“Oh, the audacity.” Iris feigns offence from where she’s getting her measurements taken by Alexia.
Now seems like as good a time as any to mention this. “Speaking of my employment ‘situation’, I may have applied for a kindergarten teaching job…in Cowersville.”
That earns me a glare from my sister. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“Slipped my mind…?” I wince.
I’m so full of bullshit. The truth is, I’ve been conflicted about this job. On one hand, I really want to move forward with my career. On the other hand, I don’t want to leave the life I’ve built here in Crescent Harbor. On the third hand, after my late night junk food session with Eli, I don’t even know what I want anymore. Last night, I spent time with the silly, funny playful side of him and now my crush on the man has gone through the stratosphere. He’s all I’ve been thinking about all day.
Iris looks at me interestedly. “When will you know if you got the position? Can you tell us that, at least?”
I shrug a shoulder. “No idea…I’m trying not to think about it too much,” I say sheepishly. “I don’t want to jinx it.
“Ha. You’re our fairytale girl, remember? How could you be anything but optimistic?” Penny pokes at me.
She’s not wrong. But, I’ve found that sometimes looking at the bright side of things is a whole lot easier when you’re not in the hot seat.
“I’m optimistically realistic,” I chirp, wondering if that’s a thing. It could be. Maybe that’s why I still catch myself daydreaming about a man I don’t have a shot with.
I roam around the shop, stopping to show Luke each of my favorite bridal gowns. I’m sure babies can hardly see, but I enlist Luke as my personal stylist for the day, daydreaming about the type of gown I’ll wear at my own wedding.
I sigh, nuzzling the baby’s chubby cheeks. I bet Eli looked absolutely dashing when he got married. My heart can’t help but squeeze for him and the life he didn’t get to live. But maybe he’d be happy starting over…starting fresh with someone like…
No!
I shake my head. What am I thinking? I have to cut it out, right now, and be realistic for once. Me and Eli? We have no chance of getting together. No happily ever after for us. I’m not saying we can’t be happy...it just won’t be together.
As much as I want him, the cards are stacked against us.
The reasons are endless. He’s my boss. I’m his daughter’s nanny. Eli is moody as hell. On a day to day basis, I’m never sure which version of him I’ll get. Plus, I’m probably moving away for a new job. And besides, my sister is married to his brother. I glance around the shop at my friends. Heck, each one of these women here is tied to one of the Kingston men.
How weird is that? What is in this Crescent Harbor water? Maybe I do need to move away.
“So…” my sister starts, narrowing her eyes on me. “If you’re job hunting, I’m guessing things are still rough, working for the cranky ex-convict?”
The other ladies butt in before I can come up with an answer, firing questions off left and right.
“Is he really as mean as he looks?”
“He’s our brother-in-law, and we haven’t even seen him for family dinner.”
“Is he like a recluse or something?”
“What’s that tattoo on his bicep?”
“Yeah,” Lexi chimes in again. “Why don’t you fill us in? Why does the man act like someone pissed in his chicken soup?”
“Lexi!”
“What?” She bats her eyelashes at me. “I just don’t like that he’s been mean to you, Jess. And from what Cannon tells me, he’s still being really difficult about the family business stuff, too. If you ask me, someone with a criminal record like his shouldn’t be so picky about taking a job offer.”
I let out a big breath, hating the way the ladies are all looking at me. Even more, I loathe the way they’re talking about Eli. They don’t know him at all. If they did, they’d like him. He’s just a little rough around the edges, that’s all.
I squeeze onto the chaise next to Penny. “Look—Eli is my boss. And really, he’s not so bad. He’s been dealt a crappy hand, and he’s making the best of it. His daughter is his top priority, so anything beyond that just doesn’t interest him right now,” I say, all in one breath. Wanting to put a quick end to the conversation, I take a whiff of Luke’s diaper. The hot stench nearly gives me a sunburn. “Looks like somebody needs a diaper change,” I croak. When Penny goes to move, I grab the diaper bag. “You, rest. I’ve got it.”
I take the baby and head off to get him changed. The girls continue their conversation as I walk away.
“The guy is a massive jerk but I’m sure he’d rock my little sister’s world. Hot dads are the best. Wicked hot in bed.”
“Tell me about it. Did I tell you about what Walker did the other night after he got the babies to sleep?”
“Well, damn! Jude is gonna have to get me knocked up because I feel like I’m missing out.”
I leave the girls to gossip and giggle about their sex lives. Me and Eli are quickly forgotten.
I try to forget him, too, but it’s a losing battle. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
The man is my boss, for crying out loud. My devastatingly, unnervingly handsome boss.
But, he is also damaged. Jaded. Broken.
When he looks out at the world around us, he sees something entirely different than I do. He sees betrayal. He sees darkness. He doesn’t see the internal goodness that resides in all of us. He doesn’t see bright hope and new opportunities at the beginning of a fresh week.
Eli Kingston is my opposite in almost every
