“I’m coming in.” Worried, I entered and was not prepared for the mess assaulting me. One look—and whiff—and I could tell he had a bad case of the runs. Some has missed the toilet completely. I held my nose. “Not feeling too good?”
He sat on the tile, arms around his middle, eyes watery with embarrassment.
“Sorry, Dad.” His bottom lip trembled.
“Hey, it’s okay. Nothing to apologize for. Jump in the tub and take a bath.” I flushed the toilet and pulled out the bleach wipes. I removed my Brioni shirt and my slacks and hung them up on the hook on the back of the door and then got busy wiping everything down.
No matter how much money I had, sometimes I needed a humble reminder that first and foremost, I was a single dad trying to survive day to day while raising a boy to be a good man.
“Do you think it was the ice cream last night? I should have told you my stomach hurt bad when I went to bed, but I was afraid you wouldn’t let me celebrate after the games with the team anymore.”
“Are you kidding? Theo, you had your first hat trick. You deserved it. I would never keep you from celebrating the wins. Imight suggest you eat something other than a huge banana split next time, though.” I chuckled, and he relaxed, a huge grin on his face.
I reached over and ran the bathwater for him. “Uncle Atlas tells me Jessa made macaroni and cheese, your favorite. How was it?”
“Yummy. You never let me have that, though. Why not?”
“Depends how it was made. The box stuff has some pretty questionable ingredients. I try to make sure you eat a healthy diet, with the occasional treat. But to my knowledge, I didn’t have a box in the pantry.”
“She made it from scratch with those screwy red and green noodles in the pantry, and she let me help her. She said every man needs to know how to cook.” He shrugged.
“So she’s good in the kitchen?” Some men might think that could be a bonus for a fake marriage.
“Yeah. She said she kept her sisters alive all these years.”
“Sisters?” Never heard her mention any siblings before. And that sent me down the rabbit hole, chasing every memory of our flirtations to see what I really knew about Jessa. Combined with Atlas’s comments, even if in jest, doubts crept in again. Who really was Jessa Cole?
By the time Theo crawled into bed, it was late. He’d be tired and cranky in the morning. I’d be interested to see how Jessa dealt with his moods because so far, she’d been lucky to see the angelic side of him.
I went to my den to think. Set up as my home office, I often seamlessly carried on my work from the day to here, working all night once Theo slept.
I had another look at the Times. Atlas was going to be Atlas, no reining him in. He was probably sticking around the city longer just to torment me. I loved my brother, but he could be a royal pain in the ass. Flashes of future society pagesshowing him involved in a scandal of some sort were a distinct possibility.
I tossed things over in my head. On paper, a convenient marriage made sense. But real life was messier. If I were to do this, I didn’t want just any stranger. As the nanny, though, Jessa would certainly be around to easily play the role when needed.
I initiated a message to a private investigator I kept on retainer. I needed to know everything he could uncover about her.
My thumb hovered longer than it should have before I hit send.
In my world, trust wasn’t earned. It was verified.
Chapter Eight
SNIFFLES
Griffin
My days wentby in a blur, living and dying by my carefully constructed schedule. But today, one phone call shattered my perfect plans before breakfast.
“I’m sorry.” Jessa’s voice croaked into the phone.Cough, cough. Sniffle.“I don’t think I should be around Theo today.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, tension already knotting my shoulders. “Jessa, this couldn’t come at a worse time. I have back-to-back meetings until seven. Theo has a strong immune system—we’ll just load him up on vitamin C.”
“Okay.” Another cough, followed by a throat-clearing rasp that sounded painful. “Can you have Brock drop him off at school this morning? I’ll probably feel better this afternoon.”
She sneezed, with a small and miserable rasp through the phone.
Christ. She really did sound awful.
