Somehow, I felt like she’d ask or pry and be a friend.
What could I say without being embarrassed? That I screwed around with our boss, agreed it was a distraction I didn’t care about, and then yelled at him for not parenting correctly? Also, could you please divulge what’s in that pretty door near his room and why he won’t let me in?
I was a freaking mess … so, yeah, avoiding felt easier.
Not only that, but it was Friday, and we all knew what that meant: Valerie would be here in the evening for her glorious show with Jameson. But not before he casually interrupted the teaching for the day to tell us we were going to play tennis.
How could I object after yelling at him last night? I was only the teacher who had a schedule for his daughter. The library could wait, especially when she jumped up and screamed in joy.
So, I went with them to the country club and endured the torture that it was.
And itwastorture for me. Jameson being completely appropriate and fatherlike in his perfect tailored suit in the car. Then, he changed into a polo and shorts to play tennis with his daughter while I opted to sit out this time. Franny having quality time with her dad was more important. I told myself that same thing when he promised her tennis time every other day of the week. He hugged her and mouthed a “thank you” to me as she squealed.
Damn it, did he have to be an actual good dad underneath the tough exterior? My stomach flipped, and my mind cursed him. He couldn’t be greatwhile alsobeing elusive and an ass. It wasn’t fair. And it made me volatile. I went from wanting to act out and yell at him to wanting to jump his bones to thinking having a professional relationship was best.
Screaming at him to stop being the perfect father while teaching Franny how to hold the tennis racket seemed unfair. Although, my ovaries were screaming at me the whole time that banging him and having his children might be okay.
That wasn’t at all what I needed in my life.
But the bastard laid it on thick when he asked for a locker room key for me specifically like I’d be there longer than the summer.
And then I had to deal with the female attendants bending over backward to accommodate him. They knew his favorite drink and Franny’s too, and I’d never seen women sprint so fast to get him a freaking towel.
Each woman’s eyes were on us—or mostly him. He could be in a pressed suit or dripping sweat in a polo from a match, and they buzzed toward him like honeybees searching out pollen. Maybe they were obsessed with his single dad parenting skills, or maybe they were all obsessed with his Diamondemblem, which I now saw everywhere. I tried to ignore both their advances and that little symbol I would catch glinting on a bracelet or a ring or sometimes embroidered on a shirt. They all had them, and now I knew what it must mean.
They all belonged, but I didn’t.
Hurrying to my bedroom after saying bye to Franny was for the best. I wrote a fast report and emailed it off to Jameson before I laid in bed considering what expenses I could put on the card Jameson had given me.
I’d need earplugs to get me through this summer. I glared over at the vent now. Somehow, it had become my nemesis in the last day or two. I had been staring at it for the last hour, contemplating if I should close it somehow—cover it with a pillow and run the shower for hours while Valerie visited.
What Jameson and I had done in his basement shouldn’t have mattered after what we agreed upon, but somehow it did. Him offering to fly me out to see my sister and then also taking Franny to the country club mattered too.
The knock at the door stopped me from buying a thing. “Yes?”
“We’re taking you out.” Rosy burst into my room without any food. It was near dinnertime, and I expected Archer to come bother me soon about a meal, but not her.
Or Pink or Olive, who followed her in.
“Out?”
“Yes. We’re bored, and the boys want to talk business.” Pink waltzed in with a duffel, plopped it on my bed, and started unzipping it immediately.
“What’s that?” I pointed to the bag and then frowned. “What boys and what business?”
“Our outfits, plus accessories.” She threw off her top as she smirked at me. “Rosy has options for you too. Andourboys. Bane, Dimitri—Olive’s husband—and I’m sure Archer andHades are there. Who knows who else? They should have a—” She stopped herself.
Rosy jumped in to cover up whatever she was about to say. “Please don’t say no. You’ve been avoiding me, and I can’t take it.” Rosy walked over to my bed with an armful of dresses. “We’re the women of the house, and we need each other.”
“You are … I’m just here for the summer,” I grumbled.
“Maybe, but for the summer, we’re a team. And when the house manager decides, it must be done.” She winked at me.
I bit my lip because I couldn’t help but wonder … “How did you get this job, Rosy?”
She pointed at the dress, ignoring my question. “I’m wearing the red, but you can pick whichever other one you want.”
Then both her and Pink started changing immediately. Olive shut my door for them and shrugged. “I’m keeping this on if you don’t want to dress up.” Her skinny jeans and crop top made all my clothes look less than average. “Why are you avoiding Rosy?”
