Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,65
"Mine are monsters."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please. You think all kids are monsters."
"Yeah, but you only have one monster. I have two. And they're bigger."
"Which means," I reminded her, "they don't require as much care."
"That's what you think," she said. "Their mom lives in Italy, and the dad is always gone. I know why, too."
"Why?"
"Hello? Because his kids are monsters."
I sighed. "So you said."
"That's why they need a nanny, you know."
I gave her a look. "Because they're monsters?"
"No. Because the dad has sole custody. And he's gone all the time, which is a real bummer."
"You mean for the kids?"
"Well, yeah. That too." She leaned forward. "But I meant because he's super-hot."
I'd never seen the guy. "Oh?"
"Yeah, totally." She smiled. "And I think he likes me."
This wasn't a surprise. After all, every guy liked Livia, with the possible exception of Mason. And for some reason, this made me want to smile.
As far as the dad across the river, I couldn’t help but ask, "But how can he like you if he's never home?"
"Well, sure he's gone all week. But he's almost always home on the weekends." She giggled. "Plus, we talk all the time on the phone. He's got this great accent, too. It's super sexy."
I shook my head. "Wait, I thought you liked Mason."
"I did," she said. "But now that I know he's yours, I figure I'll focus on the bird in the hand, you know?"
Mason wasn't mine. And yet, for some strange reason, I didn't correct her. What did that mean?
It was something I'd need to think about later.
But for now, I couldn’t help but appreciate Livia's loyalty. It made me feel just a little bad for assuming the worst of her. And to be totally fair, I'd never once seen her go after another girl's guy.
With looks like hers, she definitely could've.
Even at the club in Petoskey, it's not like Mason had been my boyfriend. He'd been a prospective employer, and I'd already turned down the job – which meant that he was technically fair game.
I guess.
As I tried to sort it out, I looked to Livia and said, "Just how long have you been working there, anyway?"
She gave it some thought. "Oh, a couple of months now."
I did a double-take. "And I’m just now seeing you?"
"It's the kids," she said. "They keep me super-busy." She smiled. "And then, there's the dad on weekends."
By now, I hardly knew what to think. I decided to switch gears. "Hey, did you get my messages?"
"What messages?"
"I left a voicemail on your cell phone, and few texts, too." I hesitated. "But I didn't hear back."
Livia frowned. "Yeah, because the monsters stole my phone."
"Seriously?"
"Oh yeah. And I just found it this morning." She grimaced. "Wanna know where?"
From the look on her face, I wasn't so sure. And yet, I was morbidly curious. "Where?"
"In the cat box."
Hoping for the best, I said, "Like, where he sleeps?"
"No. Where he pees."
Now, I was the one grimacing. "You mean the litter box?" I wasn't even sure what surprised me more – that the kids had done something so disgusting, or that Livia had cleaned out a litter box.
When she replied with a disgruntled nod, I said in a gentler tone, "So, you're on litter-duty, too, huh?"
"Me?" she scoffed. "No way. He's got a service who does that."
"But you just said—"
"Okay, so it wasn't me who actually found the phone, but the phone was still mine."
"So, what are you gonna do?" I asked. "Like… can you clean it?"
"Me? Hell no," she said. "I called Lorenzo on the land line. He's sending me a new one."
"Wait, who's Lorenzo?"
She grinned. "The dad."
"Oh. Well, that's nice."
She gave a happy nod. "I know, right?" She glanced past me, toward the interior of Mason's house. "So, aren't you gonna invite me in?"
"Gosh, I'm really sorry." Oddly enough, I meant it, too. Still, I continued. "But I can't. We're in the middle of homework. And besides, I'm not supposed to have company without prior authorization."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it’s not my house. This is a job, remember?"
With a perplexed look, she said, "But I thought Mason was your boyfriend."
Dang it. Regardless of my mixed feelings, it was definitely time to come clean. Reluctantly, I admitted, "Actually, he's not. He was just kidding."
"But I saw the two of you holding hands."
"Right. Because he didn't want me to trip."
"Oh, please," she said. "I saw the way he looked at you."