Chapter 7
Xavier
She was too damn much of everything. Rosalee Samuels was a menace.
Not to society, oh no. The background check run on her indicated she was a fine and upstanding citizen.
But with her upbeat attitude, her sultry voice, and those irresistible curves, she was a menace to my own well-being.
She was too damn tempting. Too talkative.
She was too much.
That was exactly why I found myself hiking close to five miles down the mountain to where her car still sat, cocked half on the road and half on the dirt-covered shoulder.
The front of the car on the driver's side was a little banged up, but otherwise, the car was fine.
A quick look under the hood didn't show any reason why Rosalee couldn't have driven up to my cabin, so I slipped inside because, of course, she'd left the doors unlocked.
"Crazy, naive woman." I pushed the seat all the way back and slipped behind the wheel, turning the engine over five times before it finally roared to life.
The damn thing lurched and chugged its way up to the cabin, giving its last gasp of life in the middle of my driveway.
"Better than nothing," I grumbled and stepped out.
Stomping all the mud and gravel off my boots, I slipped them off and stepped inside my cabin—what used to be my quiet cabin for one, until a curvy little nanny decided to fill the place with her low, melodic voice.
Her softly sung nonsense words sounded from the kitchen, which smelled suspiciously like butter and sugar.
"What are you doing?"
Startled, she gasped and whirled around to turn laughing eyes my way. "You scared me."
"I asked you a question."
She rolled her eyes again as if she found me ridiculous rather than terrifying, the way most people did. "I'm making pancakes. I was starving, and you don't have much. I made enough for two." She smiled as if making breakfast was something she did every day.
"You made pancakes?"
"Yep." She turned her back to me, humming to the baby and flipping pancakes onto a large plate. "I have a lot to do today, and I'll need my energy."
"You should be taking it easy."
"I will. Later." She laughed to herself and brought the stack of pancakes to the small table, which was only large enough for two people.
"No syrup."
"I noticed," she shot back with a knowing smile before she turned back to the stove, returning with a small saucepan filled with liquid.
"Brown butter syrup." She put two pancakes on her plate and poured an obscene amount of the syrup over them, closing her eyes while she moaned over the first three bites.
The sound was downright erotic and my cock twitched in my pants, not caring at all that there was a kid in the room. "I brought your car up."
Rosalee froze, her eyes going comically wide. "You did? You got it to work?" She jumped up from her seat, hand carefully cradling the baby's head as she darted to the window. "You did! But how did you get it to start? I tried like a thousand times, and it just made that dry, hacking cough sound."
I bit the inside of my jaw to avoid smiling. "It did that a few times before it started, but it barely made it here."
Her shoulders fell. "Okay, thanks. I'll still need a tow," she said, the last part to herself as she settled back in front of the pancakes. "Thank you, Xavier, for taking care of that. It was nice of you."
I grunted a response.
"Eat your pancakes." After another few bites, she set the baby back in her carrier. "Did you hear that?"
"No."
She glared at me and let out a low grunt. "Are you always so chatty?"
"No."
She put her hand under the girl and moved her around, and then I heard it—the distinct sound of paper crinkling. "I heard it again!" She picked her up and held her against her chest while she lifted the floral padding to reveal an envelope. "That's probably for you."
I stared at the envelope that now sat on the table and stared at me like we were sworn enemies. "Okay."
"Okay? You're not going to read it?"
"I will."
"When?"
"Later," I answered and shoved a forkful of pancakes in my mouth, smiling at the look of disbelief on her face.
Rosalee stared at me for a long moment, trying to figure me out.
Good luck with that. Half the time, I can't figure myself out.
Finally, she shrugged, returned the baby to the carrier, and finished off her breakfast while mine remained mostly uneaten.
"Well, I wasn't planning on starting work right after the interview, so I need to grab a few things. "
I frowned. "Like what? From where?"
"Like things, you know: clothing and toiletries, a phone charger, a laptop, and other life necessities. From the place where I lived—or used to live—until today. Do you want an itemized list?"
"No," I barked.
She didn't shrink in the face of my attitude, which should've pissed me off, but instead, it only intrigued me more.
"Okay, then. I'll call a tow truck and see if I can hitch a ride down the mountain with the driver.
If not, I'll see if a rideshare will climb up here to pick me up.
I'll grab my things and I should be back later this evening. Does that work for you?"
"No," I barked again.
Rosalee stared at me in confusion that quickly turned indignant. Her brows arched and a glint of anger lit her golden eyes. "Excuse me?"
"I can come down to pick you up. It's no problem." She shouldn't have to spend more money to get back up here when she would have to pay to have her car repaired.
She nodded. "That's sweet of you, Xavier, but I'm guessing you don't have an anchor for that car seat?"
"Shit," I bit out angrily. "I don't even know what that is."
"That's what I figured," she said in a way that coming from anyone else would've sounded like judgment. "If you can swing a few extra hours on your own, I can stop at the baby store in town and grab a few necessities before I come back, and you can just reimburse me in my first paycheck."
"No, that won't work." I pulled out my wallet and found the card I was looking for. "Just put it on this. Get whatever you think she'll need."
She laughed. "No, thanks. There's no store in this age of identity fraud that's going to let me use a credit card with someone else's name on it. That's the quickest way to see the inside of a jail cell, which I have to admit is not on my bucket list."
Dammit, a grin formed despite my best efforts. "Just call me if they give you any shit."
"Call you?" She folded her arms and stared at me. "I don't know where my phone is, and even if I did, I don't have your number."
I smiled and stood, retrieving her phone from my bedroom and joining her back in the kitchen. "I charged it and added my number. Under Xavier, not Mr. Holloway."
"Then I guess we're all set. For the record, you're paying my bail if I get arrested."
I laughed. "Deal."
"Okay." She bent and brushed a gentle hand over the baby's black curls.
"I'll see you in a few hours, sweet girl.
Hopefully by then, I'll have a name to call you.
" She stared at me pointedly when she said the last part before turning back to the baby, who smiled up at her.
"Be good for your dad." With those words, she shuffled around the cabin for a few minutes, and then she was gone.
I sat there for a long time, processing her words.
Be good for your dad.
The envelope mocked me, and I knew I had no choice. I wanted answers, and some of them would be inside that thick envelope.
No time like the present.
I ripped it open and learned my fate.