2. Chapter Two
An interview has never gone as terribly as it is right now. It’s like as soon as I’m in Easton’s vicinity I turn into this red-headed bimbo who doesn’t know how to hold herself together. There’s no reason I should be angry that he doesn’t want me watching Bethany while he’s away, considering how horrible I’ve been throughout this entire process.
“What?” I mutter.
I’m more than ready to get out of this place and never show my face again, that’s how embarrassed I am with this interview.
“You’re prepared to stay in the guest room here, right?” He asks.
I nod slowly. “That’s what Savanna told me.” There’s also the fact that my lease is about to be up soon and it would help me out if I did stay here. I’d save money on renting a new place which means I can leave town much quicker.
At first, when Savanna brought up that Easton was looking for a nanny, I immediately said no, but she managed to convince me to help him out. Apparently, he’s been trying to search for a nanny for a while now and hasn’t had any luck. Savanna thought I’d be the perfect option since I’ve been around Bethany quite a bit over the years.
“Let me take you there.”
He doesn’t wait for me to comprehend what he’s saying before leading me down the long hallway on the first floor and through the last door on the left. “Wait,” I say with a shake of my head. “Are you hiring me?”
“A trial run,” Easton mutters.
Judging by the stiffness in his shoulders I’m willing to bet this is harder on him than it is on me. When I was a teenager, I developed a crush on this man, eyeing him everywhere he was and wishing he would look at me like he did every other girl who walked by him. Unfortunately for me, my glow up didn’t come until after he had Bethany and he was living the family life with Elena.
I thought the crush had gone away, evaporated as the years went on, but as I watch his muscles strain against his shirt, I realize that’s not the case. There’s nothing I want more than to reach my hand out and run it over his arms, feel those massive biceps under my palm, but I doubt he’d appreciate that attention.
He clears his throat, gaining my attention, and I catch his gaze on mine. There’s an emotion in his dark green eyes that I can’t quite comprehend, but it’s enough to have me darting my gaze around the room to avoid it. My skin heats as I slip past him and into the room, taking in the simplicity of the decor, and I give him a small smile. “It’s not so bad.”
I’m acting like this is nothing to me, but his home is beautiful. There’s a porch that wraps around the entire house, a swing situated on the front facing the driveway, but it’s nothing compared to the inside. There are warm colors scattered throughout the place, my favorite being the olive green color in the living room, and it all comes together with the various plants and paintings hanging on the walls.
There’s a small dresser sitting on one side of the bedroom, along with a desk pushed against another wall. What catches my attention though is the door that’s slightly ajar with natural light spilling through the crack. I immediately step toward it and my eyes bulge at the large bathroom in front of me. “Jesus,” I whisper.
“I hope this is okay,” Easton says behind me.
I spin around and eye him leaning against the doorframe and give him my best smile. “Are you kidding? This is beautiful.” When Savanna told me Easton moved out of their parents’ place, this is not what I was expecting him to live in. There’s plenty of space for Bethany to run around if she wanted and I’ve already thought about the different things we could do outside while Easton is away.
His cheeks heat at my compliment and he nods. “Thanks. I’ll, uh, let you get situated here. Lunch should be ready in a couple hours.”
“Sounds good.”
Being around him has me on edge, so I can’t imagine what it will be like knowing he’s sleeping somewhere in this house with me. “Hey, Easton?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you having me stay in the guest room anyway? From what I gather from Sav, you’re not actually out of town much.”
He sighs and nods. “I know, but this makes me feel better about you watching after Bethany while I’m away and you can help with taking her to her numerous activities, help her with her homework and everything else when I’m home. It’ll free me up a lot.”
It doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m not about to complain. It’s a win-win for me. I nod and give him a small smile. “No problem. I was just curious. Thank you, by the way.”
Easton cocks his head to the side and scrunches his eyebrows together. “For what?”
“Giving me this chance. You won’t regret it.”
He grunts before exiting the room and I walk over to the bed, flopping onto it with a groan. Savanna had to know this wouldn’t go as well as she had thought.
With that thought, I pull my phone out and click her contact. The line rings a few times before she picks up breathlessly. “Autumn, how did it go?”
“The real question is, what are you doing? You sound out of breath. I hope I didn’t interrupt.”
She scoffs. “Hardly. I’m rearranging our furniture while Dawson is at work.”
I had always hoped Dawson and Savanna would find their way back to each other. Although I’m always on my best friend’s side, there was no doubt in my mind that Dawson truly loved her. When she came to me after he ended things with her, it never felt right, like he was holding something back. It took her a while, seven years to be exact, but she finally got the happy ever after they had always planned to have.
Seeing them together has made me want what she has, as long as it’s not in this town. Nothing particularly bad has happened to me here; everyone is nice, but I want something… more. Maybe all I need is love and I’m willing to see if that’s what it is, but until then I’m saving up all the money I can so I can leave.
“I made a fool of myself.”
She sighs. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
“Sav, he almost kicked me out of his damn house.”
Savanna chuckles. “That crush is kicking you in the ass, isn’t it?”
I roll my eyes. “The crush is long gone.” If only I were telling the truth. Looking at him makes my pussy ache, which is bound to complicate things if I’m supposed to stay here all the time. “This is going to be hell.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Have you not seen the way we act with each other? I’ll be surprised if one of us hasnt ripped the others throat out by the end of this week.”
“Maybe you should channel all that anger toward each other into something else,” Savanna says, her voice laced with amusement.
I groan and shake my head. “I’m leaving this conversation, goodbye.” Before she can say anything else and make my veins pulse with need for Easton, I hang the phone up and stare at the ceiling.
I’ve spent enough time around Easton to know he doesn’t have room for anyone but Bethany in his life, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about it. What would it be like to live in a house like this, with Easton rushing around the kitchen while I’m holding a tiny bundle of joy in my arms?
You’re being ridiculous, Autumn.
There’s something sexy about seeing Easton on his own, giving his best to Bethany and the life she deserves. Not that him living with his parents was a bad thing, but they definitely needed a space like this on their own. I’m sure Bethany is excited to have her own space without running into her grandparents all the time.
As a teenage girl, having a place to call my own was something I always enjoyed. Being able to walk around without having to walk on eggshells, which is what I’m sure she’s had to do while living with her grandparents, even if they are great people.
I remember when Easton was all about football and focused on getting a full-ride scholarship at the state college a few cities over. It only made me crush harder on him when he turned his life around to be there for Bethany. He never complained once about changing directions and embraced life as a young dad, even though everything he had worked so hard for was over.
Watching how deeply he cares for Bethany has been amazing and this is the kind of place he deserves for the two of them. Imagining myself in it with him is going to do nothing but cause a bunch of problems I don’t need.
Since I didn’t know how this interview would go, I didn’t bother bringing any of my stuff inside with me. I get off the bed and head down the hallway, eager to get my things piled neatly in the dresser. Easton is sitting in the living room, flipping through pages of a magazine, and doesn’t glance at me once as I pad through the room.
It had surprised me when Savanna told me I was going to be staying in his house. Considering how old Bethany is and how inconsistent his going out of town will be, I didn’t think he’d need me to be here all the time. Seems as though things are going to work in my favor though, because as long as I’m staying here without having to worry about renewing my lease, saving money is going to be a breeze for me.
I’ve thought long and hard about what it would feel like to leave this town, especially after just getting Savanna back here a few months ago, but there’s nothing else here for me. Just as I visited her when she was living in a different state, I’m sure she would manage the same for me and that’s all I need. No one else is important to me, not like Savanna is.
I try to be as quiet as possible when I come back through the front door with my overflowing suitcase, but as soon as I start down the hall, the zipper pops open and everything comes flying out. My eyes fall shut slowly and I silently curse at myself, then open them back up to find Easton looking at me from across the room. He’s still sitting on the couch, but no longer paying attention to what he was reading.
“I could’ve helped you with that,” he mutters.
“I can handle it myself.” It infuriates me when people think I can’t handle shit on my own just because I’m small. “Thank you very much,” I mumble low under my breath.
Not low enough apparently because he scoffs, then relaxes back into the couch and lets me deal with the clean-up on my own. It’s funny because I just told him I can handle it myself, yet I’m irritated that he stays on the couch while I pick everything up from the floor.
With a huff, I stomp down the hallway with a pile of clothes in my arm and throw them onto the bed before coming back out to get the rest. I hate how much I wish he was looking at me every time I walk into the room. Savanna was right - this crush is going to bite me in the ass before my time here is over.