19. Alexis
Alexis was onto her third day of babysitting Elias, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
The guy was like a little kid who’d been grounded by his parents—whining every five minutes about not being allowed to go out and do some wildly inappropriate activity. One minute he was begging to take Alexis for a ride on his motorcycle, and the next suggesting they check out the local indoor rock-climbing gym.
‘You have to stay inside and rest,’ she said, exasperated.
‘But I’m practically back to normal!’ he protested.
‘The bandages I still have to change on your hand twice a day say otherwise,’ she pointed out. There was a particularly nasty cut near his thumb on his right hand that looked worryingly on the verge of infection. ‘If something goes wrong, your brother may refuse to pay me—and I can’t afford not to get paid.’
‘My brother loves you. There’s no way he’d withhold your pay.’
‘Um, has that pain medication done something to your brain? He does not love me. Far from it.’
‘You don’t know my bro like I do, but I’ll stop talking about him if it makes you uncomfortable.’
Alexis wasn’t sure how to feel about the idea of Levi considering her with anything other than contempt. Admittedly, in the five minutes she saw him each evening as they swapped shifts, he had been relatively human. But that was a far cry from being romantically interested in someone.
‘Remember what he said? This is a business transaction. We shouldn’t be getting feelings involved.’
‘What about when you’ve finished the job? There’s only two days left. You’ll be free to do whatever you like after that.’
‘It won’t change anything.’
‘Would you go out with me, then?’
‘Stop being silly.’
‘I’m not.’
‘You are. For a start, you won’t even tell me how you got these injuries. If you were genuinely interested in me, you would tell me.’
‘Really?’
Alexis didn’t mean it, but she nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Fine. I was at a nightclub, and this guy was hitting on a girl, and I could tell she looked really uncomfortable. I stepped in, but I didn’t realise he had some sort of kickboxing background until he started laying into me.’
Alexis blinked. He’d spilled the story just like that. Surely not because he actually wanted to date her?
‘Seriously?’
‘Levi gets annoyed whenever I’m in a fight, so I’ve stopped explaining the circumstances when I do.’
‘But he’d understand a situation like that, wouldn’t he?’
‘Maybe. Maybe not. He doesn’t think there’s ever any excuse for violence.’
‘So, what happened with your fight? Was the girl okay?’
‘I guess. She disappeared while the dude was kicking me, so I don’t know what happened. As long as she was safe, I didn’t care.’
‘Huh.’
‘Will you go out with me now?’ he asked, returning to his cheeky self.
‘I’m not sure yet.’
‘Hey. You said if I told you, you’d date me.’
‘All I said is that if you were interested in me, you’d tell me what happened.’
‘But you implied more.’
‘I don’t know if I did.’
He shook his head with faux disappointment. ‘I expected better from you, Alexis.’
‘Honestly, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to date you or anyone in your family.’
‘We are pretty messed up, but it’s not our fault. I suppose your family is a perfect little bubble of domestic bliss?’
Alexis pressed her lips together. ‘Not exactly.’
Elias’ face suddenly took on the look of someone who knew he’d hit gold. ‘Ooh. Now I need to know.’
‘There’s not much to tell. My mum left when I was young. My dad is a lawyer, and until recently, I was one too.’
She hadn’t planned on revealing her previous career, but it just slipped out.
‘Why would you go from being a lawyer to a house-sitter?’
‘Let’s just say I was dissatisfied with the outcome of the last case I worked on.’
‘Did you work with your dad?’
‘We were part of the same firm, but we only did one case together.’
‘That last one?’
Alexis didn’t say anything, and Elias rubbed his chin.
‘Hmm. You’re probably as messed up as us, then. Excellent.’
‘It still doesn’t mean we should date.’
‘Unless you already have a boyfriend, I really don’t see why we can’t.’
Alexis sighed. ‘I’ve already…’ She stopped. He wasn’t going to respond to anything other than the threat of another man. ‘…Actually, I have a date tomorrow.’
He frowned. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that before? Now it just sounds like you’re lying.’
‘I’m not!’
She picked up her phone and dialled Sarah’s number. She answered on the second ring.
‘Hey, babe. What’s up?’
‘You never confirmed the location of the date.’
Sarah was quiet for a second while her brain presumably caught up. ‘The location? I didn’t think we’d even gotten that far.’
‘Oh, I must have forgotten to press send on my last text,’ Alexis fibbed. ‘Can you message me the details?’
‘Uh, sure. You really want to go ahead with it?’
‘Of course.’ She shot Elias what she hoped was the confident smile of someone organising their social life. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
‘Okay. I’ll follow up with my client and get back to you.’
‘Great. Thanks!’
Alexis hung up and looked at Elias. ‘See?’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘That all seemed very staged.’
‘Well, it was real. If you like, I’ll tell you where we’re meeting, and you can come see for yourself.’
‘Deal. Where are you meeting?’
‘If you were paying attention, you’ll have heard that’s why I made the call in the first place. I’ll let you know when it’s confirmed.’
‘I still don’t think it’s real. But I will be following up.’
‘You do that.’
Elias gave her a long look before standing and heading down the hall. ‘I’m going to lie down for a while. Levi will be home soon if you want to clock off early?’
‘No. I’ll stay until he gets back.’
‘Oh, yes. You need that precious money. Well, enjoy sitting on the couch by yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
With only two days officially left on their agreement, Alexis wondered what she’d do after that. It was exhausting building a new business, and the types of people who required her services weren’t exactly known for being low maintenance.
But talking with Elias about her previous career had caused a wave of nausea to wash over her.
She scrolled through the messages on her phone and saw the last one from her dad, sent the day he took her car back.
Jack:
When you’re ready to act like an adult, come home and we’ll talk.
She didn’t understand how her father thought corruption and getting murderers off the hook for their crimes was adult behaviour.
He hadn’t tried to contact her since then, and she assumed it was a tactic of his. Make her nervous and curious enough to return like a scared little puppy.
But she wasn’t that kind of person, and her dad should know that. But then, she’d never suspected he was anything other than an honest and loving father until recently.
It seemed that no matter how long you knew someone, there could always be potential for surprises. It made Alexis glad she now lived on her own and only had to look after her own needs.
How would she handle a potential romantic partner letting her down the way her father had?
A blind date was kind of a dumb idea just to get Elias off her back, but maybe it would distract her enough to forget about Levi too. His face had been creeping into her brain a little too often lately. Alexis blamed the fact he’d been the last person she’d seen each day—not counting Evelyn, who had continued to leave her screen black during their calls.
The front door opened, and Levi walked through.
Alexis jumped up, feeling as though she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t.
‘Uh, hey. How was your day?’ she asked a little too eagerly.
‘It couldn’t have been much worse. I guess unless a patient had died on the table or something.’
‘That bad, huh?’
He put his briefcase on the kitchen counter. ‘You want some wine?’
‘I should probably get back and check on Tofu before Evelyn’s call,’ she said. She knew she had a little spare time, but this new vulnerability was playing havoc with her sensibilities.
‘Yeah, of course. Sorry, I forgot.’ He looked so downcast that Alexis almost changed her mind.
But it would be a bad idea. She couldn’t start having feelings for Levi.
She was very glad she had asked Sarah to follow through with the blind date. That would take her mind off things.
‘I better go,’ she said awkwardly.
‘Thanks for looking after Elias again today. Did everything go smoothly?’
‘Yeah, he was fine.’ She backed toward the door. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
She hurried out before he could say anything else.
The guy had been looking particularly hot today, and she didn’t want to be tempted.
She stood in the hall for a moment, regaining her composure.
Keeping some emotional distance from those two guys inside was the right thing to do.
Even if it was starting to feel impossible.