“I might be a bit later tonight. We have a private function in one of the back rooms. Lena is already asleep. She only had one nap during the day, so she was pooped,” Nora said, dressed in her usual work outfit of black skinny jeans and a skintight corset. She refused to wear the short skirts that were part of the uniform, but she got away with it because she was a fantastic bartender and her boss loved her.
“You know I don’t mind. It doesn’t make a difference to me when you get home. I’ll most likely be asleep anyway,” I said.
She leaned over the back of the couch and kissed Luca’s head, then mine. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you for watching my babies.”
“I love Luca and Lena more than anything, and you know there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Go to work already and leave us in peace. We have a few books to get through before bedtime.”
“All right, all right, I’m leaving. Sounds like you have big plans. He’s had dinner and a bath. You know where the formula is in case Lena wakes up.”
I waved at her, not looking up from the book that was open on my lap. “Not the first time I’m doing this. Go. We’ll be fine. And I’ll call if anything happens. Which it won’t.”
“Good night, baby,” she called as she walked out the door not waiting for a response. Luca was already lost in the book.
I squeezed him to my side until he started to protest. I wasn’t kidding when I said there was nowhere else I’d rather be. “One book, then you’ll have to put your pj’s on, okay?”
“Two books,” he bargained, knowing full well I’d agree.
“Fine. But no complaining when it’s time to get dressed.”
He held out his hand and we high-fived on it. Eight books later he was putting on his pj’s.
Irushed into the office, trying to wrangle my thick hair into a ponytail. The chair groaned when I dumped myself on it, and I exhaled in relief at sitting down.
I ended up staying at Nora’s last night. She didn’t get home until four, and I took the kids out for an early breakfast to let her sleep in until seven. She’d be able to get a nap in the afternoon when the kids were taking theirs; I didn’t know how she survived on such little sleep.
“You have a stain on your shirt.”
My body jolted at the voice, and I nearly ended up on the floor. Mason was sitting on the couch near the front door, looking like a king holding court. Why he wasn’t in the garage doing his mechanic thing was anyone’s guess.
I followed his gaze that was currently locked on the front of my T-shirt. “Shit, I mean shoot, I mean how did that get there?”
“Looks like spew.”
I pulled the fabric up to smell the stain on my chest. “Huh, I guess it is.”
“Big night?”
“What? No! It’s not mine.”
“Right. I don’t really care if you got drunk or not.”
“It wasn’t me. It’s the baby’s.”
His stupid, Greek marble-statue face didn’t move a muscle, which, of course, meant I was getting more flustered.
“Not that the baby was drunk. Or me. But she spewed up after her bottle.”
There was a slight tick in his cheek.“Since when do you have a kid?”
“It’s my friend’s. I babysit for her sometimes.”
His face turned into a beautifully annoying marble statue again. “Right.”
I fought very hard to contain the eye roll that threatened to break free. “Anyway, I should get to work. Wouldn’t want to get in trouble on my second day.”
“Did you place my orders?”
This time I lost my fight against the urge to roll my eyes. “Yes. Just like I told you I would.”
