Chapter 13
thirteen
. . .
Archer
I was sitting on the end of the row, as far away from Winnie as I could get. She didn’t seem to notice or care. My entire family was here to see Melody in her holiday show, and Winnie was sitting between Wren and my mother on the opposite side.
My mother adored her, as did my aunt Ellie. Winnie attended Sunday dinners with us, and she’d go over early and cook with them.
It was her passion.
She’d become a part of this family, and I’d almost fucked it all up.
“What’s your deal?” Bridger said, keeping his voice low as he sat beside me.
“What do you mean? I don’t have a deal.”
“You seem—uncomfortable.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine. Stop overanalyzing me.”
“Did something happen?” Rafe leaned in from where he sat behind me. “You seem a little off.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m not off. And nothing happened.”
“I’m not buying it,” Bridger said, chuckling. “Something is definitely going on.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you took the farthest seat in the room from your nanny, whom you’re usually attached to at the hip.”
“I didn’t even notice where she was sitting,” I lied. “And be quiet. The show is starting.”
Mrs. Groucher came onto the stage and introduced her class, and for the next forty-five minutes, we listened to several holiday songs, and they did a little skit.
And that was when Melody moved to the front of the stage.
This was her big part in the show. Only a few kids had lines, and Melody had taken it very seriously that she’d been chosen to recite some facts about the holidays.
Her gaze found mine in the audience, and I gave her a thumbs-up, and then I was surprised when her gaze moved down the row and she found Winnie.
Even my daughter couldn’t keep her eyes off our nanny.
And as she started reciting the facts that I’d heard every single day for the last two weeks, I glanced over to see Winnie’s lips moving as she recited them silently along with my daughter.
“And we wish you all a very happy holiday!” Melody shouted, and the crowd erupted with applause.
Mind you, half the people in the audience were my family members, so Melody drew a large crowd. And the first one to jump up on her feet was Winnie. She was clapping and jumping up and down as if Melody had just won a Pulitzer Prize.
Trust me, I got it.
I was proud as hell of my little girl.
It was brave to get up in front of all these people and speak.
But I wasn’t used to anyone outside of my family responding in this way.
All the kids left the stage to go find their families, and I stood.
“Well, even if you don’t want to admit something’s going on, at least Melody isn’t ashamed to admit it,” Bridger said with a laugh as my daughter rushed off the stage into Winnie’s arms.
“We did it, Winnie!” she said.
“You did it, sweet pea,” I heard her say to my daughter.
“Daddy, why are you all the way down there?” Melody asked as she ran toward me and jumped into my arms.
“It was a good seat to take pictures,” I said, earning an odd look from my dad, who was only a few seats down from me.
Clearly this was a terrible seat for pictures. The fifteen-foot-tall Christmas tree sitting beside the stage was blocking my view and made for very awkward photos.
The truth was, I was a man who couldn’t stop fantasizing about his nanny, and I needed to stay the hell away from her.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
“You guys want to grab a beer tonight?” Easton asked as he walked over to me.
“I’ve actually got a date. I’m taking Samantha Moth to dinner.” I cleared my throat, waiting for them to give me shit.
Bridger chuckled, in that sarcastic judgmental way he often did. “Got it. Now I know that I’m on to something.”
I ignored him and made my way over to my mother, pulling her in for a hug.
“Wasn’t that just amazing?” she gushed as she lifted Melody up and settled her on her hip. “My little granddaughter is such a superstar.”
My gaze moved to Winnie’s, and she quickly looked away from me.
She was clearly uncomfortable around me now.
I’d obviously freaked her out.
She seemed thrilled about staying home with Melody tonight and had encouraged me to go have some fun.
Her words, not mine.
I’d told her that what almost happened was a mistake, and she’d agreed.
I just needed to stay clear for a little bit until I could shake off this attraction.
She’d be going home for a few days, and the distance would be good for us.
Hell, it would be great for us.
That was exactly what I needed.
Distance from Winnie Smith.
I’d managed to keep my distance from Winnie for the rest of the day. I took Melody shopping for a few last-minute Christmas gifts that I needed for my family, and Winnie went home to write for a while.
I’d left the house while she and Melody were eating dinner, which was torture because they were laughing and having a great time. Winnie had made spaghetti and meatballs that smelled fucking fantastic.
I didn’t want to leave them.
But the thought terrified me enough to get my ass out the door.
And now I was currently sitting across the table from Samantha Moth. A woman I’d gone out with a few times.
Scratch that.
A woman I’d hooked up with a few times over the years.
Typically after far too much alcohol had been consumed.
I’d never taken her out on an official date, because she’d had no interest in that in the past.
Tonight, I’d insisted. I declined to meet her at her house and insisted that we start with dinner.
Try to do things the right way.
“So what’s with the formalities tonight?
I figured we’d just meet at my place. Drink far too many bottles of wine.
Knock boots and chase our release a couple times, and then you’d make up an excuse about having an allergic reaction to the grapes in the wine and call a car to take you home.
” She shrugged as she cut into her steak.
“I just thought it might be nice to actually have a good meal and talk,” I said, regretting my decision to do so, because this was awkward as hell so far.
Turned out we had nothing in common, outside of being two lonely people who occasionally needed sex.
I’d learned that she despised children and wondered why anyone would choose to have a child in this day and age.
I’d reminded her that I was a single dad and loved my daughter more than anything, to which she rolled her eyes and said that we should change the topic.
I’d inquired about her family, only to learn that she’d sued her parents over an inheritance disagreement and had no contact with them. Her grandparents had passed away, and she hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family in years.
“All right. What else can we talk about? Seems like we’ve hit some big topics already,” she said.
I gave her a look, because maybe she should try coming up with something, seeing as I’d struck out twice already.
“Please tell me you aren’t one of those holiday guys who puts up a Christmas tree and wraps presents in paper covered in photos of a weird man in a red suit who pretends to bring children presents all over the world.
As if any man could do that all in one night,” she said with a loud laugh.
“It’s ridiculous that people buy into this shit. ”
My God. I’d had a fling with the Grinch, and I hadn’t even realized it.
“I am that guy. I even sprinkle glitter and oats out in the snow with my daughter, to attract Santa’s reindeer to our home.” I shrugged.
“Why would a reindeer eat glitter?” she asked, her brows cinched together with concern, as if I’d lost my mind.
“Well, they don’t. It’s just supposed to be a beacon of light that the reindeer follow to your home. I grew up doing it, and I have continued doing it for my little girl.”
“I think it’s really stupid, Archer.” She held her wine glass up for our waiter to refill.
“And I think it’s actually irresponsible to teach your daughter some bullshit beliefs that a man in a ridiculous suit is going to ride a reindeer to her house and bring her presents.
In fact, if I ever meet Melanie, I’m going to do the right thing and tell her the truth.
” She pursed her lips together as her blue eyes locked with mine.
Note to self: This woman is never to come within a hundred feet of my daughter.
“Her name is Melody, and I promise you that you will not be meeting her.” In fact, I would be okay if I never saw this woman again.
“I’m fine with that.” She winked at the waiter after he’d given her a very healthy pour. “The last kid I met was a menace. He actually burped in my face. He behaved like an animal. It was shameful.”
“How old was he?”
“I don’t know? Six months? And he couldn’t do shit. He just sort of sat there, staring at me with judgy eyes.” She took a long sip from her glass. “It was my coworker’s son, and I wanted to call that kid’s ass out.”
“He’s a baby.” I shook my head with disbelief. “How would one call out a baby?”
“I don’t know, but I was ready to give Sterling a piece of my mind.
That kid belched in my face and then just stared at me, before his eyes watered, and his parents celebrated the fact that he was taking a shit.
” She downed the rest of the red wine. “It’s appalling the way parents praise their children for the most minor achievements. ”
At the moment, I would much prefer to be in the company of a baby taking a shit over being tortured by this conversation.
“Have we ever had an actual conversation?” I asked as I cut another bite of my lobster tail and popped it in my mouth.
“No. And I actually preferred it. I think you mentioned having a kid, but I thought it was just a trick to get the hell out of my house.”
“It wasn’t a trick.” I reached for my phone and was disappointed that there were no messages from Winnie.
Samantha was busy flirting with the waiter as she asked for another glass of wine and inquired about the tattoo on his forearm, and I sent a quick text to check on Melody.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
Hey. How are the Christmas cookies coming along?
Winnie
Amazing.
Winnie
Looks like fun.
Winnie
How’s your date going? If you want to stay the night, I can sleep in the guest room in the main house.
She’d asked if I had a date, and I didn’t lie about it. I thought it would be good for her to know that I was going on a date, so it wouldn’t be weird between us.
But now she was encouraging me to spend the night out?
For fuck’s sake. I get it. You don’t give a shit what I do. But no need to push me into bed with a woman I can barely stand.
No need. I won’t be home late.
Winnie
Don’t rush on our account.
Thank you. Also, Bridger might stop by to drop off his gifts for Emilia because he wants to hide them at the house so she doesn’t see them.
Winnie
Yes. He already came by with his friend Brenner.
Yes. Brenner Layton is Bridger’s executive assistant. He’s a great guy.
Winnie
Oh, that’s good to know. He hung out for a while and asked me if I’d want to go to dinner tomorrow night.
Scratch that. Brenner Layton was no longer a great guy. How dare that fucker hit on my nanny.
Sounds like fun.
I seethed as I looked up to see my date writing her phone number on a cocktail napkin for the waiter.
This night just keeps getting better.
Winnie
Are you okay with me having the night off tomorrow?
Of course. Go have a great time. You deserve it.
I set my phone down as anger radiated from me.
“Hey, dude. As soon as you’re done exchanging numbers with my date, how about you bring me the bill,” I hissed.
But I didn’t give a shit about what Samantha did.
I was only focused on the fact that my nanny was going out with Brenner Layton.
I quickly shot a text to my cousin.
Why the fuck did you allow Brenner to ask out my nanny?
Bridger
Why are you so pissed?
Fuck you. She’s off limits.
Bridger
She’s a grown-ass woman. If you like her, ask her out.
She’s too young for him.
Bridger
He’s the same age as you and he has no problem with her age.
Fuck you for bringing him over to my house.
Bridger
Is someone jealous?
Bridger
I knew you liked her.
He was right. I fucking liked her.
I just couldn’t do anything about it.