Yet, despite a morning consumed with ridding thedaycare of a potential infestation, Ashanti could not stop this stupid smile from spreading across her face. It was just one of the outcomes of waking up in Thad’s arms. Another was the R-rated movie that continued to play in her mind with scenes from everything that had taken place in his bed last night.
She had to stop this. If any of her staff came out here right now, they would know exactly what she was thinking about. Her freckles would give her away.
Her phone rang. She pulled it out and frowned in confusion at the sight of the daycare’s number.
“Deja?” she answered.
“Boss Lady, I tried to call you on the intercom, but you didn’t answer.”
“I’m still outside spraying down the bedding from the Frogmore Suite,” she said.
“Anita is on her way back there. And she is pissed.”
Just then, the back door opened and her “guest” came marching down the steps. Ashanti finally found something that would remove the smile from her face.
“Hi, Anita,” she said flatly. She refused to even pretend she was excited to see her. “Do you need something?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Anita crossed her bony arms over her chest and thrust her right hip forward. “I need to know who is taking care of my nieces while you’re living it up in New York City with some manandstaying in the same hotel with him.”
“Excuse me?” Ashanti set the spray bottle on the ground. “That was a work trip.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve seen the type of men you deem acceptable, and I don’t wantanyof them around my nieces.”
And, just like that, Ashanti decided she was done.
She had allowed this woman and her threats to control her life for long enough. The girls were sixteen, not twelve, and that incident with Simon had nothing to do with her life today. The chance of a judge revoking her guardianship simply because she was in a relationship was so slight that it barely registered. She had been so afraid of losing Kara and Kendra that she had been unwilling to take any chances, but she was done giving Anita such power over her life.
And if shedidtake Ashanti to court, there was no way a judge would look at Thad—an upstanding Army veteran and future business owner—and think that he posed a potential danger to her sisters.
“Even if it wasn’t a work trip, it’s none of your business where I go or who I spend time with,” Ashanti told her.
“It is when you’re the person who is supposed to be taking care of my brother’s children.”
“If my dad wanted you to raise the girls, he would have made that known. But he didn’t, did he?”
“It was a mistake that I’m sure has him turning over in his grave.” Anita huffed. “Going off to New York, and leaving those girls in that house all by themselves last night.”
Ashanti felt her face grow hot. “What did you say?”
“Yes, I called last night when I didn’t see your car there,” Anita continued. “That one with the smart mouth said you were spending the night with your boyfriend.”
Dammit, Kara.
Knowing her sister, she’d shared that with the sole purpose of getting under Anita’s skin, even though Ashanti hadspecifically told them not to tell anyone. All she did was give her aunt more ammunition.
“What are you doing snooping around my house?” she asked Anita.
“Someone needs to be concerned about those girls.”
“Kara and Kendra know that I am only a phone call away.”
“Would you even answer the phone if you’re laid up under some man?”
Line. Crossed.
Ashanti closed the distance between them, until she was barely a foot way. “Apparently, you didn’t hear me the first time,” she said. “Who I fuck is none of your business.”
Anita gasped, her head snapping back. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out.
