I had to stop letting him get to me. What did I care what he thought about me, anyway? He was a flake who hadn’t even earned this job, and he’d be gone by next week. I crouched down next to the kids.
“Stupid playboy,” I muttered then I forced a smile. “What did you decide on?” I asked Gillian.
She squinted at me. “Why are you so mean to Slade?”
“Yeah,” Max said, watching me suspiciously. “Stupid is a bad word.” He blinked at me. “What’s wrong with being a playboy? I like to play.”
“And he’s a boy,” Gillian added.
“But Max isn’t a playboy,” Slade said. Again with the towering over me thing. “And it’s not really a nice word, guys,” he said, his voice low and full of warning. “So you probably shouldn’t repeat it.”
Just kill me now. Maybe it wasn’t too late to get a job scrubbing toilets somewhere. So what if I gave up the double salary? I busied myself putting toys back on the shelf, refusing to look at Slade, or the kids, who were glaring at me.
“Gillian, are you ready? Let’s go pay for your evidence.” Slade smiled and reached for her hand.
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “My what?”
“Your proof,” Slade said, grinning. “That you were here.”
“Oh,” she held out a box to him.
“Very cool, Gilly,” he said, checking out the Mars Rover kit.
I watched her swoon We needed to have a serious girl chat, or it was going to be a very long week.
“Her name is Gillian. Not Gilly,” I snapped.
Slade raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing.
“I don’t mind,” Gillian whispered, looking up at him with adoring eyes.
Gag me. I stood up. “Let’s pay for this and get out of here. We should have been home half an hour ago.”
Slade sighed and released Gillian’s hand. “The moms said as long as the kids are home between five and six, it’s fi—”
“Are you ever on time? Anywhere?” My voice vibrated with frustration.
His eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t know.” His voice was smooth and even, but anger glinted in his eyes. “I don’t wear a watch.” He stared pointedly at my wristwatch like it was an instrument of torture. “Let’s go wait by the car, Max-man. I need some fresh air.”
And with that, he bailed on me, for the second time in one day.
Chapter Five
Slade
Monday, June 3
“So,” Alex asked. “Was there bloodshed? Tears?”
I’d met Alex at the pool right after I was released from nanny duty. Jumping into the water had felt awesome, washing away all the stress and weirdness of my day with Trina.
God, she was a train wreck. I didn’t know how I was going to survive working with her. I wondered what would happen if I quit…besides my parents going ballistic.
“No bloodshed,” I said. “Just a few tears.”
“Trina’s, I assume?” Alex said.
“No. Gilly’s. Max’s buddy. She had a meltdown at the museum.”
“Ah,” Alex said. “Kids and their crying. You couldn’t pay me enough to babysit.”
I yawned. “Kids are cool. You just have to get in their headspace and it all works out. I tried to explain that to Trina, but she totally freaked out, like I was questioning her existence or something.”
Alex laughed. “You tried to tell Trina how to improve her nanny skills? I’m surprised there wasn’t bloodshed.”
“Yeah.” I remembered her face in the gift shop. She’d definitely wanted to draw blood. And that whole “playboy” comment… I shifted on my towel, unable to get comfortable. “She’s not exactly the tooth fairy, dude,” I said. “She’s more like…I don’t know…a rampaging devil pixie.”
“Hmm. Like I said, Tinker Bell. Cute, but possibly psychotic.”
I glanced at him. “What?”
He rolled his eyes. “Did you not read Peter Pan as a kid? Or at least see the cartoon? Tinker Bell. Insanely jealous. Sort of psycho.”
“I don’t think Trina’s jealous of me, but she’s definitely psycho.” I took a long swig from my soda. “I may as well pay up on the bet now. There’s no way I can get her to relax.”
Alex laughed. “The summer is young, my friend. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
I shrugged. “Whatever,” I said, distracted by the tall, gorgeous blonde who winked at me before she dove into the pool.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so judgmental,” Alex said. “Maybe she has some official tight-ass disease.” He snorted. “TAD.”