m sure she’ll be up in a couple of hours with a ravenous appetite.”
“You sure we shouldn’t wake her? Just in case she wants to eat with us?”
I walked her to the stairs. “For all we know, she won’t be up until morning.”
“But, she’s only had one meal today.”
I chuckled. “I promise she’ll be fine. She does this from time to time. Just let her sleep.”
Eva sighed as she walked up the stairs. “If you insist.”
I grinned. “Trust me, I insist wholeheartedly.”
As easy as things felt between us, though, our conversation at dinner was stunted. I had too much on my mind, but Eva wasn’t offering up much discussion, either. I figured maybe she was tired or burnt out from her time in the sun. But, she didn’t even look up at me for much of the meal.
She simply kept her head down, took bites, and only afforded me a head-nod or two whenever I said something.
“So, you have a good day?” I asked.
She nodded and sipped her wine but didn’t say anything back.
“You and Asia have fun?”
Again with a nod, but no words coming forth from her lips.
“You ready to go back tomorrow?”
She shrugged before finally offering up some sounds. “It’s complicated.”
I snickered. “I hear that. Sometimes, I feel like I could live on that island and build myself a little hut and be perfectly happy.”
Her eyes panned out toward the setting sun. “I’d need running water, though. I’m a bit spoiled that way.”
I laughed softly at her statement, but she didn’t laugh back. And I knew then and there that something big was on her mind. I knew how she felt, too. I had way too much to consider concerning my career and this custody-agreement issue I dropped into my lawyer’s lap only yesterday.
I wonder if she’d come to Hollywood if I footed the bill for her trip.