Even as he said the words, he knew they were a lie. He’d wanted to spend time with her, wanted to ease her burden and see her smile and watch that inner light shine through her stunning blueeyes.
Which was why he was happy that Miss Bell had turned him down. The only woman he should be looking for was a new nanny. Who cared if one woman thought he was a typical ego maniacplayer?
Later that night, after Akoni was in bed and Teo had a chance to start laundry, he caught himself wondering if Miss Bell had someone to sort dirty clothes with or if she was as lonely as he was at the moment. With a shake of his head, he picked up the pace, forcing his thoughts off the shamelessly beautiful Miss Bell and onto the tasks that kept his house inorder.
Chapter 5
The next Monday,Cedar nervously made her way to Mrs. Kent’s office for her exit interview. She’d gotten up early and smoothed and sectioned her hair into a messy French braid that curved around her head and laid over her left shoulder. She had changed shirts too. Thinking that the Titan’s polo was a little too obvious, she’d switched to a peach colored cotton blouse. The color did wonders for her ivory skin and apricot lips. One of her undergrad professors had told her, “When you look your best, you do your best.” She wasn’t so sure about that, but she agreed that looking her best raised herconfidence.
Her phone rang just as she entered the elevator, and she hurried to answer her mom before she went into the meeting. If not, her mom would call every five minutes until she did answer. “Hi, Mom. How was Cabo?” Her parents had taken a seventh (or was it eighth?) honeymoon to white sands and warmsurf.
“The surfing was excellent. How did your little camp thinggo?”
Cedar suppressed a sigh. “Smooth—all thingsconsidered.”
“I saw the video thismorning.”
“Great.”Just great.Even her parents had seen the video of Ariana Sanchez knocking Rennin “The Ghost” Bradley on his backside in front of a group of kids. Their sparring match appeared to be in fun, so the exposure was positive, thank goodness. The fact that the whole incident had happened at her camp and she found out from YouTube had her wondering what else she’d missed. Hopefully nothing big. “I’m itching to get on top of the publicity the viral video could provide for the camp and hook a few new sponsors for next year while there’s still a buzz. Once my job offer comes through, I’ll be able to spend more time onit.”
“How do you plan to do that while you’re still inschool?”
“Mom—I graduate in less than amonth.”
“Has it been four yearsalready?”
“Two. A master’s takes twoyears.”
“Yes. Yes. I know. I just can’t help but think of you as that sweet little undergrad we took to Florida for SpringBreak.”
“You didn’t take me on SpringBreak.”
“Wedidn’t?”
“No. You two went, and I stayed home and fed the dog.” Was it possible her parents had dementia for the last twenty years? That would explain how two people could forget they had a child as often as her parentsforgot.
“I missSprinkles.”
“He was a great dog.” If given the choice, Cedar would have stayed home with Sprinkles for Spring Break everyyear.
“I’m coming,” Mom said to someone on her end of the line. “Honey, your dad says to tell you hello and that he’s looking forward to a ping-pong rematch atThanksgiving.”
There wasn’t a word for the jagged shard those words drove into her heart. On the surface, they seemed harmless enough—a father looking forward to spending time with his daughter. But, by peeling back just one layer, the real meaning was revealed. Her parents didn’t have time for her. Nor would they make time for her until it was convenient for them, and that meant Thanksgiving. Unable to come up with an appropriate response, Cedar hummed. Her phone beeped. “Mom, I have to go. I have an important meeting in just a fewminutes.”
“Don’t work too hard. Life is supposed to be fun. Byenow.”
“Bye.” Cedar slumped against the wall. “Parents are exhausting.” She glanced around to make sure no one was watching her have a parental-induced emotional crash. She still had a few minutes before she needed to report to Mrs. Kent. She should duck into her cubicle and reapply her barely-there lip gloss, but she might run into Darrin, and she couldn’t handle another all-fun and no work adulttoday.
Instead, she checked email on her phone to make sure she hadn’t missed a reply to the message she’d sent Mrs. Kent this morning. Several emails came in over the weekend thanking the Tiny Titans Football Camp for the improvement in a child’s football skills and for providing the kids an opportunity to meet some of their heroes. She’d compiled the compliments into one document and forwarded it on to Mrs. Kent a couple hours before the offices opened so it would be waiting in her inbox. The job may be hers, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help Mrs. Kent feel good about the decision to hireher.
Besides the sparring match gone viral, there was one injured knee and a few other scrapes and bruises on Saturday that were easily patched with ointment and Band-Aids. Overall, the parents were happy with theoutcome.
There had beenonehitch in the system. A hitch in the nice shape of an offensive tackle she’d told off at the end of the day. Hopefully, Teo hadn’t reported her less-than-professional demeanor to Mrs.Kent.
In her defense, Teo Parata was selfish and self-centered. Sure, he had an adorable kid, but that didn’t meanhewas adorable. Teo thought he was handsome and charming and irresistible. And no wonder. Instagram had blown up with images of him with two kids hanging from each flexed arm. The man did know how to work with children. He’d drilled them on field safety until they knew his three points to staying safe and could recite them in theirsleep.
She arched forward to stretch her lower back. Whenever she’d thought of Teo asking her on adateand acting like he was doing her a favor by gracing her with his invitation, her muscles bunched, and she had to resort to stretching and breathing and picturing large baskets ofpuppies.
Cedar would be lying if she said it didn’t bother her that Teo garnered so much attention. He swooped in at the last second, nearly putting the camp behind schedule, flashed his pearly white teeth, thrown a few balls, and then picked up his kid and took off while she stayed to make sure the practice field was returned to acceptable Titans standards. Where was Teo Parata when the food allergy special lunch requests came pouring in? Where was Teo Parata when Darrin lost sixty-three sign-up forms? Where was Teo Parata when that boy twisted his knee and needed a hand tohold?
