Chapter 6
Chapter Six
LUCA
As Luca tripped over a pile of air hoses, he was nearly hit in the face by his terrible mistake.
He’d trusted somebody.
Like an idiot.
It had nearly cost him the business he’d built over the last eleven years.
At eighteen, he’d started building an auto-body business piece by piece, sometimes sleeping in the shop. At nineteen, he’d hired his first guy. At twenty, he could finally rent a two-bedroom and move Pearl out of the trailer and away from their mother.
He didn’t need much, but needed to make sure the people he loved were taken care of.
He’d come from a long legacy of white trash and needed to scrub the stink of it off of himself every day.
He’d wanted parents who showed up at spelling bees and school talent shows.
Like a fool, every year until third grade he’d look in the audience to see if his mom had showed up when she said she would.
Later, she’d always insisted she’d been there; he just hadn’t seen her.
But Luca finally believed his own fucking eyes. He knew she’d never been there.
AB was his whole world, and he was going to give her everything he’d never had for himself. It was a small fucking thing, but she’d never gone to bed hungry. She’d never had the power or water turned off. She never worried about where her next meal was coming from.
The thing he was most proud of? She wasn’t afraid of him. No yelling in my house.
He was determined that the pattern would stop with him. He would will the life that he’d wanted for AB with his own bare hands.
He’d be the parent that would go to spelling bees and school programs and any fucking thing. Be a room parent. Whatever that is.
He’d taken an unusual leap of faith over the summer to give AB an amazing memory.
They’d spent six weeks in Florida to visit Marcy’s parents, AB’s only real grandparents.
It had nearly kneecapped his business, but he’d do it all again in a heartbeat to see her eyes light up at Disney or the beach or the alligator habitat.
Every day though, his stupid mistake of trusting the wrong person over the summer haunted him in the form of supply piles in his auto body shop, late work, and constantly fixing leftover issues. Today he’d finally fired the guy who’d fucked everything up.
He rubbed a hand down his face, thinking about everything ahead of him. He needed a babysitter ASAP to focus on setting up the shop in Fairwick Falls.
Thick black coffee slowly slid from the cracked shop pot to his cup. Ritchie, his go-to guy, taped a chassis for a custom paint job.
“You have kids,” Luca said, matter-of-fact.
“Yep,” Ritchie said.
He couldn’t shut up about the Steelers ten minutes ago, but now he’s tight-lipped?
“I need a babysitter recommendation.” Luca peered over his shoulder and spied Annabelle coloring at his desk, a door away.
Ritchie shrugged. “We got a couple of good ones, but we’re over in Cooperstown.”
Fuck. He needed parent friends in Fairwick Falls.
“I just don’t know who to trust, and my sister is doing her whole bakery thing, you know?” Luca said, finally walking over to Pearl’s Airstream trailer that was getting its coat of pitch-black paint this week. It was a gift from him and Reed to get her bakery kicked off.
“Babysitters are hard to come by. You can’t just trust anybody with your kids,” Ritchie said, stating the obvious.
“Can Olivia be my babysitter?” AB piped up behind Luca, playing with wrenches at the table.
Damn, he hadn’t seen her come in.
“Finish your homework?” Luca said. Distraction was usually the best option for AB.
“’Livia is fun and we dance. She can help me be a better ballerina.”
He couldn’t imagine a worse idea than integrating the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen further into their lives.
His thoughts had drifted late last night to Olivia. Her thighs, her round ass, perky breasts in her ballet leotard.
Seeing her more often would be a disaster.
Just have to hold it together until December when she’s gone and I can finally breathe normally.
Luca sloped a hand down AB’s pigtail. “We need somebody more permanent. Ms. Olivia will leave soon.”
“No,” AB said, getting whiny.
Luca looked at the clock. It was 6:30. Normally, he’d avoid having AB here because it was a distraction to his guys, but they were doing overtime catching up after Cam had fucked around all summer and pissed off half his clients.
“Go finish your homework, and then we’ll go home and hang out.”
“No,” AB said, stamping her foot. “I want to hang out with Ms. Olivia.”
Luca had imagined a babysitter who was elderly and not so alluring. Like Beulah, his ancient neighbor, who had the temperament of a twenty-one-year-old chihuahua—snarling, a little smelly, but probably harmless.
“How about Beulah?”
“Ew.” AB recoiled. “Her breath smells like that bottle in the cabinet.”
“What bottle? Luca said, eyes connecting with Ritchie’s.
“The brown one you said I can’t have because it’s for grownups.”
Ritchie caught Luca’s eye and shook his head back and forth.
No shit, Luca mouthed to him over AB’s head.
Damn. Noted. Not Beulah.
* * *
OLIVIA
Ruuuuuhhh-rawr-ruuuuuuuh-rawr-ruuuuh—
“Someone stole my engine and replaced it with a cat in heat. That’s the only logical explanation,” Olivia muttered.
She gripped her key tighter, as if that would do anything. As if the engine not turning over was her fault for not pressing the key tightly enough.
Ruuu-ruuhhh-rawr-ruuuu-ruuuh-rawr—
Ruuuuuuuur-raaaaawr-ruuuuu—
Olivia gave up, sitting there in the quiet afternoon. She’d been dreading going to look for part-time jobs anyway.
Who would hire a ballet dancer with little to no marketable skills that needed to take time off each week at random times to teach a handful of classes?
She’d need to save thousands for her safety deposit and first month’s rent once she moved to a new city. Her checking account laughed at the thought.
If only Pop still owned the restaurant, she could have begged a waitressing job there, but some anonymous big company owned it now.
She refused to ask her mother for help. No one knew how dire her finances were, and her mom worried about her enough as it was. Her mom was so focused on her being a success. She couldn’t let her know just how much not a success she’d been.
Olivia revved the coughing engine again. “Come on, Baby,” she muttered through the embarrassing engine noises that now sounded like “Let me diii-iii-iiie.”
Maybe that last road trip wore her out.
A screen door slammed next door, and the friendly, neighborhood, tattooed Mack truck of hotness slowly ambled down the stairs.
Over black joggers and a tight black T-shirt, he wore a bright cosmic-cloud-and-rainbow-themed unicorn apron.
Olivia swallowed a smile because he seemed completely unbothered by walking around in a cartoon full-body apron. Why is that so fucking hot?
Olivia’s chest tightened, both hoping and dreading that he would come over. She loved running into him but hated it all the same. Her body didn’t know what to do with itself. She couldn’t pounce on him, but she also couldn’t take off running. That would be crazy.
Also, how could I look at his biceps that way?
She’d finally come to the honest realization that she had a big fucking crush on the single dad next door.
Like, certified seventh-grade, giggling when she thought about him, oh-my-god-he’s-looking-at-me, don’t-look-at-his-name-in-my-notebook crush.
As she spied the vein running down the curve of his bicep, she decided—fuck it—she would revel in this crush.
I’ll find a notebook to write his name in a goddamn heart.
“Having trouble?” Luca’s hands were in his pockets, but his eyes were kind and full of concern.
Yessss, he’s in squish mode.
She got out of the car. She felt so awkward, like her tongue was practically lolling out of her mouth. “Uh, she’s just temperamental.”
“Mind if I take a look under your hood—under the hood?” he said, correcting himself quickly, squinting his eyes in embarrassment. “I’m, uh, pretty good with cars.”
Of fucking course you are, hot dad next door.
What a slutty thing for a man to be—competent and helpful. Her pussy pulsed unexpectedly at the thought.
Jesus, get a grip. He cannot possibly be single.
“Want me to hold your unicorn apron?” she said as he reached for the hood of the car.
His gaze shot down as he realized what he was wearing.
He laughed, untying the back of the apron quickly. “Thanks,” he said dryly. His eyes danced as he handed it to her, and she could feel some vital organ melt at the sight. “Can’t get this dirty. I’ll never hear the end of it from Annabelle.”
“Birthday present?”
“Christmas,” he said with a smile. “Everything has been unicorns, but ballet is giving them a run for their tiny, cloven-hooved money.” He’d run his fingers along the edge of her hood, triggered the old catch and popped it open expertly, all while chatting with her.
Look, she was a feminist, okay? She thought gender norms were stupid, and anybody could do anything, but there was something about the rippling muscles as he lifted her car’s hood and then looked over the engine with an expert eye that made her knees a little weak and her insides go liquid.
Straight into her panties.
Luca’s dark eyebrows jumped to the top of his messy hair as he scanned her engine.
She gulped, trying to remember how to flirt. “Give it to me straight, doc.”
“Not good,” he said, his eyes flashing to hers with concern—no flirtation. “When’s the last time you had this serviced?”
Ruh roh. “Uh…about eleven years ago? When I bought her? Though I didn’t drive her much in Salt Lake.”
He nodded, unscrewing a cap and peeking under complicated tubes. “What made you come to Fairwick Falls?”
His arms rippled as he turned some sort of cap on her engine.
Why was it the triceps that always got to her?
She wanted to bite them, just a little. Just to feel the pressure against her teeth and claim it as hers.
There was something about this man that turned her into a lusty cavewoman.
“Olivia?” His brows knitted together with concern.
Whoops! “Grew up here. I’m just here between gigs. Auditions for ballet companies are in January, so I have some time to kill.” She shrugged. “Normally this time of year, I would be knee-deep in rat costumes working on The Nutcracker.”
He smiled. “I know that one.”
“Yeah, you’re a bunhead?”
“Bunhead…?” he said slowly with confusion. His dark eyebrows left no feeling unspoken as they moved across his face. “Like…an ass man?”
She burst out laughing at how fucking adorable he was.
His cheeks went crimson and a wave of guilt washed over her.
“No, no, it’s, um.” She swallowed, not wanting to embarrass him. “It’s a word for a ballet dancer. Because of the”—she pointed at her head—“you know, the buns? We wear. On our heads, not our asses.”
His entire face went red, and he ducked under the hood again.
Great. Now he’s embarrassed and might think I’m a snob.
“This needs a lot of work to get it back up and running. I’m happy to do what I can, but—”
She waved him away, feeling bad. “Oh, no. I can’t pay you or anything—”
He gently held up a bear paw-sized hand to stop her. “No cost. Let me see if I have some extra stuff in the garage. I can at least fill up your oil and see if you can get the engine to turn over.”
“Miss ’Livia!” a tiny voice called out before the screen door slammed. Annabelle was already two steps down, running in that little kid, tummy-first way. “Wanna be my babysitter?”
Olivia’s eyes shot to Luca, who hung his head in frustration.
“Annabelle, we—” he grumbled.
“My dad was going to ask you—”
“Annabelle,” he said, more firmly.
“Oh, um….” Olivia barely had time for her own practice right now.
“Please,” Annabelle said, tugging at Olivia’s hand. “I’ll be so good. We can play Barbies, and dance all the time.”
Luca crouched down in front of AB. “Hey. This is a grown-up discussion, and when you’re eighteen, you can contribute—”
AB interrupted. “I won’t need a babysitter then—”
“Until then”—Luca looked her in the eye with a serious face, but his voice was gentle—“I need you to listen to what I’m saying.”
He looked so stern, so caring, so…perfect in his tender love for his daughter that Olivia’s mouth did the unthinkable.
“Sure,” she said, the word tumbling out of her mouth.
Luca stood up.
She was too close to him, she knew, but all of a sudden she had a sort of woozy feeling that made her lightheaded.
Like she’d made a tectonic shift in her future.
Could barely breathe when her eyes connected with his.
Some sort of cave woman-like instinct took over when her body was near his. My face would fit perfectly between his pecs and shoulder. Like a hollow little dip made just for her.
“Oh my gosh, we’re gonna dance so much,” AB squealed, yanking Olivia’s hand and bringing her back to reality.
Olivia laughed, coming out of the Luca Lust haze.
This could work, she realized, thinking about the possibilities. A flexible schedule, a kid she already liked. A one-minute commute next door.
“Do you”—he cleared his throat—“have childcare experience?”
Oh, now, this is awkward.
She pushed her hair behind her ears and stood straighter. “I babysat a lot in Salt Lake for extra cash. I could find some references.”
“We can talk about it more later. I don’t want to pressure you or anything,” Luca said, catching his lip between his teeth.
She wanted to bite that lip too. What would he taste like? Spicy and with a hint of sweet? Like the cologne he wore?
Oh, this is a very, very bad idea.
“Please. We can look at baby bunnies! There are some born last month in the backyard.” She tugged at Olivia's hand, and Olivia spun her in a circle that made AB giggle.
Annabelle was a really fun kid. Most of the kids she’d babysat for in Salt Lake had been, frankly, little assholes. Rich kids with snowboards, private tutors, and little concern for her or the small joys in life, like baby bunnies.
As she twirled AB around and around, her giggles floating up between the two of them, Olivia decided that maybe something easy and fun and full of laughter could be exactly what she needed right now.
“Come on,” AB said, pulling at her arm.
“They’re pretty cute,” Luca said with a laugh. “I’ll fill up your oil and water, and we can talk later.”
She let herself be pulled by AB back around the side of the house to the yard, her eyes never leaving Luca’s as she wondered what the hell she might be getting herself into.