nothing wrong.
Deliberately, I softened my tone. "I was talking about Chase."
"Oh." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Really?"
"He said you met for coffee."
"Me? No." But then, she paused. "Oh, wait…"
I waited. And as I did, I silently considered how I might feel if she and Chase met for more than coffee.
I wouldn’t like it.
She'd get hurt, and I'd get pissed. One thing would lead to another, and I'd be looking for a new nanny. Again.
See, it was an employment issue. Nothing else.
That had to be it.
Into her silence, I said, "And in case you haven't heard, he has a habit of banging the nannies."
She blinked. "What?"
"Yeah. Two so far," I said. "And if you wanna be number three…" My jaw clenched at the thought. "Do it on your own time."
She took an unsteady step backward, looking like she'd just been slapped. Too late, I realized I was acting like a total asshole. Again.
The truth was, I hadn't meant to say half of what I'd said during the last few minutes.
What the hell was wrong with me, anyway?
Cami was still glaring. "Oh, my God. You think I'm gonna sleep with your brother?"
"I don’t know. Are you?"
"Hell no." Her hands flew to her mouth. "Shit."
I moved forward. "What?"
"I meant, 'crap.' No. I meant, 'crud.'" She groaned. "And I didn't mean to say, 'Hell no.' I meant to say, 'Heck no.'" She looked heavenward and groaned again. "Oh, for God's sake. You make me crazy, you know that?"
I knew the feeling. And yet, I was curious. "How so?"
"Isn't it obvious? Just listen to me. I'm cussing up a storm. Do you realize that until I met you, I went like three whole years without a single curse-word? Now, I'm turning into a total potty mouth."
"And that's my fault?"
"Well, it must be. I only do it around you."
Obviously, she was missing the flaw in her logic. "Right. You do it. Not me." I paused for emphasis. "Which means it's your problem, not mine."
"Hah! It can't be my problem, because if it were, I'd be cursing everywhere. Like, here's a good example. Do you know, today I wanted to curse Veronica up and down? But did I do that? Noooooo. I resisted."
She looked so cute, I almost smiled. "Was that before or after you kicked her?"
"It was before and after. So there!"
"Well, I guess you told me."
"Oh, please," she said. "I haven't begun to tell you."
"Is that so?"
"Definitely," she said. "Like for starters, that 'coffee' with your brother? I just realized what you're talking about, and you're reading way too much into it."
"Am I?"
"Yes. Totally. It was like two days ago, right?"
"You tell me."
"I'm trying to tell you," she said. "I had coffee with Arden, not Chase. But I did see him there."
"Where?"
"At that that little shop by your corporate headquarters. Arden and I are sitting there, minding our own business, when Chase walks in – with a half-naked blonde, by the way–"
If I were twelve, I might've snickered. "Oh yeah? Which half?"
"Oh, shut up," she said. "You know what I mean."
I did. When it came to women, Chase liked them on the trashy side, which made his apparent interest in Cami all the more maddening, unless…
I frowned. Was he just yanking my chain?
Shit. He probably was.
The dick.
And me? Like a total dumb-ass, I'd fallen for it.
This was a first, which posed a disturbing question. Why this time?
When I made no reply, Cami continued. "Look, I'm not trying to be judgmental or anything, but it is November, which does make it seem a tad odd when someone walks into a coffee shop wearing a bikini. And I don't mean a regular bikini either. I mean a thong bikini. Oh sure, she had little skirt over it, but the skirt was mesh and practically see-through." Suddenly, Cami threw up her hands. "And why am I telling you any of this?"
As she'd been speaking, I'd been trying not to wonder what she'd look like in a thong – not out in public, but in private, with just the two of us.
I didn't share. And that included glimpses of things that only a lover should see.
Absently, I replied, "Because I asked."
"Yeah, you did," she said. "But you were so off base, it wasn't even funny."
This was true. And yet, I almost felt like laughing.
Why?
Was it because she was so cute when she got flustered? Or was it because I was too damned relieved to hear that she and Chase wouldn’t be hooking up any time soon?
Either way, this wasn't good.
"Anyway," Cami