Hadley slowly lowered her hand and placed it in her lap.
I took a deep breath.“Archer’s so hot I think he makes menopausal women spontaneously ovulate.”
Poet choked out a laugh.
“So, imagine what he’s doing to me; a twenty-three-year-old who’s trying to be celibate and who has a thing for mustache rides.”
Hadley giggled and Salem hooted.
“It’s not funny,” I said, my shoulders slinking.“He’s the one guy I shouldn’t be noticing and I can’t help it.Something’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Poet said.“Nothing’s wrong with any of us.”
“Why him?”I whined.“Do I want him because I can’t have him?”
“Who says you can’t have him?It’s not like an allergy,” Salem remarked.
“Penis embargo aside,” Hadley said.“Why can’t you have him?”
“Because he’s my boss,” I said.
“Yeah.”Hadley nodded slowly.“That does make things complicated.”
“And I can’t do that to Lenni,” I said.“I won’t be someone else who bails on her.”
Salem frowned.“Why would you bail on her?”
“Because if we sleep together, it will make everything murky.And Ido notwant Lenni to become collateral damage.Besides, the whole point of this embargo was to slow everything down.I don’t trust my own judgment.Men say what you want to hear and then the minute you start falling for them, they fucking bail.I’m tired of being left!”
The kitchen went silent after my devastating reveal.
I took a deep breath.“You think I’m going to play fast and loose with my heart around a guy who just found out he has a daughter?I’m not his priority.Furthermore, I wouldn’t expect him to make me one.Because Lenni needs to be his primary focus.I’m the nanny.He’s my boss.That’s it.That’s how this goes.Okay?”
I didn’t want to admit the truth out loud.I was afraid my heart was already softening toward Archer.And I wasn’t sure I’d survive the heartbreak that came with loving a man who couldn’t choose me first.
ChapterThirteen
The House
“Ow!”I slowly backed out on all fours from underneath the card table and rubbed my head.
A knock sounded on the door while I was sitting on the floor.“Come in.”
The door opened and heavy footsteps clomped across the wooden planks.
I peered up at Archer.He’d clearly just showered.His hair was damp and his flannel button down and jeans were clean.
He looked delicious.
“Why are you on the floor?”he asked in confusion.
“Because the bed was too far away?”
“Huh?”
I shook my head and flung my hand in the direction of the card table.“I was setting up my new sewing machine and I bonked my head.”
He came toward me and crouched down beside me.Before I could say anything, his fingers were scanning my scalp.
