23. Lucy
Chapter 23
Lucy
“ I t’s still raining,” Lena whined for the third time in less than thirty minutes.
I felt her pain. Nonstop rain forced us to stay indoors and limited the fun activities we could do. “I know it’s no fun to stay inside all day, but I was thinking of something interesting we could do.” I waited until I had the little girl’s full attention. “We can learn Spanish.” I tried to inject as much of an upbeat attitude as I could to make sure she was excited about it too. “ Hola, mi nombre es Lucy .”
Lena’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. “Hola,” she began and spoke a bunch of gibberish before she ended with, “Lena.”
I kept my laugh lighthearted, but her eager attempt was a good start. “That means hello, my name is. Ready? I’ll go slow this time.”
She nodded and rushed to my side with an adorable smile on her face. “I’m ready!”
We spent nearly an hour learning basic Spanish words and phrases, things Lena would use often and would be unlikely to forget. I figured it was Texas so learning a bit of Spanish would be helpful, and small kids loved to learn new languages. But as we passed the hour mark, Lena’s focus began to drift and I knew it was time to do something else, anything that wouldn’t remind me of the time I spent with her father. Naked. Sweating and panting. In the shower.
“Lucy, doorbell!” Lena gripped my forearm as if she’d been trying to get my attention for some time.
I looked around and didn’t see Dotty anywhere, so I assumed she was busy in some other part of the house. “Hold your horses,” I muttered under my breath as the bell rang again, and then again, even more insistently. I yanked open the door and froze, not just because the man with the dimpled smile was gorgeous, but he was also familiar. Very familiar.
“Alex Witter.”
His smile widened. “Very good. And you are?”
I blinked and gave myself a moment for the shock to fade. The running back for the Houston Highlanders stood just a few feet from me and I felt like a fan girl. Say something, dummy. “I’m Lucy, the nanny. I assume you’re looking for Dante?”
Alex nodded, a slightly amused expression on his face. “I am.”
I took a step back and motioned him inside. “He’s at work.” Alex Witter was here, and my first thought was that Toni would love to meet him. My second thought was less friendly. “You’re that Alex.” The one who was on the phone making fun of me with Dante.
“Hey,” he held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “I didn’t say anything. All I did was ask if you were hot.” His gaze raked up and down my body, and despite how drop dead gorgeous he was, I felt nothing.
Soon enough the sound of tiny sneakers on the floor grew closer and Lena squealed with excitement. “Uncle Alex!” She kept running and leapt at Alex who caught her easily—because of course he did—and scooped her up in his arms. “Holy smokes Lena, you’re a big girl now. No more diapers?”
She giggled. “No more diapers. I’m a big girl. Hola , Uncle Alex.”
“ Hola Lena. Cómo estás?”
She looked to me with a confused stare and I smiled. “You say, Soy buena, I’m good .”
Lucy turned back to Alex with a wide smile. “ Soy buena, Uncle Alex.”
“Very good,” he chuckled and pressed a loud kiss to her cheek.
“Daddy’s not here.”
“So I gathered,” Alex answered with a smile and carried Lena to the sitting room, obviously he was familiar with the place.
I followed behind and let it settle in that I’d slept with someone who knew Alex Witter personally. Oh wait, I’m pretending we didn’t sleep together, so no, I just work for someone who knows someone famous. Nothing more.
Dotty entered the living room just as we did and Alex perked up. “Dotty! How are you beautiful?”
The friendly housekeeper smiled, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a blush turned her cheeks pink. “Alex Witter. I hope you’re using those hands to catch balls and not more drama.”
“Aw, Dotty you wound me.” The smile on his lips said he enjoyed her semi-affectionate words. “I don’t catch drama, it just follows me. That’s part of why I’m here, a break from the spotlight.”
Dotty nodded. “I’m just finishing up lunch, so I hope you brought your appetite.”
“I take it with me everywhere I go, especially here.”
Dotty’s cheeks turned a deeper red and she rolled her eyes before returning to the kitchen.
Alex sat down and took up far too much real estate on the sofa with his big frame. He knew what he was doing, and when I saw the challenge in his eyes I kept my distance. “So, Lucy…”
“So. Mr. Witter.”
He laughed. “That’s my pops. I’m just Alex.”
“So. Just Alex.”
He laughed again. “I like you, Lucy.”
“I like you too,” I told him. “Except when you’re playing the Tornadoes, you can’t seem to get away from their fullback.”
Shock was written all over his face. “Beautiful and she knows football. Tell me you’re single.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not your type, remember?”
“Those were Dante’s words, not mine. But now that I’ve seen you up close, I know why he said that.”
Ouch. Hurt and anger coursed through my veins at his words. Maybe he was as big a jerk as Dante. “Cool. Good to know,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “Come on Lena, let’s get washed up for lunch.”
Alex was the best running back in the country, so I knew there was no way to outrun him, but that didn’t mean I had to speak to him. “Hey Lucy, you’ve got it all wrong.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine, Alex. No harm done.”
“Bullshit.”
“You said a bad word, Uncle Alex.”
“Sorry honey, I mean to say bull poop.” He smiled and made Lena giggle before she ran off to the kitchen. Alex turned his attention back to me.“What I meant was that Dante only said that to keep me away from you. I mean seriously, what man doesn’t love a curvy blond with a smart mouth and more than a working knowledge of football? If I wasn’t so sure he wanted you for himself, I’d whisk you away to Hawaii for the weekend.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Put that charm away, Alex.” Because unfortunately there was no spark, dammit. Why, oh why did it have to be Dante who revved my engine?
“Fine. So how’s this new gig coming along?” He asked as we both made our way to the kitchen.
“Great. Lena is a sweet little girl and she’s very smart.”
“A very diplomatic answer.” He smiled wide and dug into Dotty’s delicious three-bean chili with all the fixings.
“Thank you. I try.” I topped my chili with sharp cheddar and jalapenos while Lena requested I add a mountain of cheese to her bowl. “Are you really here to escape trouble?”
Alex shrugged. “More like to escape the temptation of trouble, but also to see how the new nanny was working out.”
I smiled because I knew what he was doing, and if Dante hadn’t confirmed his feelings I might have been tempted to believe he’d said something to Alex about us. “You’re a good uncle to be so concerned about Lena.”
He laughed to himself. “It’s her workaholic father I’m worried about.”
I shrugged and took my time chewing. “Luckily for me, it’s not my job to look after grumpy men.” Dante was more than capable of dealing with—or avoiding—his own emotions. “But Lena and I get along great, so don’t worry your pretty little head about her.”
Alex stared at me for a long time before he let out a bark of laughter so loud it startled Lena. “You’re feisty.”
“I’ve been told that on occasion.”
He continued to laugh. “I’m sure Dante hates it.”
“You would be correct,” I confirmed with the barest hint of a smile.
“Oh man, I wish I could move in just to see it all unfold.” Alex shook his head and I could see that he and Dante had a genuine friendship. And if I was looking to torture myself, I might wonder if Dante was different with Alex than he was with me or the rest of the world. But that was absolute madness and I refused to go down that path.
“Nothing to unfold. I update him on Lena’s days and her progress, sometimes I eat with them and that’s it.”
“Bullshit.” He froze and slid a gaze to Lena. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
“Bullshit,” she shot back with a smile.
“Your fault,” I told him and pointed an accusatory finger in his direction, but I couldn’t help chuckling.
Lena started to laugh and finally Alex joined in and the more we all laughed, the more we continued to laugh. It was a good, cleansing laugh, the kind that made the sides ache.
“Am I paying you to line up your next date, or to look after my daughter?” Dante’s harsh words cut through our laughter like one of those sharp Japanese knives.
His words were sharp and painful just as he meant them to be. I turned slowly and met his angry glare, so full of hate I visibly winced. “Dante,” I began and corrected myself. “Mr. Rush, your friend stopped by unexpectedly.”
His lips curled into a sneer, his green eyes so dark they were black. He huffed out a bitter, angry laugh. “Decided to trade up, I see? Sorry to disappoint you sweetheart, Alex might be more famous, but I’m richer. Looks like you made a bad trade.”
His words pissed me off and I gripped the table so hard that my fingers started to ache. Tears swam in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall in front of him. I refused to give Dante the satisfaction of knowing that his words had impacted me in any meaningful way. I swallowed my emotions and stood slowly, my anger bubbled up as I pulled myself to my full height. I turned to Lena who wore a wide-eyed expression full of fear, and then to Alex who looked both sympathetic and angry.
I wanted to say something to both of them, to ease their minds, but I couldn’t speak. I knew if I tried I might burst into tears, and that wasn’t going to happen. No way in hell. I took a sip of water and inhaled a deep, fortifying breath before I made my way to Dante. “Am I dismissed for the evening?”
His nostrils flared, but a hateful smile tipped up the corners of his mouth. “You’re dismissed.” He spat the words at me just in case there was any doubt as to how he felt about me.
I gave a short nod, stepped around Dante and rushed up the stairs two at a time, slamming the door behind me so loud it echoed in the hallway outside. Only when I was alone in my suite did I let my tears fall. It was silly to cry over a man like Dante. He wasn’t mine, and he would never be mine, whether I wanted it or not. It didn’t matter that I had started to like him, to be able to see past his grumpiness to see that he was a good father, a kind man and good to his employees.
He's also a total asshole, I reminded myself to stop me from extolling his virtues. I didn’t care that he was good to the people in his life, it was literally the bare minimum of what a decent human being should do.
Dante Rush was a jerk, and I needed to remember that the next time I started to forget.