“I don’t need the money.”
“I don’t care. I’m not staying here like some kind of charity case. I’ve been looking around, I know how much the going rates are for rental houses.” She winced a little. This would very likely be out of her budget.
“I’m not charging you rent,” he said again.
“Yes, you are.” She crossed her arms, and they moved out into the hall. She pressed her lips together and lifted her chin. “How much?”
“Okay, fine. Two hundred dollars.”
“Two hundred? Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not kidding. You asked, I answered. Take it or leave it.”
She glared at him. Then she sighed. “Fine. We’ll take it. And thank you.” Without Kendra and Max there, she added quietly, “I wish I had another option, and I’m sure you do too, but I do appreciate it. Hopefully it won’t be for long.”
“It’s fine,” he said gruffly. “And don’t worry. I won’t pass out in your bedroom and scare the shit out of you.”
Her lips quirked. “Good to know. Also, you’re not a pedophile, are you?”
He choked. “What?”
She grimaced. “The guy renting out the last place I looked at seemed weirdly interested in the fact that I have a little girl.”
“Jesus…” He stopped himself from swearing with a glance at Zyana. Too bad the only words that came to mind at that moment were curses. It left him speechless for a minute. “No, I’m not a pedophile.”
“I was pretty sure of that,” she said cheerfully. “Didn’t think Max would set us up with a creep.”
He shook his head. For fuck’s sake. She sure as hell couldn’t move in somewhere where the landlord was a goddamn sick pervert. “Do you have a lot of furniture?”
“No. Our place in New York was really small. My stuff is in storage, I just have to arrange for it to be delivered. I’m not sure how long it will take.”
“Well, any time is fine for me. We’re actually off for a couple of days, but we leave on Tuesday for San Jose. We’ll be gone a few days…games in L.A. and Anaheim too, so if you need help I won’t be back until Saturday. I’ll give you keys though.”
“Perfect.”
“I’ll give you my phone number too, so you can call or text if you have any questions or problems.”
“All right.” She pulled out her cellphone, and they exchanged numbers. “Okay, Zee, let’s go back downstairs.”
“Can I peek up there?” Kendra asked when they’d all returned to the main floor. “Just curious.”
“Of course.” Nick waved a hand, and Kendra and Max ran up to check out the second level.
Alone again, he watched Jodie and Zyana look out the big windows into the snowy yard. “I can make a snowman,” Zyana said excitedly. “We have a yard!”
“No, honey, the yard isn’t really ours,” Jodie said. “That’s Nick’s yard.”
“Of course, she can use the yard. She can build a snowman.”
Jodie glanced at him. “That’s okay. We’ll stay out of your way.” She straightened. “Well, I have lots to do now. Next on my list is finding childcare for Zee. That should be even more fun than finding somewhere to live.” She rolled her eyes.
He had no clue about that, but it struck him that as a single parent she had a lot on her plate. She was running an apparently successful business, which he knew from Kendra. Making sex toys for women—yes, Kendra’d taken a lot of ribbing from the guys on the team over that, but it never fazed her. Jodie apparently was of a similar mindset given her lengthy discussions about sex the night of Max’s party.
“It’s great, Nick!” Kendra said as she and Max returned. “What an awesome little house! This works out fantastic.”
Sure. Fantastic. He had a feeling his quiet hermit life was about to be blown up.
* * *
—
Jodie managed to arrange for the storage company to deliver her furniture and other belongings on Saturday. Between business stuff and checking out daycares for Zyana, the week had been crazy. “Why am I doing this again?” she asked Kendra after a visit to a daycare center in Lake View on Friday.
Kendra handed her a glass of wine. “Because you love me and you’d miss me if you stayed in New York.”
She accepted the wine. “Right.”
“I feel bad, Jodie.” Kendra sat too. “All this upheaval.”
“It’ll be fine. It’s just a bit overwhelming right now. But at least I have somewhere to live!”
“Yes, and it’s awesome. How was the daycare?”
“It was good, I think. It’s a perfect location and seemed really nice. It’ll be great for her to be around other kids.”
“True. So tomorrow, ten o’clock the movers arrive.”
“Right.”
“Too bad the team’s away, or Max would come help.”
“It’s okay, I don’t expect him to help.”
“Well, I’ll be there anyway, and if I can’t help move furniture I’ll take Zyana for ice cream or something so you can get stuff done.”
“You’re awesome.”
“I’m just happy you’re going to be close, because the truth is, I’d be the one who missed you guys so much if you’d stayed in New York.”
Jodie was lucky to have such a great best friend and business partner. Kendra had made being a single parent so much better.
The next day they arrived at Nick’s coach house well before ten, but the movers didn’t show up until nearly noon. At that point, Zyana was bored and hungry, so Kendra made a run to McDonald’s. As they were eating, the movers arrived, of course, so Jodie directed them while scarfing down her hamburger.
So much to do. God. She’d need to get to a grocery store to buy food, get things unpacked and put away, make beds…it all pressed down on her like a two-ton weight.
Despite being two hours late, the guys who delivered her things were great, helping her place furniture in position and putting their beds together. She gave them a big tip when they were finally done in late afternoon.
Kendra, as promised, took Zyana out for a walk to a nearby park, which gave her an hour to go crazy and unpack as much as she could. Then Kendra drove them to Target to pick up some supplies for the next few days.
At Target, Zyana picked up a pad of reusable elephant stickers. “Mommy, can I have dis?” She held it up.
“No, sweetie, not today.”
“But I want it. It has stickers, see? Elephants. Like Wooby.”
“You have lots of things at home to play with. We just need to find them,” she added.
“But I like elephants.”
“You have other elephants.”
“I don’t have dis! I want dis!”
“Zyana. Stop. I said no.”
Zyana’s bottom lip trembled and pushed out as she set the pad down and folded her arms. Jodie tried to get through the checkout as quickly as she could, recognizing the signs of Zyana’s temper.
Back at the coach house, Kendra helped carry in the shopping bags, then checked her phone. “They just landed,” she said, referring to the team.
“Go home and see your man,” Jodie said with a smile. The team had been away for a few days on their road trip. “We’re good here.”
“Okay.” Kendra looked around doubtfully.
The place was a disaster. But oh well.
“We have a conference call Monday morning with Gavin from Pink Sugar,” she reminded Jodie.
“I know.” She remembered. She’d have to bring Zyana to the office yet again for the call. Having your own business meant flexibility to do those things, but it wasn’t ideal. It would be nice to be able to focus on one thing at a time.
They were getting there.
“Bye, cupcake,” Kendra called to Zyana, who was digging into a box
and tossing everything around her. “Can I have a hug?”
“No.” Zyana’s bottom lip pushed out.
Kendra gave Jodie a wide-eyed look. Luckily Kendra knew Zyana well enough that she understood this. “Sorry.” Jodie grimaced.
Kendra laughed. “Good luck.” She crossed over to Zyana, bent, and kissed her hair. “There you go, cupcake.”
Jodie locked the door behind Kendra as it was getting dark out. She turned to her daughter. “Zyana, please stop throwing that stuff around. What are you doing?”
“Looking for my elephants.”
“Oh. Well, I think those boxes are up in your bedroom. Let’s go up there and see if we can find them, and I’ll make up your bed.” And then make something for dinner and get Zee to bed because she was obviously not in a good mood.
They found the colorful plastic elephants, but after searching through every box, Jodie could not find their bedding. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath. “Where could it be?”
“Now I need Wooby,” Zyana said, referring to her stuffed elephant. “Where is Wooby?”
“Did you bring her from Kendra’s place?”
Zyana’s face crumpled. “I don’t know.”
“Well, let’s look for Ruby downstairs. Are you getting hungry for dinner?”
“No. I just want Wooby.”
Jodie’s patience was wearing thin, but they went back downstairs to hunt for the stuffed elephant. This search was unsuccessful.
Zyana started to cry. “I want Wooby!”
“I know, honey, I know. I’ll text Kendra and see if she’s there.” She sent off a quick message.
“We need to go get her!”
“Not tonight. We’ll get her tomorrow.”
“Noooooooo!”
Well, this was going well. Maybe food would distract her. “I’m going to make macaroni and cheese for dinner, okay?” One of Zee’s favorites.
“I don’t want macawoni and cheese! I’m not hungwy!”
Nonetheless, she made the macaroni and cheese, trying to put away things and still look for Ruby at the same time. When she filled a bowl for Zyana and got her seated at the island, Zyana pushed the bowl away, folded her arms on the counter, and laid her head down on them. “Don’t want dat.”
“You have to eat supper, Zee.” She knew her child had to be hungry. She was just way overtired. There’d been no nap today, and all the upheaval was probably stressing her.
“No!”
Jodie forked up some pasta for herself and shoved it in her mouth. She was starving. “Come on, honey, eat some. Then we’ll get ready for bed.”
Except they had no sheets or blankets or pillows, for God’s sake. Could the movers have lost them? What was she going to do without bedding tonight?
Her phone buzzed. She picked it up. Text message from Kendra read, I don’t see Ruby here.
Well, at least that meant Ruby was here somewhere. Probably.
“Did you take Ruby to the park?” she asked, cringing at the thought that the precious elephant could have been left there.
“I don’t know.”
“Eat some dinner, please.”
“No!” Zyana reached her hand out to push the bowl away and shoved it off the counter. It crashed onto the wooden floor (luckily the bowl was melamine), the spoon clanged, and macaroni and cheese shot everywhere.
“Zyana!” Jodie’s eyes bugged out in horror. Now she wanted to have a meltdown herself. “Look what you did!”
She knew her child well enough to see that Zyana was upset about making a mess, but was past being able to control her emotions. “I don’t care! I don’t care! I want Wooby! I want Wooby!”
She climbed down from the stool and ran to the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Going to get Wooby. I going to Kendra’s.” She couldn’t unlock the door, but she was trying, and when she couldn’t open it, she started screaming. “I want out! I want out! I want out!”
It would’ve been funny if it was someone else’s child, but Jodie was tired herself, and she couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to her eyes. “Stop, Zee. Stop.”
She didn’t stop, screaming at the top of her lungs, stomping her little feet.
There was a loud rap on the door and a deep male voice yelled from outside, “What the hell is going on in there?”
Then a key turned in the lock, and the door opened.
Jodie leaped forward to grab Zyana so she didn’t try to make a break for it into the snowy darkness. Zyana screamed louder, twisting in her arms. “Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! I want Wooby!”
Nick appeared in the doorway, his face thunderous—eyebrows drawn together, lips thin, jaw tight. “What the…” He stared at the screaming toddler, then at the macaroni and cheese all over the floor, and then his gaze swept around the space at the half-unpacked boxes and all the crap Zyana had been tossing everywhere.
Oh God. Oh dear God.
“Uh, hi,” she said to Nick over Zyana’s screams. “Welcome home.”
Chapter 5
Nick’s heart crashed against his ribs, adrenaline rushing through his veins.
As he’d walked past the coach house, having just arrived home from the airport, he’d heard the bloodcurdling screams. He’d been certain someone was being brutally murdered in there, so he’d dropped his bag and dashed to the door, grateful he still had a key to the house on his key ring so he could get in.
His breath came heavy as he stared around the small space…which was a fucking disaster.
He jerked his gaze back to Jodie and Zyana. The little girl was red in the face, her dark curls wild, her small body twisting in her mother’s arms. “What are you doing to her?” he demanded.
Jodie’s eyes widened, and it was then he noticed her eyes and cheeks were wet, as if she’d been crying. “She’s having a temper tantrum,” she shouted at him. “I’m not doing anything to her, you asshole.”
Then she squeezed her eyes shut, clearly regretting the language.
Not that Zyana was paying any attention whatsoever.
“Hey!” He stepped closer and pointed a finger at the kid. “Stop screaming.”
She stopped screaming.
The silence was earsplitting.
Zyana stared at him. She took a breath with little shuddery hiccups. “I’m afwaid of giants,” she whispered.
Jesus…
Well, it got her to stop shrieking. His ears were grateful. “Good,” he said. “Giants don’t like tantrums.”
She blinked big, wet eyes at him.
Jodie inhaled audibly. “Okay, Zyana. It’s bedtime. You didn’t want your dinner, so we’re going to bed.”
Zyana was still breathing in shaky pants. “I want Wooby.”
Jodie let out a long-suffering sigh. “We can’t find Ruby tonight, honey. We’ll look tomorrow.”
“What is Ruby?” Nick asked.
“Her stuffed elephant.”
“I can’t go to bed without Wooby!” Another screaming fit seemed imminent.
Jodie’s eyes closed as if she was searching for patience.
“Is this Ruby?” Nick stepped forward and picked up the toy wedged behind a bookshelf.
“Wooby!” Zyana extended her arms.
“Oh thank God.” Jodie met his eyes. “Thank you. I don’t know why we couldn’t find it.”
Zyana clutched the toy and said, “Thank you, giant.”
“His name is Mr. Balachov,” Jodie said.
“Nick,” he said gruffly. “Mr. Balachov is too hard to say. Call me Nick, kid. And I’m a friendly giant.” He paused. “Sometimes.” Having her a little afraid of him might be a good thing.
She nodded. “Thank you, Nick.”
Jodie turned and started toward the stairs. As she set a foot on the
first step, she paused. “Shit.”
“What?” He moved toward her.
“I can’t find any of our bedding. The boxes with the sheets and pillows must have gotten lost.”
Jesus. “Hang on.” He let himself out, grabbed the bag he’d dropped, and jogged to the house. He unlocked the door, stepped in, flicked on lights, and breathed in the slightly stale air after a few days of the place being all shut up. He wiped his shoes on the mat in the mudroom, then ran upstairs. In the closet on the second level he found neatly stacked bedding that his cleaning lady, Fran, had placed there. He grabbed two sets of sheets and pillowcases, retrieved pillows and duvets from two guest bedrooms, and with it all bundled in his arms, crossed the yard back to the coach house.
The main floor was empty, so they must have gone upstairs anyway.
He climbed the stairs and found them in Zyana’s bedroom, now furnished with white furniture including a twin bed, a bookshelf, a dresser, and a tiny upholstered pink armchair. Jodie was kneeling on the floor in front of Zyana, who was dressed in pajamas—pink leggings and a sweatshirt with cartoon princesses on the front.
Jodie glanced up at him and his armful of bedding. She sucked briefly on her bottom lip and rose to help him. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“What were you going to do without?”
“Um, use towels, I guess. I have some big beach towels.”
Once again he had to swallow the curse words that sprang to his lips at imagining them sleeping on beds with nothing but towels. Fuck. Watching his language around a toddler was a serious cramp in his style. Hallsy wanted to have sex all over his goddamn condo; Nick just wanted to let loose with the odd F bomb. He sighed.
“These are queen-size sheets.” Jodie held up a fitted sheet. “But it doesn’t matter,” she added quickly. “We’ll make it work. Thank you.” She set about making the bed with sheets that were way too big while Zyana sat on her little chair and hugged her stuffed elephant, still sniffling and rubbing her eyes.
Fuck. She looked so miserable and she was so damn cute, he felt like a fist had grabbed hold of his heart.
He took the rest of the bedding across the hall and made Jodie’s bed, which was a queen bed. He couldn’t help but look around, taking in the mismatched antique furniture—because that was totally his jam. He paused to run a hand over the oak surface of the dresser—worn, scratched, and dull. It was a gorgeous piece, just needed some work to be amazing. His gaze dropped to the open drawer which held…holy shit…five vibrators.
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