The Nanny

Chapter 6

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, slapping my hand out in the direction of my phone. The loud beeping stopped after a moment of fumbling and I flopped over onto my side to check my notifications. Hm, 2 new texts?

Unknown 9:32 am: Hey this is Max! It was really nice to meet you last night. Let me know what day would work for you to go out. :)

Emily 10:02 am: Hey there! It was nice to meet you too :) How about Friday?

I smile, flattered that he had already texted me. I quickly skim through the rest of my notifications but finding nothing urgent decide to put them off until later. My muscles protest as I get out of bed and pull on an oversized navy sweatshirt and some soft light blue jeans before shuffling out into the kitchen.

"Ugh." Marie scoffs as she slips past me to grab an apple.

"Good morning Marie." I say politely, starting a pot of coffee and turning to find a cereal bowl.

"It amazes me how little effort you put into your appearance." She says tightly. I take in her tight blue pantsuit and diamond necklace and can't help but to feel thankful for my jeans.

"I just woke up. What brings you here this morning?" I feel my face grow warm in annoyance with her and decide to ignore her comment. She's never here in the mornings, especially not on a Saturday. She's usually off doing something ridiculous with her friends like getting matching manicures with their poodles.

"I stopped by to see Lia but she's not here." I choke slightly on my coffee as what she said registers in my brain. To see Lia?!

"She slept at a friend's house last night, I'm picking her up at eleven." I say calmly, my irritation rising even more.

"Well I'll go and get her instead. I decided if I'm going to be her mother I might as well get to know her. We're going to the art museum and then going to have lunch." Marie says, almost proudly as if she's a saint for taking an interest in the child her fiance is the guardian of.

"Oh well that's very kind of you but there's no need to do that today." Declan says, walking into the kitchen as well. "Emily can get her and they can do whatever she has planned for the two of them."

Marie wrinkles her nose at this and I grit my teeth as I prepare for the whine. "No, I want to see her! I'm going to go get her and that's final!" She complains, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. She really is like a large child.

"Alright, I'll text you the address she's at." I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket and quickly sending it.

Marie's phone pings and she smiles slyly. Declan sighs, looking slightly defeated. "Well have a nice time. Please let me or Emily know if anything happens." He says, his voice acidic.

"Will do dear." She smiles wider and slides up to him, kissing his cheek. "Bye now!" She waves and walks out the door. Immediately my suppressed eye roll breaks free, and unable to help myself I let my irritation show on my face.

Declan sighs again and begins to pour himself a cup, and I can't help but to feel curious. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" He turns and leans against the counter, sipping his coffee. I feel my nerves rise up and quickly try to push them down.

"Why didn't you want her to spend the day with Lia?" I ask quickly, watching his face carefully for any reaction. He takes another sip of his coffee before putting it down and crossing his arms.

"Well I don't see how that's any of your business." He says evenly.

I feel my irritation rising even more at his evasiveness. "Okay, how about something that is my business then. What the hell was last night?"

He stills at that and watches me for a moment. "What do you mean?" He asks, and I raise one eyebrow, mouth pursed shut. After a few moments he sighs, "Look, let's not make it a big deal okay? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You're engaged, I'm not a homewrecker. I'm your nanny, that's it." I say, more venom than I expected lacing my tone. "I'm going out." I turn and grab my bag off of the hook by the door, slip on my Vans, and head out the door.

____________

Stupid Declan. I kick a rock and watch it bounce into the road. What's his game? What does he think he's doing? I groan and grab my phone, deciding to shoot a text to my best friend Phoebe. She's been gone since graduation doing an internship on the East Coast, and our communication had really been slipping since then.

Emily 10:23 am: Hey girl, I miss you! How is everything? Stuff has gotten weird here, I'd love to Facetime and catch up soon!

I slip my phone back into my bag and stop outside a cafe I haven't seen before. My stomach growls in encouragement and I decide to go inside.

I order some coffee and breakfast at the counter and slide into an empty two person booth, putting my number on the end of the table. I check my phone to see a new text.

Phoebe 10:34 am: Hey! Everything is crazy here, sorry I haven't been keeping in touch! Yes let's Facetime soon, just let me know when you're free! Hope you're doing okay.

Emily 10:38 am: I'm alright, I'll tell ya what's going on when we talk :) Tomorrow okay?

"Here you go." I look up to see one of the servers placing my food and coffee down for me and grabbing the number.

"Thanks!" I shoot her a smile and begin digging into the breakfast sandwich. Oh my god, this is SO good. Is it possible to be attracted to food? Because I'm in love with this sandwich. I close my eyes and savor the delicious taste.

"You really like food huh?" A deep voice says. My eyes shoot up to see Max sliding into the booth across from me, a cup of coffee in his hand.

My face flushes and I can't help but feel like I've been caught. "This is just really good." I quickly swallow and take a few sips of my coffee. "What are you doing here?"

He leans back against the booth and puts his arms behind his head, and I can't help but notice how they flex. "Just grabbing some breakfast before I head in for work."

"Work? It's not even eleven!"

"We do serve food too you know. Someone has to be there to make all of the mimosas." He smirks at me and my cheeks redden. It's like he knows I love mimosas.

"Oh I see, guess I didn't think about that." I shrug and take another bite of the sandwich, stifling any pleasure sounds from how good it tastes.

"It's alright. I don't usually work weekends but our opener called in this morning so it's up to me now." He sighs and takes another sip of his coffee. "But that means I am already out and about today, so if you wanted to go grab dinner tonight I would be free for that." He smiles at me and I can't help but smile back.

"Tonight? That should work for me. Just text me when you're off." I take another sip of my coffee and can't help but feel a pang of guilt. Declan is engaged, there's nothing wrong with me grabbing dinner with Max.

"Great! I gotta get going, but I'll see you tonight." Max smiles at me and slides out of the booth wrapping me in a hug.

I close my eyes and enjoy how absolutely good he smells. He straightens up and I shoot him my best smile. "See you tonight."

I watch him walk out and give him a small wave. He's so nice. I turn back to my sandwich and continue chowing down, trying to ignore the pangs of guilt that just won't go away.