Chapter 18
LUNA
The longer I stay here, the longer I’m convinced I’m living with a crazy person.
That’s the only explanation: Oliver Walters is bat-shit crazy.
Yup. That’s what I’m going with. He definitely has a screw loose because why else would he try to kill me with his gaze when I’ve done nothing wrong?
He huffs and puffs at the sight of me and treats me like I’m trespassing in his swamp.
What the fuck is that guy’s problem?
Clearly, I’ve missed something, and I have no clue what it is.
This has gone on for the past five days, but it’s really starting to piss me off.
Oliver is finally living up to his nickname, Surly Bastard.
I almost ask Theo if his brother stopped taking the special sweets that make him human; that’s how he’s acting, like a patient off his meds.
But, of course, I refrained from getting Theo involved. I want him to remain oblivious to any of this; making him aware of his brother’s odd behaviour would make things worse.
I kept my neutral last night when he came home from work, stalking towards his office, no doubt singing ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum’ like the not-so-friendly giant he is.
Ignoring the way his gaze burned my skin as our paths crossed on my way to help Theo get ready for bed, the grunt he let out when I passed him on the stairs to head up to my bedroom, and lastly, leaving the house until the early hours of the morning.
What even is that?!
I haven’t even been able to sleep for the past few days because it’s been driving me crazy trying to find out what he’s so ticked off about, and maybe…
because the anger vibrating off him was doing things to me, things I didn’t want to happen, but it didn’t stop when the need to whip out the old vibrator for a spin.
It’s the only way I’ve been able to relax.
Thank God, Oliver is just my boss because dating a grumpy arsehole like him would be a full-time job in itself.
But luckily, I don’t have to worry about any of that for now.
Saturday had finally come around again, although it felt weird leaving the house without taking Theo with me; I was grateful for the break from his psycho brother.
I’ll still think of Theo a lot today, even now as I’m walking to the tube station.
Memories of last weekend flash in my mind and bring a smile to my face.
How could someone as sweet and precious as Theo be related to such a rat bastard?
I’ll never know.
When I reach the station, I decide that from this moment on, I won’t think of Oliver Walters, not for another second.
I’m going to enjoy my day with the kids.
Mei was doing a whole lot better. Tracy had been filling me in when we spoke during the week, and not only was she eating better, but she started saying a few words, which is huge.
That is my main focus today.
I knew how much she was going to miss Theo this week, but I was still excited to see her progress.
With such happiness to ride on, wasting my energy on a certain jerk was completely unnecessary.
I headed down to the tube, feeling bad for Theo, having to spend the whole day with his grump of a brother.
I just hope he wasn’t treating Theo the way he was treating me.
OLIVER
Luna.
Luna
Luna.
The name of the vixen I can’t get out of my head.
Her pitiful glare, the way her hair bounces when she turns up her nose and walks past me. The desire to ball her hair in my fists and tug as a punishment for being sassy is painful.
But the worst part?
Her eyes.
Chocolate beacons of death.
The element of realisation when she first noticed my presence, then how quickly they switched from roses to thorns. How hard she tries to match the intensity of my glares, but ends up looking like an angry koala, disgustingly cute.
My efforts to rid her from my thoughts have failed. She’s a case I can’t solve, and just knowing she’s in the room opposite mine ignites a reaction in my blood that makes me worry about my health.
Ever since I heard about her eventful weekend with Theo, I can’t contain the anger burning inside me.
I haven’t made any attempt to confront her about it because I can’t seem to get myself under control, acting like a child.
I can’t concentrate in meetings. Whenever I see her, I just want to fuck the defiance out of her, so I’ve resorted to avoiding her like the plague.
I stupidly listened to Min-Joon, taking whatever is brewing inside my body as sexual frustration, but there hasn’t been an ounce of release.
Crystal should have been just the person who could handle my frustrations, and after hours and hours of trying to help rid me of those frustrations, things were rendered moot.
I even breached my end of our contracted agreement by spending every night this week at her place, yet it drew a blank compared to what a few seconds around Luna did to me.
I know I’m spending far too much time with Crystal, and if I continue, it won’t be long before she grows an unhealthy attachment to me. Adding female drama into my overworked mix isn’t the way to go, so come Monday night, I plan to set her straight.
I feel it might be time to terminate the calendar girls’ contract, as there is barely any time these days. This whole week had proven this system wasn’t serving me the way it used to, not to mention, I refuse to embarrass myself in front of another woman by failing to get it up.
The hulk of a bastard won’t get up, and I don’t know why; it wasn’t due to Crystal’s lack of trying either, it was just like…I was dead down there.
Maybe what I was feeling wasn’t sexual frustration after all, but I was desperate to figure it out. I didn’t like feeling out of control of myself, and I’d tried everything; reverting to what excited me back in my teenage years hadn’t worked, porn was useless, my guy down there remained limp.
I felt like I was watching paint dry. At this point, I contemplated going to the doctor.
I refuse to take pills, as there is no excuse for a man in his prime, but this is getting out of hand.
Everything was fine before, until I encountered Luna; then all of a sudden, my body runs hot, and I get all pent up inside with no way of calming myself down again.
I make a mental note to make a doctor’s appointment when Theo bursts into my room in tears. My body jolts up in fear and stiffens as he curls in my embrace. The anger I’m feeling returns, and I’m ready to murder whoever or whatever made my boy cry.
Affection isn’t something that comes easily to me, but I have adjusted to whatever Theo has needed over the years, so I know exactly what to do when in situations like this.
“What’s wrong, bud?” I ask, ruffling his hair and pulling him deeper into my lap. He mumbles the words “She left without me,” with staggered breaths when my body relaxes, but my blood rises.
That damn vixen.
She’s bewitched us both. I turn my head to look down at Theo, but he keeps his head buried in my chest. I can’t believe he’s crying because she isn’t here.
It still shocks me how quickly he warmed up to her, as he hadn’t done that with Diamond or any of the other calendar girls, but the bloody nanny was worthy of his tears.
With what feels like lava flowing through my veins, my face heats at the thought of her and where she is right now.
Probably fucking some ugly mug while his zoo of an offspring are off playing with no clue of what is going on.
I tell myself to stay away from my phone as I’m this close to firing her for being so irresponsible, and for forming such a connection with my Theo.
I knew I shouldn’t have hired her. Someone like her shouldn’t be around children.
The painful urge to grab hold of her the moment she comes home and bend her over my knee for being unprofessional grows stronger; the more I think about her, the angrier I get.
It reached a point where I had to shove all and any thoughts of Luna to the back of my mind and focus on Theo.
I pat him slowly, soothing him as he eventually stops crying and promises him that we’ll have a better day together than he ever would with her.
He doesn’t agree, but heads to get ready as I finally reach for my iPhone.
The urge to fire Luna still lingers, but I decide against it and dial Nigel’s number.
Theo and I both need a fun day out without having to think about a certain someone, and I have just the thing.
Luna
Luna
Luna
The name I’m trying my best to avoid is all I keep hearing.
My efforts to avoid her completely are rendered mute as Theo can’t seem to go ten minutes without mentioning her, despite loving the new Super Mario movie so much, grinning throughout the whole thing but his overall excitement fades once we got back into the car and he can’t stop saying how much he wants to see it again with Luna, what parts of the movie Luna would find funny and when was Luna coming home.
He then mentions something about wanting to have dinner with Luna’s family again, but I block everything that involves her name. Which isn’t an easy thing to do, as everywhere we went it was Luna this, Luna that.
Her name wouldn’t leave his mouth, and it wasn’t helping the anger I was holding inside because now she was even messing with our Bro Day. Theo had no interest in spending the day with me when he couldn’t stop mentioning her.
Not even the excitement of chicken nuggets or the Funfair could get rid of her.
It was all about whether or not Luna would like this or what she would say about this, by time the day had come to an end, I was fucking exhausted, beyond fuming at the dark brunette who lives in my spare room, so much to the point, I’ve even started picturing her everywhere I look, whilst Theo and I were ordering food, standing watch as Theo laughed while on the merry-go-round and now standing outside, peeping into the tinted windows as I’m pulled up at home.
Why can’t I escape this woman?
What kind of witchcraft does she have over me?
It isn’t until I yank the door open, letting the breeze attempt to cool the wrath of my anger, that I realise this Luna illusion is in fact real.
The way she jumps back in surprise proves it.
I hold in the urge to smirk at the way she pounces like a startled meerkat and stare her down as I exit the car.
She and I stand there in silence as she matches my glare whilst I give the once-over.
Ignoring the jolt that runs through me at the sight of her outfit complementing her figure.
I make my way up to meet her eyes and frown at her.
Letting her see how appalled I am to see her.
Despite it being a windy spring evening here in the UK, the air around us is as if the sun is beaming down on us; the atmosphere is thick, and the wind seems to draw us closer together.
My body rises to its new scalding temperature, and for the first time in a week, I feel that same kind of heat brewing south.
After all this time, now you want to get up?
But that means…No, it can’t be.
Thank God, I don’t have time to dwell on my current delusion as Theo wakes up after falling asleep during the ride home and springs out of the car, leaping into Luna’s arms. The scowl on her face changes into a smile so bright as she scoops Theo into her arms.
My chest starts to pound at the sight of their reunion, and the anger I’ve been feeling subsides, switching to admiration for how well Luna is at putting her feelings aside for the sake of my child. I take his bag out of the car and lock it as Luna carries Theo into the house.
With the presence of Theo, the two of us put aside any tension between us and poured our focus on getting him ready for bed.
Although the anger returns when I see Luna take off her coat from her shoulders, the suspicion I had earlier confirmed itself, seeing her dressed in a grey maxi dress, in full swing.
The way it dips in and out of her mid-sized curves, leaving nothing to the imagination and causing my throat to run dry.
I wait inside Theo’s bedroom for him, when the image of her reappears without my permission, awakening my stupid dick.
I’m grateful my trousers work well to hide the erection, but that doesn’t contain my anger.
I curse at its timing and have enough time to readjust myself when Luna and Theo come into the room after helping him brush his teeth.
Theo bursts with happiness whilst filling Luna in on his day; something passes through me. It may not have happened if I hadn’t seen the way these two are together, but no matter how much this woman infuriates me, I can see how deeply she cares for Theo.
That’s the thought I choose to rely on instead of desperately wanting to know what Luna’s man’s reaction was when she told him she’d be sleeping under my roof instead of his, a fact my dick and I take pride in.
Being happy about something like that should be ridiculous.
It was borderline possessive, a trait I do possess, but just not for the hired nanny.
I push all thoughts aside once I see Theo tucked into bed, as I reach for his favourite storybook, his voice stops me.
“No, I don’t want that one, Ollie,” he declares. “Luna, can you read me the book Randall told me about?” he asks, and the anger comes rushing back, as if it never left.
The expression on my face changes, and the urge to break this ‘Randall’s’ jaw becomes a need.
Meeting this arsehole was enough, but now you’re telling me he’s changing what my brother’s reading?
I direct my burning rage towards Luna, as I say a quick goodnight to Theo and lurk past her, stomping my way downstairs in search of a stiff drink.
I leave the two of them behind, but I can hear Luna reading Theo his bedroom story, as I pace back and forth in the living room.
Deciding on whether I should rip into her for violating her contract or choose to ignore it and bury myself in the work piling up in my office.
I can’t seem to make up my mind and run out of time, as I didn’t hear Luna come downstairs and into the living room.
Our eyes meet for a split second, but I quickly break contact. I hear her mumble a string of words, but choose to take no notice, wanting to get as far away from her as possible, so I make a run for my office, but the next set of words that come out of her mouth pulls me to a halt.
“What the fuck’ is your problem?”