Playing the Player(12)

She crossed her arms over her chest, still glaring at me.

“Go put your clothes on,” I said, “so we can get to the museum.”

“Hey, Gillian,” Slade interjected, “that’s a great idea. See, I kind of need your help.”

We both turned to Slade. His expression was all innocent and wide-eyed, and I watched in amazement as he turned the topaz eye power on full blast for a five-year-old. “See, Max doesn’t like me being the boss of him, either. So you could really help me out by getting dressed, and convincing him to get dressed, too.” He turned on the full wattage smile, complete with dimple. “Do you think you could do that for me, sweetheart?”

I watched her melt right before my eyes. Her glare morphed into a dazed smile. She nodded enthusiastically, then turned and ran out of the room.

Unbelievable. I didn’t know whether to thank him or throw something at him.

Then he turned the full Slade wattage on me. “Kids,” he said, shrugging like it was no big deal that he’d just completely defused both a mutiny and a meltdown.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Where’s the bathroom?”

He pointed to a doorway. Once inside the bathroom, I locked the door and dumped more lavender oil on my wrist.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.



The museum swarmed like a noisy hive of families and tourists. Max wanted to stay in Prehistoric Journey where all the dino skellies were, but Gillian wanted to spend her time at Space Odyssey, pretending she was an astronaut and controlling a fake Rover on the moon.

After listening to the kids argue, I told Slade we should split up. I made sure he had his cell turned on and we agreed to rendezvous at twelve thirty for lunch.

Before lunch, I spent a painful fifteen minutes trying to convince Gillian that she needed to take off the astronaut costume so we could meet Max.

“You’re not the boss of me,” she declared. Again.

I made a desperate ploy. “We’re meeting Slade, you know.”

Her sour expression transformed to syrupy sweet, and she clambered out of the astronaut suit.

I texted Slade. Meet you at the café in five minutes.

At the café, I looked everywhere for Max and Slade. They weren’t sitting at any of the tables in the atrium and they weren’t in line for food. I texted him again.

Hello? We r at café? Where r u?

Gillian pointed. “There they are.”

Framed in the glass windows, Slade was kicked back on a bench in the sunshine, talking to two cute girls. Max sat on the ground playing with rubber dinosaurs.

“Damn him.”

“You cussed,” Gillian scolded. “Mom says no swearing. Unless she hurts herself. Or if Dad’s being a real jerk.” Gillian glared at me, hands on her hips. “And you’re not hurt.” She glanced out the door. “Are you and Slade married?”

My head snapped toward her. “What? No!”

You’re halfway through the day, I told myself. If I could just get her fed, we could relax in the IMAX movie.

After we snaked our way through the long line for food, Gillian rushed outside with her tray, making a beeline for Max and Slade. I followed slowly, not thrilled about eavesdropping on Slade’s pickup lines.

“Hey.” Max stopped his dinosaur battle and stared at Gillian. “I want a hot dog. Where’d you get that?”

Slade and the Barbies turned to stare at us, too. Slade winced as he pulled his cell out of his pocket, reading my messages.

“Damn. I totally lost track of time, Trina. Sorry I missed your texts. I had my phone silenced, cuz the security guard gave me crap about it ringing too loud.” He gave me one of those sexy grins that he used to charm his way out of trouble. But like I’d told Desi, I was immune to his tricks.

The Barbies glanced over their shoulders at Slade as he went inside for food, then giggled as they strutted away. Watching them sashay in their cute miniskirts, I felt like a dork in my shorts and flip-flops.

Gillian plopped down next to Max. “Where’d you get the new dinosaurs?”

“Gift shop.” His T. rex pinned a dinosaur with a fringed head.

“Gift shop!” Gillian eyed me like I was a prison warden. “I wanna go to the gift shop. Max got to go. It’s not fair!” And right before my eyes, she supersonicked straight into meltdown mode. Her screams echoed off the walls of the museum. Max stared at me anxiously, obviously expecting me to do something.

As I sat frozen in shock, the tiny part of my brain that still functioned realized that all of my previous babysitting experiences with Gillian had been at her house. I hadn’t actually taken her out in public before. Still, I knew she was hell on wheels, so I should’ve been prepared. I closed my eyes and wished for a fairy godmother to grant me super nanny powers.