Hot Single Dad(21)
He drives off, and I’m left alone in the beach house. I tidy up all the things that have been left out in all the haste to get to the hospital and set about preparing dinner. A spicy bacon and tomato sauce will go nicely with the fresh pasta Reid brought.
The meal under control, I sit outside on the little patio area and wait, watching the sea. I can’t get over how beautiful it is here, how good it feels to have the sun on my face. Even the breeze from the ocean is not making it too cold to sit out. I close my eyes and turn my face up to the sky to catch the rays. I can feel my eyelids drooping, the result of precious little sleep for the past few nights.
“Well, look who’s here.” I jump and open my eyes. Of all people to show up, it’s the one I least want or expect to see.
It’s Mercia. I didn’t notice her creeping up on me as I nodded off.
“I just thought it might be you when I heard there was a new young nanny called Holly keeping his bed warm.”
I feel my cheeks color, but I’m not letting her get away with that. “What do you mean?”
She ignores me. “You always had your tongue hanging out like a dog whenever you visited. Do you think he’d be interested in you if I still wanted him? We used to laugh about your stupid teenage crush after you left. Always simpering over him, fluttering your eyelashes.”
She’s such a bitch, and she can get the hell out of here. I’m not fourteen and easy to bully anymore, so she can forget it. “I care about him more than you ever did.”
“That might be so, but the feeling’s not mutual. You may think you have what you want now, but you don’t have anything. Look how quickly he came running when I left him a text.”
Suddenly, I suspect she sent that message deliberately to get Reid out of the way. If her father was desperately sick, she would be there too, not hanging around at the beach house. Surely even she is not that callous. “You lied! You’ve sent Reid to the hospital on a wild goose chase using your own father.”
“Not true. My father is in the hospital.”
“Then shouldn’t you be with him?”
“He’ll enjoy seeing his grandchildren. I organized that for him. He’ll be fine once he gets out after his procedure tomorrow.”
“You mean his stay in hospital was already planned?”
“Not really. They managed to book him in on short notice for tomorrow morning. But the whole thing just demonstrates how little you know about what I mean to Reid. He doesn’t want you.”
“Going to the hospital has nothing to do with you. His only concern was your father.”
“It’s everything to do with me. It’s my children in the middle of your cozy little arrangement, and he wants me, their mother.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Ask him about L.A. He didn’t take you with him, did he?”
“I was looking after the children.”
“My parents would have them any time. If he was that keen on taking you, he could have had them help out. Did you know I was in L.A., too?”
What is she saying here? He didn’t mention seeing her there. I try not to overreact, but a faint feeling of nausea hits me.
“I’m sorry. I can see you didn’t know he was meeting me there, did you?” Mercia has her triumphant bitch face on. “How handy that he had a babysitter so we could spend those nights together. He wanted to stay longer, but he didn’t trust you with our children for too long.”
“You…you…you’re lying.”
“Why would I?”
“You want him back.” This has to be a ploy. But why didn’t he mention he saw her? Maybe she just knows he was there. That must be it.
“I don’t need to get him back. I already have him. He never fell out of love with me. He told me so on Wednesday night and again on Thursday. Have you ever stayed in the Diamond suite at the Ondina, I wonder? One of the nicest places he’s taken me so far.”
She knows where he stayed? His room at the hotel! She wouldn’t know that, unless…she was there too. No wonder he seemed so distracted when he called the second day. He’d been with her. The truth of it hits me, and I can’t speak.
But she has to get the knife in again. “Anyway, let’s face it, why would he look at you when he has me? The sooner you get used to that idea, the better. You might be convenient for a random fuck when he’s in need, but…look at you.”
I don’t need to look. I know she’s a movie star and I’m as ordinary as peanut butter and jelly. She’s a big success and I’m a failed fashion wannabe. No wonder he still wants her. I clench my fists and dig my nails into my palms. I won’t cry in front of her, I won’t.