Spotlight by Eden Finley Page 0,14
when she thinks she can beat me at the stubborn game.
“You can’t do that if you don’t know when to pick me up,” I sing.
“Then I’m staying right here. All day.”
“You have to go pick up Chase at some point. Also, I don’t know how good an impression it would be to have my own babysitter while I’m babysitting.”
She grunts. “Fine. You win. Have a good day.” It doesn’t sound like she means that.
The front door to the house opens, and Kaylee comes running out with Ryder not far behind her. He yells for her to get back inside, but she ignores him.
Brenna laughs. “Oh, this could be super fun for you.”
“Nah, he’s straight.” At least, that’s what most of the media says.
Brenna laughs harder. “I meant because she seems like a handful, but good to know where your head is at. Or, not your head.”
Oh. Right.
I clear my throat. “My head is nowhere near Ryder Kennedy. Only in the game.”
“Right. Hey, can I buy one of the flying pigs you’re trying to sell?”
“You’re lucky my brother loves you. For some reason.”
Before she can say anything else, I grab my bag and jump out of the car, giving her a wave as she pulls away.
“Lyric!” Kaylee bounds up to me. “Where’s Chase?”
I kneel to her level. “Chase is at school.”
“Daddy says I don’t have to go to school anymore.”
“You don’t. You get to spend time with me instead. Does that sound fun?”
“It be funner if Chase was here too.”
“Kaylee,” Ryder groans.
I laugh. “It’s okay. I’d rather hang out with Chase than myself too.”
“Is tact something you can teach her?” Ryder asks.
“I can try. Doesn’t work with Chase though.”
Ryder gestures to the house. “Let’s go inside so we can go over your contract.”
I stand to full height. “Right. About that …”
“Already a problem?”
“No. Well, not really. I told you my brother’s an entertainment lawyer. Contracts are his life. Well, he read over what you sent and has some changes.”
“Then let’s discuss them.”
He leads Kaylee and me inside, and I try not to trip over my feet when I see the grand staircase in the foyer or the formal seating area around a fireplace to the left. Everything is pristine and clean, and every little thing has its place, like the potted cacti in the long windowsills and plain white knickknacks on the mantel above the fireplace.
Maybe my eyes give something away because Ryder turns to me.
“We don’t use this half of the house. This is, like, the display part where if anyone comes over, it looks like I have my shit together.”
Oh, to have so much money you can divide your house into everyday use and special occasion.
We walk down the hall behind the staircase, past a large marble kitchen on the left, a formal dining room after that, and then we take a right where there’s a large living room with a sectional couch, big-screen TV, and glass coffee table.
All I think is thank fuck cleaning is not in my job description.
Ryder pauses outside two large sliding doors and turns to me. “I apologize in advance for the chaos you’re about to witness. This used to be the nanny’s quarters when we had a live-in when Kaylee was younger, but since we haven’t had anyone working for us for two years, it’s kind of turned into a play area.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him the carefully decorated and meticulously placed everything on this side of the house probably scares me more than anything that’s behind those doors.
But as he slides them open, nope, I’m wrong.
So wrong.
“Did a toy store explode in here?” I step into the room which is another large living area.
Every toy known to man covers the floors, the shelving … everything.
There’s another, smaller, single-counter kitchen in here, and a bedroom at the back.
“I did ask Kaylee to tidy for your arrival, and then I found her forcing her GI Joes to kiss right before you buzzed. I probably should have supervised the cleaning part.”
“Guess so. Though, are you sure she was forcing them to kiss each other? Growing up, my GI Joes were all for kissing other boys.” I wink at Kaylee.
Kaylee tugs on Ryder’s hand. “Told you, Daddy.”
Ryder smiles down at his daughter. “And I told you to clean up this mess. How about you do that while I talk with Lyric?”
“How about you clean and I talk to Lyric?”
“This isn’t a negotiation.” He boops her on her nose and then gestures for me