Bad Nanny (The Bad Nanny Trilogy #1)(36)
My new favorite person in the world is this baby. She smiles at me and laughs, but she doesn't complain unless she's hungry or has a dirty diaper. Seriously huge improvement over everyone else in my life. That chick Kitty got pissed at me for skipping out on our last session and sent me a text of her flipping me off. Oh well. There's always another pretty little tattooed chick walking into the shop, leaning over the glass counter and flashing me her tits.
I pick Sadie up out of her crib with a yawn—on my part—and sit us both down on the couch, a stack of books at my side. If I'm going to be here, I might as well hang out with the kid, right? Maybe one day she'll actually like me—unlike her older sister. Wouldn't hurt to have some family that cared whether I lived or died.
The first book I grab is splashed with color and bits of fuzzy fabric that Sadie latches onto with fervor, eating the corners of the book as much as she looks at it. Good for her. At least one of us is having a good time right now.
Somewhere deep down, I know that I'm waiting for Brooke to show back up, sweep in here in that non-style style of hers, look at me like I'm both the biggest mistake of her life—and the most intriguing. It's an interesting dichotomy, that's for sure.
“What do you think of Uncle Zay's new lady friend?” I ask Sadie as she slaps her hands on the book and laughs. I lean back and nod. “Yep. That's how I feel, too. Now all I gotta do is convince her that I'm not the enemy, you know? I think a week spent in each other's arms would do us both a lot of good, don't you?”
Sadie babbles something back at me as the sound of a rattling car engine pulls into the driveway.
Yes, ma'am. Here we go.
I lean back casually and wait for Brooke to unlock the door.
“Hey, how was class?” I ask as I glance over my shoulder and watch her step inside … with a guy on her heels. Huh. Who the hell is this dude?
“Fine, thanks.” Brooke closes the door and comes over to stand at the end of the coffee table, pushing her glasses up her nose. I notice then that she's got a sprinkling of glittery pink eyeshadow on her lids. It's kind of random … and a little bit sexy. “Zayden, this is Dan, my study partner for survival analysis.” Um, no clue what that is. I smile anyway and nod. “We'll be in the kitchen working on a project.” I lift a hand in a loose half-wave and the guy smiles at me, pushing some dark hair off his forehead. I hate him instantly. “Zay's our nanny,” Brooke adds, making my mouth twitch as she turns and her camel colored coat wafts out behind her.
“Nice to meet ya,” Dan drawls, shrugging his shoulders, his rain spotted leather coat rustling as he turns and follows after Brooke. There's a moment of silence and then some giggling from the kitchen that makes my skin prickle with nerves. It's not like Brooke and I are anything to each other—obviously we're strangers—but I'm not all that keen on watching other guys hit on girls I like. Just bugs the hell out of me.
“You hungry, doll?” I ask Sadie and she makes a sound that I'd like to think means hell, yes, Uncle Zay, get your ass in that kitchen and see what's up with this dude. I grin. “You got it, babe.”
I get up and move into the ugly linoleum kitchen with its builder-grade cabinets, noticing as I do that Brooke's eyes flick up to watch me. I give her my best award-winning smile and kick the fridge open.
“You okay with applesauce, chickee?” I ask as I reach in and grab a jar with my right hand, the open book tat on my skin fluttering with the motion. “And look at that, unsweetened and organic. Pretty posh.” I heel the door shut behind me and sit Sadie in the high chair I brought over. I pretend not to be interested in what Brooke and Dude are doing, but I'm totally watching.
“Did you get the reading done last night?” Dude asks as he flips through some pages in a thick textbook and glances over at her from under his eyelashes. He's totally checking her out, but she's not paying attention, opening a laptop up next to her own textbook and logging in with a quick flicker of her fingers across the keys.
“I did it after my other class yesterday,” she says and then bends down to dig something out of her bag, coming back up with a notebook. “I also got that study sheet filled out, but I didn't have time for the extra credit. Did you want to work on that first?”
“Yeah, sure.” Dude What's-His-Face shrugs out of his jacket and flashes a really ugly tribal tattoo on his right arm. Puh-lease. He stretches his arms above his head like those weak ass triceps of his mean anything. I narrow my eyes at him as I fish one of those rubber baby spoon things from my back pocket and spin it around in my fingers, dragging a chair from the table and flopping down on it. “Your baby?” Dude asks Brooke as he shuffles around in his own bag.