The fact that she was dressed to the nines, as usual, didn’t help. She wore a cream blouse with a deep V-cut neck that dipped to the waistband of her tailored cream pants. A slim red belt accented the otherwise monochromatic outfit with a matching pair of red shoes that made her six inches taller than she was. I couldn’t tell if Alexis’s face was stuck in a sour expression or if it was just the angle of the Botox. Either way, her reaction to Miss Lucas was what I expected.
“Hello,” Xari smiled big and bright. She even extended a hand to Alexis for a handshake. When she wasn’t met with the same polite enthusiasm, I saw a switch flip and a shield of barbed wire drop down over her usually bubbly disposition. “Okay, so clearly manners are optional today.”
“This is my house. Why do I need manners? Especially for a stranger roaming around like she owns the place.”
Xari clenched her teeth and paused to inhale slowly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Xari Lucas. I’m Frankie’s nanny.”
“The hell you are, little girl.” She turned to me and said, “She needs to leave and never return.”
“Woah. Wait a minute. I hired her based on her qualifications and how much Frankie likes her. It was a mutual decision between us.”
“Why wasn’t I involved?” Alexis asked me.
“Because Miss Lucas won’t be living with you. I have Frankie most of the time. When she’s with you, Miss Lucas won’t be anywhere near you. I planned to introduce you to her when it was your weekend to get Frankie. I make the hiring decisions in this household though, Alexis.”
“If she’s going to be around Francesca then I needed to approve her.” I looked at Frankie, scrambling eggs, and focusing on the pan with much more intent than she needed. She was withdrawing. I shut my mouth and tried not to explode the way I wanted to.
“You know what, Alexis? You’re welcome to stick around today and get to know Miss Lucas. That way you can pick Frankie up from school and bring her home since you refuse to sign the papers.”
“Okay, you’re down to three minutes, Frank. Let’s go.” Xari moved around the kitchen and put the eggs away.
“I’ll eat breakfast in the car.” Frankie grabbed a paper plate, a fork, and tossed some fruit beside the scrambled eggs. Xari glanced at me with worry on her face.
“Am I going to pick her up from school today?” She asked.
“No. You won’t. I’ll pick up my daughter from school. Go get in the truck, Francesca.” Alexis rolled her eyes and brushed past Xari who seemed to have red waves of anger rolling off her.
“Have a good day, sweetheart,” I said with a groan.
“You think you can hire an expensive piece of pussy to be Frankie’s nanny so you can have your way with her while my daughter sleeps across the hall?” She scoffed. “I’ll never allow her to pick my baby up. I’ll never allow her to be around Frankie.”
“You think I hired Miss Lucas so I could fuck her?” My voice was a growl. Xari snapped her espresso eyes to mine, bewildered. “I can fuck whoever I want to. I don’t need to hire anyone to stick my dick in.”
“I don’t put anything past you, Evander,” she fired back.
“If you keep Frankie from Miss Lucas she won’t forgive you.”
“What? Because they’re best friends or something? Give me a fucking break. She doesn’t know Frankie. You can find someone else. Not her though.”
“What the hell did I do to you?” Xari asked. Her body went stiff beneath the fluid lines of her blouse and pants.
“Evander, tell your help to keep her mouth shut.”
“Help? You must have lost what little bit of mind you had left. Just because I’m Frankie’s nanny, doesn’t mean I get to be silenced. I’m trying so fucking hard not to slice you from head to toe with my tongue because I need this job and this money but if you ever talk about me like I’m invisible again, I promise I’ll either make you cry or make you want to kill me.”
Well shit. I didn’t have to say much in Xari’s defense at all. She already had Alexis foaming at the mouth, ready to bite her head off. I hid my smirk and turned to my ex-wife.
“Hurry up and drop Frankie off, Alexis.”
“I’m coming back here to talk about this little situation, Evander. Don’t think you’re off the hook. You or your little plaything.”
“I can assure you I’m not this man’s plaything. Even if we were fucking, he wouldn’t know what to do with me.” Xari tipped her freckle-sprinkled nose in the air and left the kitchen.
Alexis started in on me, nagging and bitching but I could barely hear her over the steady thumping of the organ in my chest. Adrenaline shot through my veins like liquid caffeine. I stared at Miss Lucas’ ass while she swayed down the hall. That little girl had no fucking idea who she was tempting. She had no idea what I would do to her.
Bonita Applebum, you gotta put me on.
Bonita. Bonita. Bonita.
“Do you hear me talking to you, Van?” Alexis’s voice split my thoughts in two. I blinked and focused on her. I had a mounting problem on my hands if I didn’t get her on board with Miss Lucas being the nanny.
“Take Frankie to school,”
I sighed, walking away from her. “Don’t come back here to discuss anything. We can talk over the phone. I have to get ready for work.” I ushered her out the front door while she fussed non-stop. Her voice was a cheese grater shredding my brain into thin ribbons.
Once the door closed and silence fell around my shoulders like a warm blanket,
