“You have something to miss—more to miss.” He paused. “It’s none of my business, but did your husband leave you anything? Life insurance?”
She huffed out a laugh. “I thought he had life insurance. I thought we had a nice savings account. I thought Calvin had a college fund. All lies. The only thing he left us was a ton of credit card and business debt. Debt I didn’t know we had.”
“Shit. That sucks.”
“I’m working with an attorney to see if there’s a way out of paying it, but that’s only adding legal fees to the mix. My marriage was a gigantic lie. I naïvely took everything he said as the truth, and now I’m stuck raising my son alone in a place I can’t afford while bills pile up around me.”
She didn’t mention the trust issues that were now a burden as well. That was another box on her checklist some man would need to fulfill. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how unlikely it was that she would find this perfect man. Even if she did leave love out of the equation.
“You’ve made it this far,” Alex said.
“The only reason we’re still here is because I borrowed money from my mom’s new husband. That was one of the most humbling moments of my life. I’ve got to cut my losses. I love the city. There’s just no way we can stay.”
Unless I can find a damn husband, she thought.
“That sucks,” he said. “I’m gonna check on Calvin. If his fever’s down, I’ll head home. But you can call me anytime if things go south again.”
When he was out of the room, she stood and pulled herself together. Fixed her ponytail and smoothed her wrinkled sweats. She had some pride.
He hadn’t mentioned their kiss, and she agreed it would be best to pretend it never happened. Pack away the sexual tension that filled the air whenever they were together. He’d awakened some long-dormant feelings, but lustful thoughts had no place in her busy schedule. He was a beautiful distraction she couldn’t afford to spend time on.
He returned saying Cal was sleeping and his temp was down to ninety-eight. “While you guys slept, I ran down to the bodega. When he wakes, give him some of the Pedialyte I put in the fridge. He should be able to keep it down soon.”
“Thanks again,” she said, walking him to the entryway. “You really saved the day.”
“Anytime. Make sure he gets that sucker. He earned it,” he said with a smile. He looked like maybe he wanted to kiss her. Like maybe he was gauging whether she wanted to kiss him. She did, but she wouldn’t. When she didn’t make eye contact, he took the hint and left with a soft goodbye.
She closed the door and put her back to it. That had taken a lot more willpower than she would have expected. Mental note: Alex pheromones were not to be trifled with.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A few days later, Cal had recovered and, with renewed energy, was going stir-crazy in the condo, which created another problem for Julia. With him running around and interrupting every thirty seconds, she couldn’t get any work done.
“They want something up right away,” Ellie said, referring to a sponsor Julia had secured the day before. Dollar-wise, it wasn’t a huge account, but every little bit helped.
Julia juggled the phone while making a PB&J for Calvin’s lunch. “Define ‘right away,’” she said, slathering peanut butter on a piece of bread.
“Yesterday was his exact word.”
“Shit,” she muttered. “Okay. I’ll do it today.”
“I’ll let him know to expect something up by tomorrow. As soon as you send it to me, I’ll post the links on all your social media sites.”
“Thanks, Ellie.”
“One other thing. DaddyMack01 isn’t going away like we’d hoped. Now he—I’m assuming it’s a he—has moved from calling you a slut to saying he’s going to have to ‘put you in your place’ and ‘teach you a lesson.’ It’s more than insults now, Julia. They’re threats. What should I do?”
“I don’t know. When you delete the comments, he just comes back with more. What’s the community saying?” By “community,” she meant her followers and fans.
“They’re sticking up for you, for sure. Calling him names and telling him to get a life. But it’s definitely escalating. What if he doesn’t stop?”
“I can’t deal with it now,” Julia said, cutting the sandwich in half. “Let me get this video out, and then we’ll talk. Calvin, come eat.”
“Sounds good,” she said. “Good luck recording with the monster there.”
Ellie was joking, but she was right. Taping with Cal home was usually a disaster. She could plan and edit, but he was too rambunctious to keep quiet for filming. He would distract or interrupt her, and she’d end up having to do multiple takes, which added time to editing. It was so much easier to get it done in one or two tries.
“Hey, buddy. I gotta work for a bit today. Will you play in your room after lunch for a little while?”
