“Okay!”
I stopped the car, then twisted around in my seat to unbuckle her.
“I like you. You’re much better than my old mommy.”
My grin vanished like a dewdrop in the desert. “Wha—”
Lily wiggled free and shot out of the car. “Hi, Mr. C! Mommy took me to the park!”
“Lily, wait!” I yanked and struggled with the seat belt, fighting to get out.She couldn’t have said— No, she said it! She said old mommy, but that couldn’t be what she meant. I have to—
“—talk to you.” I tumbled out of the car. “Lily, come back, please. I—”
The frontdoor flew open.
Lily waved hello to Alex on her way inside. Mr. Layton followed, with me just as quick on her heels.
A hand flew out and smacked the doorjamb, blocking my path. “You took Lily out of school early.” It wasn’t a question.
“I did after running it by Micah.” I rocked from foot to foot—eager to get past. “Courtney and a bunch of the moms were having a picnic in the park with their kids, so I—”
“Couldn’t let them go without giving them a chance to invest in a new and exciting SueNation investment opportunity,” he finished. Alex had an odd smirk on his lips that was really creeping me out. “Can’t blame ya.”
I bristled. “It wasn’t like that. The only thing we invested in were a couple of new breakouts and several new pounds from a whole tray of maple bacon cupcakes. I’m not running some con with Lily as the closer,” I said. “If you must know, I’m done with SueNation for good. I’ve even got some job interviews lined up, so as long as one of them pans out, I’ll be able to work from home and bring in some income while still being here for Lily and Omma.”
The smirk vanished. “You...? You, Soo Min Kim, have job interviews lined up? Real ones?”
“Yes, real ones,” I returned hotly. “I was banging my head against the wall trying to think of something I could do from home without drawing a lot of lawsuits-and-bird-poop hate, when the answer hit me over the head.
“Captioning.”
Alex stared at me. “Caption... ing.”
“Exactly.” Excitement bled into my voice. “K-Pop and Korean dramas are getting more and more popular every day, and what do all of these production and music companies need? People fluent in English, Spanish, French, and so on to caption their videos. Seriously, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Everything I read online says I can bring in an extra fifteen hundred dollars a month.”
“And you’d really work for that little?” His brows crumpled. “You spend two thousand a month just on makeup.”
“Not anymore. It’s time we both start tightening up around here—be a better example for Lily.” I pointed. “Starting with rehiring the groundspeople, housekeepers, gardeners, and cooks. I am very much done with thehaunted house vibe. Time for the manor to be a home forlivingpeople again.”
Amusement etched into the lines of his face, flicking my eyes to the early morning stubble still lingering on his jaw. Only Alex could make bike shorts, rumpled sweatshirts, and jaw scruff sexy. “I agree, but the last time I brought it up, you said you weren’t going to waste any more money on this overgrown outhouse, because you were just going to throw all of us out, sell it, and buy yourself a chateau in France with your new lover.”
I cocked a brow. “Alexander Montgomery, we’ve been married for seven years. When are you going to learn to ignore the stupid shit that comes out of my mouth?” I asked, startling a laugh out of him. “You want to know why this place is an outhouse? You’re looking at her.”
He doubled over—cracking up and clearly surprised to be doing so. “That was a good one,” Alex wheezed, straightening up. “But self-deprecating humor doesn’t make up for lying straight to my face. You see?” His laugh lines melted away. “I knew this new nice-Sue routine was all bullshit.”
“What? Lying? When did I lie?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Two fucking days ago, I told you we don’t allow Lily to have playdates with people we don’tallknow. Not after that whackjob invited Lily to his daughter’s birthday party, and then tried to grab and drag her into the bathroom while everyone else was distracted by the cake.”
“Whackjob?” My eyes bugged. “I had no idea—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he exploded, blowing my eyes wide. “You were the one distracted in a corner, messing around on your phone when Lily’s screams brought everyone else running! But no, that wasn’t you,” he mocked, putting on a voice. “It was her other mother who failed to keep an eye on her then. Just like it was her other mother that stood in that kitchen and promised she’d respect my boundaries with Lily, and then turned around and did whatever the fuck she wanted anyway.”
I quieted, shrinking lower and lower in Sue’s gold-lace wedges.
“Not only did you take her out to a picnic with somebest friendwho you’ve never mentioned or spoken of in ten years, but you pulled her out of school to do it. It’s like I asked you not to do the most irresponsible thing ever, and you went and said,now I’m going to do it even harder.”
“Alex, please,” I whispered. “I didn’t see it that way. I didn’t mean to—”
