Protecting the Boundary (LA Wolves #8)

Chapter 5

FIVE

On my way home from practice, I swing by the store to pick up more eggs so I can make Kay breakfast tomorrow morning. While I’m there, I decide to detour down the cookie aisle to grab her favorites, knowing how her face will light up when she sees them.

My stomach’s been in knots all day knowing that Larissa was running nanny interviews. I’m still not one hundred percent sure about having a stranger live with us—even if they’ll be in the guesthouse and not in the main house. I’ve kept the circle of people I trust with Kaylee relatively small, and opening it up to anyone else is uncomfortable. But it’s just for this season—that’s what I keep telling myself. At the end of the season, I can fire the nanny and we can go back to how it’s always been.

I turn the corner and stop in my tracks when another person collides into me. A feminine “oomph” catches my attention before I hear the clatter of her items falling onto the ground. Fortunately, my eggs are unharmed.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she says, ducking down before I can see her face. Her black hair falls in soft waves around her.

I find myself squatting down to help her. “It’s okay. I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going. Here,” I say, handing her the box of tampons she dropped. Pink instantly floods her cheeks, and then she bursts into laughter and sits back on her heels, finally looking up at me for the first time.

My breath gets stuck in my chest as her dark brown eyes meet mine. They sparkle with a lightness that draws me in. Her flushed cheeks stand out on her smooth, fair complexion, and I lose my train of thought when she laughs and shakes her head at the situation.

“Sorry,” she says, trying to compose herself. “This is just something that would totally happen to me.”

“Literally running into someone at the grocery store?”I ask, composing myself. I don’t know what the hell that just was, but it was weird.

Her eyes shine happily. “Yeah,” she says. “And that a hot guy would hand me my box of tampons.”

Her eyes go wide at her slip, and her cheeks flush a deeper pink.

I ignore her “hot guy” comment. “Tampons don’t scare me. You’re all good.”

I used to buy Syd her tampons all the time when she needed them. “Do you need a hand getting up?”

I don’t wait for her to answer before I extend my hand, and she takes it with a grateful smile. Once she’s back on her feet, she says, “Thanks. Sorry again for bumping into you.”

I shrug, uncomfortable with how I responded to her just now. I don’t react to women anymore, and I can’t figure out why this stranger had such an instant effect on me, but I’d rather brush it off and get on with my shopping so I can get home to Kay. “I think we’re both at fault. Have a good one.” I walk down the aisle and snag Kay’s favorite cookies before heading to check out.

The whole drive home, I can’t stop thinking about the woman. I don’t know why. It wasn’t like we interacted that long, but for some reason I keep seeing flashes of her flushed cheeks and those deep brown eyes that seemed filled with such happiness, even when she was laughing at herself.

When was the last time my eyes had that kind of shine?

When I get home, I hurry inside and smile when I hear my daughter’s feet slapping against the hardwood floors. “Daddy!” she squeals, launching herself straight into my waiting arms.

I hug her tight. “Hey, baby girl. How was your day with Grammy?”

She pulls back with that smile on her face that always makes my day better. “Good.”

Larissa walks up, her own smile filling her face. “I think I found the perfect nanny.”

“Did you get a lot of people to interview?”

“We had five that were cleared through the agency. Three of them were terrible. They didn’t engage with Kay at all and didn’t answer any of my questions well.”

“So out of the two that did, you thought one would be a good fit for Kay?”

Larissa looks almost as excited as Kaylee. “I did. I’ll show you all her info and tell you about her. Kay, why don’t you go wash your hands so you can help your daddy make dinner?”

“Okay,” she says, her little body squirming with excitement to get down. She rushes off to the downstairs bathroom that has her step stool and the foaming soap she loves while Larissa and I go to the kitchen.

After putting away the eggs and cookies I bought, I move to the kitchen sink, washing my hands while Larissa pulls out the fixings for pita pizza. It’s been Kay’s favorite lately. Based on her history, she’ll probably love it for another week before she refuses to eat it for at least a month. Just when I think I know her favorite food, she decides she doesn’t like it anymore and we have to find something else.

Toddlers are weird little creatures.

“Meredith Gable is the one I think you should hire. She was fantastic with Kaylee. She’s more than qualified and I don’t think she’ll fangirl over you.”

I huff. “That’s a relief.” But I’ll believe it when I see it.

She chews on her lip, staring off in space.

“What?” I ask.

When she looks at me, I brace myself for something awful. “She lost her mother as a baby.”

That’s not at all what I was expecting. I grab the towel, drying my hands as I stare toward where Kaylee ran off to. “Do you think she’d be able to help Kay come out of her shell?”

It’s been my biggest worry—among the many that come when you’re solely responsible for the well-being of a tiny child. Kay’s never been very outgoing, but sometimes, she seems to fold in on herself and I worry it’s because she doesn’t have her mom. Larissa does her best, but she can’t be here all the time. And as hard as I try, I’m man enough to admit that I struggle to play both mom and dad.

“Kay gave her the biggest smile I’ve ever seen her give a stranger.”

I sag back against the countertop. Kay rarely smiles for strangers, so that’s a very big deal. “Alright. We’ll go with your pick.”

I toss the towel behind me on the counter and cross my arms. “I’m going to retire at the end of the season.”

Larissa’s eyes go wide with shock. It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud as a fact instead of a question on whether or not I should. Instead of feeling anxious or panicked about the idea of ending my career, I feel oddly settled about the whole thing.

“Are you sure?” she asks me .

“It’s time. Kay comes first. I’ll have enough saved and in investments that we’ll be covered for the rest of her life. Hell, I’ve got enough that she’ll have more money than she needs for three lifetimes. My contract is up at the end of this season, and I don’t want to keep being away from Kay. Every season gets harder on her the older she gets. I don’t want to put her through that anymore.”

She steps forward and gives me a hug that I easily return. “You’re an incredible dad, Romel,” she whispers, her voice choked as she tightens her arms around me. “Sydney chose well.”

Tears burn my eyes, but I walk to the stove and brush them away once she releases me. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s seen me cry, but I still try to keep it as private as I can. And Kay running into the kitchen gives me another reason to be glad I turned away. She’s too dang perceptive for a kid her age, and the last thing I want her to worry about is why her daddy is crying.

“Alright, Kay, want some pita pizza for dinner?”

“Yeah!” she squeals. Larissa gives us both hugs and then leaves for the night, and I spend the rest of the night making pizzas with my daughter, dancing in the kitchen to kids’ songs, and then ending the night with a couple of episodes of her favorite cartoon.