The Nanny with the Skull Tattoos (12 page)

After dropping off his brother and Riley, Max headed straight home. The closer he got to the apartment, the faster the butterflies in his stomach fluttered. He parked in his usual spot in front of the three-family home, turned off the car, and jumped out of the driver’s side. Opening up Chloe’s door, he gently picked her up from her car seat. Her head drooped onto his shoulder and he carried her to the front porch. Snuggling Chloe against his chest with one arm, the box containing the necklace tucked between his elbow and ribs, he unlocked the front door.

“Hey, I’m home,” he called out, carrying Chloe to her bedroom. He gently eased her into her crib. Then, planting a kiss on her forehead, he backed out of the room. With any luck, she would take a nice, long nap, giving him plenty of time to talk to Savannah.

Taking a deep breath, he turned toward Savannah’s bedroom door. It rested open a crack. He wished he had rehearsed what he was going to say. Even though he had done nothing wrong, he felt awful. The last thing he wanted was for Savannah to think he would purposely hurt her. Anger flared through him. His mother had no business sticking her nose into his personal life. When he next saw them, he was going to give his parents and brother Xavier a piece of his mind.

He took another deep breath, flushing the anger out. He needed to be calm and understanding. The look in Savannah’s eyes when she showed him the photos of him and Nicole spoke volumes. She deserved patience and an explanation.

Raising his hand, he rapped his knuckles on her bedroom door. “Hey, it’s me. Can I come in?”

His heart knocked against his chest. He inhaled slowly through his nose, trying to calm his nerves. She had to forgive him, once she learned the truth. He had no reason to be nervous.

Knocking again, he pushed the door open. “I’m sorry to just come in,” he said, “but I really need to talk to you.” He swallowed hard. “I feel really bad about this morning. I shouldn’t have let you walk out, Savannah.” He lifted his eyes from the floor, intending to look into her eyes. He froze.

The blood drained from his face. His knees buckled, and he leaned against the door frame.

“No way,” he said, his eyes sweeping through the room again. His stomach twisted, and he blinked away tears.

While he had spent the day shopping with Riley and Levi, having the time of his life, Savannah had come back to the apartment and removed every trace of evidence that she had ever been there.

He stared at the empty room. Agony ripped through him. Clutching the door frame with one hand, he steadied himself. Then a cry rang out, echoing through the hall and into Savannah’s empty room.

“Nana,” Chloe cried. “Nana.”

Swallowing hard, Max forced himself to straighten up. Taking one step at a time, his legs feeling as if they were filled with concrete, he lurched to Chloe’s room.

She stood in her crib, tears streaming down her face. “Nana,” she called again.

His heart breaking into a million pieces, Max lifted his daughter from her crib and held her against his chest, both of their tears soaking his tee shirt.

Can you call me, please?
the text from Nicole read. Max glared at his phone and pushed it away. He forced his attention back to the show that Chloe was watching on his computer. Cartoon characters bounced around on the screen, arguing about who was going to lead their expedition. Max sighed.

His phone lit up again.
I just want to be a family again
, Nicole texted.

Max sank deeper into the couch. She was never going to give up. He had no idea what made her decide to be mother of the year all of a sudden, but she had been texting him nonstop for the last fourteen days.

Can we at least try?
The words on the screen burned into his brain, and Max gritted his teeth.

In another week, he would be back in school and working. With the post-Christmas slump, Riley had more time to help him with Chloe, but her hours would be picking up again, and soon. He needed to do something, fast. His brother Levi had suggested posting another advertisement online, but Max hadn’t had much luck with the first. Savannah had been the only one to respond. A pang ran through his chest. It still stung to think of her.

He sighed. It was time to move on. He needed to do what was best for Chloe. What he wanted for his own life no longer mattered.

His insides felt like they were coated with raw sores. Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath. Then he opened them and reached for his phone. He still had no idea how Nicole got his phone number. He could probably thank his mother or Xavier for that, too. It didn’t matter anymore, though. He opened up the last text he had received from her and pressed the call button on the screen.

“Max?” Nicole answered. “Is it really you?”

He bit back a sarcastic response. “Hi,” he said.

“I’m so glad you called me,” she said. “I thought by now you were never going to.”

Clearing his throat, he jumped up from the couch and left Chloe in the living room. He padded into the hall, passing the empty room that had been Savannah’s. The door remained closed. He wasn’t sure if he would ever open it again. “Yeah,” he said. “So what’s up?”

“I feel really bad about how everything went down, on Christmas and, well, you know.” She breathed into the phone, and a tingle ran down Max’s spine. He grimaced, forcing the feeling away. No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to fall for her again. He had learned that lesson the hard way.

“Okay,” he said. “So what do you want?”

Nicole sighed. “Isn’t it obvious?” She paused, and his heart raced in his throat. Maybe he shouldn’t have called her. Maybe letting her back into his and Chloe’s lives would be a huge mistake. “I want to be in Chloe’s life,” she said, “but I also want to be in yours. I miss you.”

Taking a deep breath, Max padded into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter. “I’m going back to school in a few more days,” he said. “What about you?”

“Same,” she said. “I’ve been taking night classes, trying to find a job during the day. No luck so far. I’m about to lose my apartment.”

Closing his eyes, Max swallowed hard. His heart slammed against his chest. His insides twisted. Not even two months earlier, he had been in the same position. He couldn’t let the mother of his daughter be homeless. Plus, as terrible as it sounded to him, he could take advantage of the situation. He took a deep breath. “Here’s the deal,” he said. “If you help me take care of Chloe during the day while I’m at school and work, you can stay here. Cool?”

“Max, baby, I won’t let you down,” she said. “I mean it. I’m going to prove to you that I’m serious. For the rest of my life, I’m going to make it all up to you.”

“Yeah,” Max said. “Let’s just focus on Chloe.”

The next day, Nicole moved in. She brought several large plastic bins full of clothing, shoes, towels, and other housewares. She also brought a queen bed and frame. Xavier helped her move everything in while Max put Chloe down for a nap. When he came out of his daughter’s room, he found the third bedroom door open.

“What are you doing?” he asked his brother and Nicole. They stood in the middle of the room. Max’s twin bed sat against the wall. The rest of the room was stacked with Nicole’s storage bins and boxes.

“We put the queen in your room,” Xavier said, huffing. He sat down on the twin bed and wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Who said we were sleeping in the same bed?” Max crossed his arms.

“Oh, come on, Max,” Nicole said. “It’ll be confusing for Chloe if we’re sleeping in different rooms.”

Max suddenly wished he could speak Spanish, if only so he could mutter something under his breath the way that Savannah did when she was frustrated. “Look,” he said. “This is going to be an adjustment period for everyone. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves—“

“My baby!” Nicole exclaimed. Max turned. Chloe stood in the hall behind him, her thumb in her mouth. Her hair stuck up in different directions.

“How did you get out of your crib?” he asked, eyes wide.

Xavier snorted. “I guess you now have a use for that twin bed.” He slipped past them and pulled on his jacket. “I’ll leave you love birds to it.”

“Thank you, for everything, Eggs,” Nicole said.

Xavier gave her a nod, then left.

Max scooped Chloe up and cuddled her in his arms. She watched Nicole, her eyes curious but wary.

“Can you say hi to Mommy?” Nicole asked, holding out her arms.

Chloe buried her face in Max’s chest.

“She needs a nap,” he said, turning and heading back toward her room.

Nicole followed him. “Let me put her down, then,” she said.

“Do you even know how she likes to be tucked in?” he asked, whirling on her.

She gaped back at him, eyes wide. “Not yet,” she said quietly.

Sighing, Max passed Chloe to her. The little girl squirmed, slipping from her grip. Nicole’s eyebrows shot up. She tightened her arms, and Chloe whined.

“She’s not a grocery bag,” Max said. He repositioned Nicole’s arms. “Support her butt. Yeah, like that. Let her head rest on your shoulder. Good.” He moved aside so that Nicole could carry Chloe into her bedroom. Following her, he eyed the crib. The railing was still up. “Looks like we’ve got a climber.”

Nicole hesitated next to the crib. “Should we just put her in the twin?”

Max grimaced. If Chloe started sleeping in the twin, he would have nowhere to escape Nicole. He supposed he could just sleep on the couch, but the living room didn’t exactly have a door that locked her out. “Let’s just see how she does in the crib this afternoon.” He showed her how to slide down the railing and helped her tuck their daughter in. As Nicole leaned down and kissed Chloe’s forehead, Max’s heart flip-flopped.

If Nicole was truly serious, Chloe would have a complete family. He could go to school and get a good job, and everything would be okay. With two good jobs, they might even be able to move into a better neighborhood. As far as he knew, nurses made decent money.

Later that night, Max hesitated outside of his bedroom door. Ever since he had moved in, his room had been his own sacred space. With Nicole waiting on the other side, though, he had no idea what to expect. He ached to have the relationship he had once thought they had—something sweet and full of adoration for each other. It had been over two years since he had considered her his girlfriend, though. Nothing was the same anymore.

All he needed was a tee shirt and some sweats, he told himself. He could sleep in the spare room on the twin bed. Even if Chloe climbed out of her crib, she could sleep with him. It wasn’t as if he had never shared his bed with his daughter before. She was still small enough.

Steeling himself, he pushed his bedroom door open and slipped inside.

Nicole lay on the queen bed in just a tee shirt—one of
his
shirts. She smiled as he took in her long legs, the way her blonde hair fell over her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled. Max swallowed hard.

“What are you doing?” He closed the door behind him, ears perked for any sign of Chloe climbing out of her crib.

“Getting ready for bed,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. A smile danced on her lips. “What are
you
doing?”

“I’m wondering why you’re half dressed and wearing one of my shirts.” He crossed his arms.

She shrugged again. “I forgot my pajamas.”

Max ran a hand through his hair. “Listen, Nicole, I appreciate you putting in the effort and helping me with Chloe. I don’t know if I’m ready for anything more, though.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. She slid out of the bed, the tee shirt hitching up around her waist, exposing a silky purple thong. She padded toward him, her breasts bouncing as she moved. Her nipples poked against the cotton fabric of the shirt.

Max swallowed hard. “Nikki,” he said, but she put her hands on his shoulders and pressed her lips to his. Her breasts pressed against his chest, her nipples grazing his skin through the fabric. He gasped. Her hands moved down to his waistband, fingers dipping underneath the denim and brushing his skin. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and thrusted him up against the door. His hands went to her shoulders, pulling her closer. His brain shut off and, for a moment, he was back in high school, making out with her in his old bedroom. The seconds ticked by as he forgot about his worries. Nicole’s fingers unzipped his pants, reached into his boxers, and wrapped around his penis. Blood pumped through his body and he hardened immediately.

His hands went to her breasts, squeezing, cell memory taking over. She pulled him from the door and led him to the bed, shedding his tee shirt as she walked. His eyes moved down to her ass, perfectly accented by the thong. She turned and climbed back onto the bed. Her breasts hung above her flat belly, a ring through her navel. She looked like she had never given birth.

Dipping her fingers into her panties, she locked her blue eyes onto his. Heat shot through him, and he stepped toward the bed involuntarily.

“Come here, Max,” she whispered, her eyes still on his.

He stopped just beside her. He shook his head. “Nicole, we really shouldn’t do this.”

She reached into his pants again, cupping his testicles. “Come here,” she breathed.

Every last shred of logic flew from his brain as her fingernails grazed the sensitive skin. Shedding clothing, he joined her in bed.

After, he lay on his back in the dark, her head resting on his shoulder. She snored softly next to him, an arm slung over his stomach. His thoughts churned, his mind and body wide awake. Regret blistered through him. He shouldn’t have made it so easy for her. He shouldn’t have let his libido get the best of him. Then again, with Nicole, he had never had much resistance.

Still, anxiety tugged at him, his mind insisting that he had made a mistake. Sooner or later, Nicole would get tired of playing house. She would break Chloe’s heart, and his, too.

* * * * *

“I can’t believe you let her ratchet ass move in with you,” Riley said, holding a latte in one hand. She held Chloe’s hand in her free hand. They strolled through the mall toward what Max thought of as the plaza of jewelry stores. The early Friday morning crowd was thin.

Max shot her a glare over Chloe’s head as they neared the store where he had bought the necklace for Savannah. Holiday music floated through the speakers, despite the holiday being over. “Please don’t talk about her like that,” he said to Riley. “Not right now, anyway.”

“Really?” Riley stopped, dropping Chloe’s hand. She put her hand on her hip. “Are you serious right now?”

Max reached for his daughter’s hand, scowling at Riley once again. “You know, the more time I spend with you, the less I like you.”

“Shut up, Maxi Pad.” Riley resumed walking, glancing back at Max over her shoulder. “You know I’m right. Are you sleeping with her? I bet you are. You’re just as gross as she is now.”

Sighing, Max approached the jewelry counter. “It’s none of your business.” He waved to the woman working behind the glass. “I’d like to return something.”

“Ew,” Riley said. “Are you guys back together?”

Twisting his lips to the side, Max thought about his answer carefully. He and Nicole slept in the same bed. They kissed each other hello and goodnight. She had tried making dinner a couple of times in the last two weeks, and he had ordered pizza both times. “I guess we are,” he said. He pulled the box containing the necklace out of his pocket and slid it across the counter to the sales associate.

The woman held her hand out. “Do you have a receipt?”

Digging in his pockets, Max retrieved the crumpled piece of paper. He gave it to the woman.

Riley hung her head in exaggeration. Her arms slumped and her latte grazed the floor. “Seriously?” she mumbled. “Are you messing with me right now?”

“No, Riles, I’m not. Let it go already, okay?” Max scooped Chloe into his arms. Her head lolled against his chest. He stifled a yawn. Fridays were his only days off from school, but he still worked every night. Usually he got home around six in the evening, then Nicole went to class. If he got home later, Riley stopped by to cover for him so she could leave.

“You’re really, seriously, for real back with Nicole?” Her voice echoed through the mall. A pair of elderly women paused in their circuit and stared. “What are you looking at?” Riley snapped.

The jewelry sales associate stapled his return receipt to his original and handed it to him with a plastic merchandise credit card. “Have a nice day,” she said, tossing a glare at Riley.

Max led Riley out of the store. “Chloe needs her mother,” he said. He nodded toward the food court. “Wanna grab something to eat?”

“How about you be real with me for a minute?” Riley said. She tossed her finished latte into a garbage can and turned to face him. “How do you sleep at night?”

Rolling his eyes, Max opened his mouth to tell her to shut up. His phone vibrated in his pocket, though. He fished it out and brought it to his ear. “Hey, Nikki,” he said.

She sobbed into his ear. “Max,” she sniffled.

Flicking a nervous glance at Riley, he sat down on a nearby bench. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how to tell you,” she blubbered, all of her words running together. He could hardly understand her.