Playing the Player(19)

Once the kids were settled under a tree with food, and we sat on a bench nearby, I decided to make her laugh, hoping to relieve some of her embarrassment from the puppet show.

“Someday Gilly will have MPS,” I whispered, “then she won’t be making fun of it.”

She didn’t laugh or even crack a smile.

“Right?” I forced a laugh, but she stared at me like I was a giant dog turd.

God. If she couldn’t laugh at herself, or at least the kids, she’d never make it as a nanny. Besides, she should be used to Gilly’s special brand of insanity.

“Come on, Trina. You’ve gotta admit that whole puppet disaster was funny.”

She crossed her arms, shifting her chest up and out. I made myself look at her face, but then I got distracted by her eyelashes again, and those incredible eyes.

“Maybe if she’d made fun of you, you’d understand.” Trina sniffed her wrist again. What the hell?

I tugged at the shark tooth hanging from a cord around my neck. It was supposed to be my good luck charm, but it sure wasn’t working today.

“They did make fun of me,” I said. “Gilly called me a playboy. My Elmo self got sexually assaulted by a punk Miss Piggy.” I waited for her laugh, but it didn’t come.

She blinked at me, those long eyelashes fluttering.

“Anyway.” I tilted my head toward the kids, who squirted each other with the straws from their juice boxes. “What’s next after the library?”

And then an amazing thing happened. Trina actually smiled. Just a tiny bit. But still.

“You didn’t even open your binder, did you?”

I shrugged, returning her grin, hoping hers wouldn’t fade too fast. “Nah. But I will. Tonight. I promise I’ll read the whole thing.”

Her laugh surprised me. It was deep and…sort of sexy.

“You will not.” She looked different when she smiled. Almost like a whole other person. “You’ll go out with…whoever…tonight, and sleep all day tomorrow, and on Friday you’ll show up completely clueless about the plan.”

I put a hand on my heart. “That hurts, Clemons. I cannot wait to read that binder. It’s right next to my bed.”

She laughed again and kicked the ground with her sandal. That must be her nervous tell. I’d have to remember that.



The rest of the day didn’t completely suck. After we left the library, Trina dragged us on an architectural tour of the neighborhood, talking about mullioned windows and Tudor something or other.

The poor kids were bored out of their minds, so I spiced things up by creating my own history, telling the kids about the ghosts that haunted each of the houses. Gilly ate it up, screaming and running around, saying she could see the ghosts in the windows. Max stayed quiet, but he carried a rubber T. rex in each hand, just in case.

Eventually Trina gave up on her lecture, telling us we had no appreciation for the history of our city, blah, blah, blah.

It was a good thing Mrs. G. had hired me. If she hadn’t, this summer would be an epic fail for the kids.





Chapter Ten


Trina


Friday, June 7

My phone pinged with a text from Desi.

Are we on for movie 2nite?

Yep. Will call later.

Maybe a funny movie would clear my head of whatever disasters happened with Slade today.

When I staggered into kitchen, still yawning, Mom handed me a plate of toasted waffles.

I took the plate and sat down. “Five-star cuisine. I like it.” She grinned and handed me a cup of steaming java.

“You’re a mind-reader.” The coffee tasted bitter and the waffles were burned, but I kept that to myself because I loved her, and knew she was just as tired as me.

She sat down across from me, savoring her coffee like it was a gourmet latte.

“I figured you could use the extra caffeine jolt. Third day of nannying and all. How’s it going? How’s the other nanny?”

We’d hardly seen each other all week because of her crazy schedule at the hospital. I debated how much to tell her because, one, she would totally disapprove of the secret double salary, and two, hopefully Slade would be history after today.

“It’s going okay.” I swallowed a mouthful of partially frozen waffle. “The other nanny’s all right. Just not quite as dedicated as me.”

Mom smirked. “Not many people would be.”

“Was that a compliment or an insult?”

She laughed. “Maybe both. So what’s up? Did she like all the activities you planned for the week?”

I decided I could tell her part of the truth. “He hated all the activities. He would rather play hide-and-seek all day than actually teach the kids anything enriching.”

Mom leaned forward, way too interested. “He? The other nanny is a guy?”

I couldn’t let her get any ideas about Slade and me. She always lectured me about being my own person and following my dreams and all that. But whenever a big dance rolled around, she’d look sort of wistful when I didn’t go.

“Yeah, a totally useless guy who makes my job twice as hard as it should be.”

Mom tugged at her long braid. When I first cut off all my hair, she’d been so freaked. Then she’d told me how proud she was that I wasn’t using long hair as a shield, or giving in to patriarchal standards of beauty.