“It’s crazy that she’s going to be married to the CEO of a record company and is still about her own business. Her place was so nice and so was her fiancé.”
“Fiancé?”
“Yeah, he stopped by and I promised I’d make sure she would eat so he paid for my service.”
“Oh, damn not me getting shown up by some man you don’t even know.”
I was so confused because Aldrich paying for my hair had never been on the table. Had it? He’d been annoyed when I just walked in the door saying I could’ve called him to come and pick me up but it was pointless for him to have to drive out and drive back.
“What do you mean?”
“I wouldn’t have had a problem paying for your hair, Sterling. It could’ve been a perk of the job or something.” Aldrich’s face looked troubled and I was trying to understand what his issue was. I hadn’t even wanted Porsha’s fiancé to pay for the service insisting that she charge my card but she refused. She said he would ask her if I let her pay and one thing she wasn’t about to do was lie to that man. Couldn’t blame her.
“But I can pay for my own.”
“I’m sure you can but you took his money and you wouldn’t take mine?” Again, there was an edge to his tone I couldn’t quite place.
“I mean…I don’t even know how to answer that. He gave his girlfriend the money and she refused to let me pay. Was I supposed to throw cash at her like she was sliding on a pole?”
His face cracked into a smile briefly and I was sure he was remembering a night where he’d done exactly that and paid for someone’s seamster at college.
“Yeah well I’ll have to reach out to her and put my card on file before you go out and let someone else cover an expense I have no issue paying for.” The offense in his voice stopped me again and I was really trying to find my footing in a situation that seemed to keep going over my damn head.
“I appreciate it but it’s unnecessary. You pay me more than enough. Have you heard from the hospital yet?” I needed to change the subject and redirecting to the important subject we needed to talk on seemed to be the safest topic to jump to.
“They said she’d been eating better and the feeding tube is out. Not much longer and she will be ready to be released.”
Something shifted and the friendly look on his face turned to panic after the realization of his words seemed to sink in.
“Well, I’ll start getting the things I purchased ready for her to come home.”
He gave me a nod of acknowledgement but didn’t move to help me with the rest of the bags. He’d fussed me out for not calling for him to pick me up from the salon especially when he saw the number of bags that I had to bring in. Most of them had been taken to the room he’d designated at hers so there were only a few I needed to take back. But the way he was standing there zoned out, I took the bags and left him there in the kitchen to his thoughts.
CHAPTER FIVE
Homecoming
STERLING
I STOOD AT a respectful distance trying to give him the privacy he needed to gather his strength. At least, that is what I assumed he was doing. He stood at the NICU window just staring at the baby. Knowing very limited information about the situation I had a lot of sympathy for Aldrich. It felt weird calling him Mr. Dinero since he was only a year older than me, calling him Money was far too personal. Even with the attitude he had I was going to continue to call him Aldrich because that was the best compromise I could offer. He begrudgingly answered it every time but I knew he was still irritated by doing so. Part of me felt like it was too informal but I didn’t want to add to what was weighing on him by being difficult.
And it was something heavy on this man’s shoulders.
It went far deeper than the daunting task of having a newborn. He had a haunted look in his eyes and he seemed to zone out multiple times of the day. I’d been here less than four days but I’d seen more than enough to know he was going through something heavy. We had spent little time with each other as I readied his daughter’s room and he did whatever football players did when they weren’t at work. When we got the call that she was ready to come home, we were prepared. At least with the physical needs she would have. Everything else was somewhat up in the air.
His sigh brought me back to the present and I saw the look of resignation come over his face. I thought it was cute that he’d put on real clothes like he was coming to see someone important.The collared shirt and slacks with loafers were freshly pressed and his hair was still long as hell but it was brushed back off his face.
“We should go in.” It was like he had finally gotten the nerve to walk in and I was proud of him.
“Yes, sir. After—”
He stopped short of going inside the room, and I halted my steps as well. “Please don’tsirme. That shit is weird. We’re peers.”
I raised my brows trying my hardest not to take his mind off of what he had going on, but maybe that was what he needed. “You cut my paycheck.”
He nodded his head before he stuck his hands in his pockets. “Right, and if I need to amend your contract then I will. Matter of fact I wonder if I can have it written in that you have to call me Money. Aldrich can’t cut it for long.” He rubbed his face as though he were truly thinking of making an amendment to my contract.
“That’s uncalled for.” I knew my cousin was going to wonder why this man was putting in special requests. I didn’t want him to think I was jeopardizing the integrity of his business. I still wasn’t going to compromise on calling him Aldrich.
