is not the merrier. He needs his place, and we need ours. He has a nurse. He’s a big boy. He’ll be fine!” And to show that he had spoken, that his word was law, he started to walk away.
“I fired her. You watched me do it.” He stood without the use of his cane. “See?”
“I’m not convinced. And you can’t fire her. I hired her. Only I can fire her.” He reached out his hand for Haley and when she took it, he yanked her hard and fast against him. “Are you ready?”
It seemed like an innocuous question, but the way that they smiled at one another, he knew they were going to go home and get all wild and crazy now that they had the house to themselves. Once again, he was being reminded that he was the one with the issues. He sighed and walked them out to redeem himself. He was fine, a little lonely but otherwise the picture of perfect health. Maybe he could use this as a bargaining tool. “I’ll stay. I’m fine. I’m perfectly capable of staying here…by myself. Fire Kiki. Take her with you.”
Sam studied him for a moment. “As I said, I will need some convincing on that last point before I release her from service. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a good in home health nurse?”
“I’m beginning to get an idea,” Adam responded angrily. “After all, you didn’t do it. So, the real question becomes…how hard is it to find a hot chick who wants to get paid to live with me in my fancy loft overlooking Central Park? And I already know the answer to that. I’ve had women volunteering to do that for years for free!” He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, refusing to back down on this one sticking point.
“Give it a week,” Sam suggested. “We’ll re-evaluate then.” Adam was about to open his mouth once more, but Sam played the big brother card. “That’s it. That is the plan. Like it or lump it, but this is the way it is going to be.”
“I’m thirty years old,” Adam said in a low voice. “I should be able to make my own decisions.”
“True, but in this case, I think you are blinded by pride. We’ll talk next Sunday. We’ll do brunch.” And with that, he and Haley walked away.
Still sporting that self-satisfied look, Sam left taking Haley with him. It seemed like she was torn, but Adam assured her that he’d be fine. After all, he had Kiki. He shut the door behind them. And better than Kiki, he had a plan. They had been gone only a few minutes when he wandered into his room and pulled out a bag. He had grabbed some clean boxer briefs, he had socks, and he threw in some fresh shirts and a few sweaters. He went to his closet and selected a couple pairs of khakis and a few pairs of jeans. He yanked some running pants from the shelf and added them to the bag, too. Confidently, he zipped the bag shut and shoved it under the bed.
Now he just had to wait. Adam wanted to stay hidden in his room, but he figured that his absence, given his reputation, would draw more attention than his presence. That’s why he made his way back out to the living room. He sprawled on the sofa and waited. He had one hand over his eyes, one arm stretched across the back of the leather couch. He was surprisingly relaxed, until she came over.
“I need to apologize,” Cammie began quietly.
Slowly, he lifted his hand from over his eyes. Crap. It really was that bartender. And now she wanted to apologize. “Not necessary,” he said evenly. “Everything is fine. I’m not going to raise hell, report you, try to get to you fired, or ruin the business. You can tell your boss that I will tell all my friends what a lovely party this was.” Then he laid his hand back over his eyes. In his experience, he had said all the magic words, everything that would encourage her to get back to work, to leave him alone, to hurry up and get the hell out of his loft so that he could, too.
At the moment, he was busy imagining Kiki’s reaction when she woke in the morning and discovered that he was long gone. He had even made preparations to ensure