I grinned.
I wanted to talk more. Ask more. But I didn’t want to pry too much or come across as desperate for company ... even though I was starting to appreciate Javier’s.
It didn’t help that he looked into my eyes like he, too, wanted to ask me a million questions. Like he’d rather spend time getting to know me than doing anything else. And not in the surface-level way, but on a deeper level. A level that not many people reached unless they’d already formed a solid connection.
But that could never happen.
Why would weeverlet that happen? For Aleesa’s sake, I wouldn’t.
Yes, Javier was sexy as hell. Yes, I’d have pounced right on him and climbed him like a tree ... but he was my boss. I was his child’s caretaker. And I had a very strict rule about not sleeping with anyone I worked for. I liked maintaining a professional image and wasn’t going to let a bout of lust for an NBA player destroy that.
As if he was thinking something along the same lines, Javier cleared his throat and shifted his gaze as he gripped the arms of his chair.
“You should go and get some rest,” he said. “It was a long day for you too. I will head into the lion’s den and deal with my family.”
A laugh escaped me as I watched him stand. “Okay. Good night, Javier. Try not to bring their claws out.”
Chuckling, he rounded the pool, then started walking toward the back door. “Good night, Octavia.” He looked back at me, his hand lingering on the door handle, almost as if he was torn between staying outside with me or going in and escaping whatever this humming electricity was between us.
With a small, warm smile, he entered the house. I found it hard to stop thinking about that smile for the rest of the night.
Fifteen
Javier
I could tell Octavia was glad the summer had come and my schedule was freer, because she was eager to request days off. This was a part of our contract: During the summer, she was allowed to have two days of the week off if she desired. And desired she did.
Octavia’s first day off was on a Tuesday. I wondered what she did when she wasn’t with us, so much so that I took it upon myself to let Aleesa run in the backyard, just so I could get a better view of the guesthouse.
Not that I could see much inside it.
And not that it was any of my business.
I saw her, though, lying on a towel on the grass outside, sunglasses covering her face, her golden-brown skin glistening, probably from sunscreen. A book was in one of her hands, the other tucked beneath her head.
She wore nothing but a yellow two-piece bikini. I remember thinking yellow pairedreallywell with her skin. I wanted to see her in more yellow.
“Tava!” Aleesa started running toward the guesthouse, but I caught her and tossed her over my shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
Absolutely not.
I was hardly the type of man to wander around outside unless it was to use the pool, sauna, or hot tub. And we weren’t dressed in swimming attire, so ... how was I going to explain myself to Octavia if she caught us?
“Just mind your own business,” I muttered to myself as I carried a whining Aleesa into the house.
There was something that was really getting to me.
Now that I was home more, I noticed that whenever Aleesa was napping and Octavia was waiting for her to wake up, she was on her phone a lot more instead of reading. Reading was her go-to thing. Every break she had, I had caught her reading.
But not lately.
She was either texting or scrolling throughBobble—a useless app that loved reporting the latest celebrity drama—or another app. And call me whatever name you want for being so nosy, but I recognized the name of the other app she was using.
Spark.
Spark was a dating app. And I only knew that because my sister, Catalina, talked about it all the time. Apparently, it was great for matching people for perfect ongoing hookups ... or one-night stands.
Something about Octavia having that app bothered me more than it should have. Was she looking for something ongoing ... or a one-night thing? Was she currently talking to someone?
