Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,77
already know the answer." Finally, he looked up. "I said it was fine weeks ago. Nothing has changed."
I felt my gaze narrow. "A lot has changed, and you know it."
"Not the way I see it," he said. "So take it. Or don't. Your choice."
I stared at him for a long silent moment. Even though he was technically talking about the vehicle, his words were filled with hidden meaning.
Take it or don't.
Stay or leave.
Scream or strangle him.
So many choices, so little time.
With a sound of disgust, I said, "Fine. I'll take it. Thanks ever so much."
"You're welcome."
He didn't mean it any more than I did. But hey, that was fine by me. I'd had more than enough of Mason Blastoviak.
Not just for tonight. But for a lifetime.
Chapter 46
Cami
The next couple of weeks passed in a long, depressing blur. Oh sure, I tried to be festive for Willow's sake, but it was tough going.
Even as we decorated the house and picked out Christmas presents for Mason – from Willow, not from me – my heart was heavier than it had been in a long time.
Mason and I weren't exactly ignoring each other, but we were acting like polite strangers – or more accurately, like boss and employee.
Him being the boss of course.
On the upside, things across the river offered just enough distraction to stop me from wallowing in my own misery.
To my surprise, Livia was still toughing it out with the two unruly teens, which was pretty incredible, considering that she'd lasted only three days at her last job, which was a hundred times easier than her current gig.
For the previous job, she'd been working as a hand model in her dad's jewelry store, where her primary responsibility had involved trying on the merchandise.
Not even kidding.
But her nanny job? It looked like something else entirely. From the back window, Willow and I had a front-row seat to all the theatrics between her and her teenage charges.
They locked her out.
She locked them out.
One time, they all got locked out and had to break a back window when the usual window got stuck.
And forget taking a dinghy across the river. Winter weather had arrived with a vengeance, dropping the temperatures so low that the river finally began to freeze. And although the water wasn't completely frozen over, the icy surface would be a detriment to almost any watercraft – dinghies included.
As far as the antics between Livia and the teenagers, to me, the whole thing seemed seriously unhinged. But apparently, they thought otherwise. I mean, why else would they keep on doing it?
Livia had come from money. Technically, she didn't need to work at all, so there was no reason for her stay if she was truly that miserable – unless she really did have a thing for the dad.
And then, there were the teenagers themselves. They were too old for a nanny in the traditional sense. But the way it looked, they were liking their non-traditional one a lot better – if only because she gave as good as she got.
I had to give Livia credit. She was proving to be a tough nut to crack.
But me? I wasn't tough.
Every time I saw Mason, my heart squeezed just a little, even as I debated going for his throat, speaking figuratively, that this.
But it wasn't until the day before my holiday departure that I made a fool of myself all over again, but in a totally different way.
Chapter 47
Mason
The way it looked, she hated me.
Good.
It was better than the alternative.
For her sake, not mine.
Was it killing me? Fuck yeah. But I'd rather die a thousand deaths than hurt someone I cared about. And I did care for Cami, in my own messed-up sort of way.
But she was still my employee, which meant that certain responsibilities had to be taken care of. With this in mind, I texted her from my home office asking her to stop by my desk when she had the chance.
She never showed.
I'd sent the text at seven o'clock, two hours before Willow's usual bedtime, thinking we could get the formalities out of the way and move on with the rest of our evening.
For me, this meant handling some year-end paperwork that I'd been putting off.
For Cami, this meant packing for her trip. I knew this, because three hours after sending my text, I could still hear her going up and down the stairs, and then out into the garage, loading up the SUV with whatever she was taking to Petoskey.