Page 17 of Crossed Up

“Lyla, can I talk to you again for a sec before I go?”

The butterflies turn to ash and sit heavy as a stone in my gut at the question, but I nod anyway and follow him back to the kitchen.

“I just wanted to ask for your bank information so I can send over your pay for the last two weeks,” he says with a kind smile.

My heart stops. I feel my eyes grow impossibly wide with panic as I stare at him and scramble for anything that sounds even semi-reasonable. After all, what kind of twenty-two-year-old woman doesn’t have a freaking bank account?

Why did I not prepare for this exact question?

“I, um…” Absolutely no good excuses are coming to me, so I reluctantly tell the truth. “I actually don’t have one. My last job paid me in cash.”

He blinks owlishly at me. “Oh, right. Okay, well, do you need help setting one up? Honestly, I could have my agent do it for you if you don’t want to take Crew to the bank. I’d just need your social sec?—”

“No!” Shit, shit, shit. How do I get out of this? I probably look insane. “I just mean… I don’t really trust banks,” I mutter with a grimace.

The curiosity burning in his arctic gaze is impossible to miss, but he takes it in stride rather than calling me out on my obvious lie. “I’ll swing by my bank on the way back and grab cash then if you don’t mind waiting. No need to open an account if you don’t want to.”

I can’t disguise the gust of air that escapes me as anything other than relief. “That’s perfect. Thanks, Aidan.”

His returning smile is sad and doesn’t reach his eyes when he nods and goes to give his son a final hug goodbye. Aidan Black is a dangerous man, just not in the way I’m used to. He sees everything, and for a girl who’s desperate to hide, that’s almost scarier than anything I’ve faced before.

This new life in Charleston was supposed to be a fresh start for me to heal, and until now, it has been, but I’m starting to wonder if this security I feel is too good to be true.

If Aidan goes digging into my past or I get tangled up in his professional or social life, I have no doubt Sebastian will find me. I honestly don’t know how he hasn’t already. I know he’s alive from the few times I’ve seen him on TV with his dad or various actresses.

Staying here might put me in more danger than being alone, but the thought of being just another nanny in a long line to leave Crew makes me feel sick. I can shut down any budding feelings I might have for his dad and focus solely on my job. Keeping my head down until the season is over and they don’t need me anymore will be best for all of us.

Why does the thought of them not needing me hurt so much?

“Ly, can we watch Tinker Bell now?” Crew is bouncing on his toes in front of the massive fort we built over the couch, his face covered in the crusty remnants of the pasta he ate for dinner.

Giving him a big, goofy grin, I nod and point a finger. “But first, messy little raptor, you need a bath. Do you want to go start the tub and put in your favorite bubbles?”

He shrieks in excitement and sprints to the first-floor full bath to do as I asked, making me laugh. Crew is such a sweet kid, and the more time I spend with him, the more confused I get about why they have such a hard time keeping a nanny.

I know Wren said it had something to do with them hitting on Aidan, but would someone really use an innocent child like that just to get close to the parent?

It’s obvious he has some of the same attachment issues I had as a child, but his father, unlike mine, seems to be incredibly present and active in his son’s life. I quickly make my way into the bathroom to distract myself from thoughts of my dad, knowing if I continue down this path, it will quickly lead to tears or, worse, a panic attack.

Bath time with Aidan’s little clone ends with me and the floor looking like we got baths, too, and Crew’s infectious giggles successfully distract me from spiraling. I wrap him up in his dinosaur towel and laugh at the crown of horns across the hood before helping him dress in his, you guessed it, dinosaur pajamas.

“Are dinosaurs your favorite animal?”

He nods frantically, declaring, “Raptors are my most favorite!”

“I bet that’s because of your daddy’s baseball team, huh?”

“Yes!” he yells. “Daddy is the catcher, so he uses a mitt to catch the balls Uncle Cope throws at him!”

I nod like I understand, praying he doesn’t ask me any questions about how baseball works. The truth is, I know next to nothing about the sport despite my near-constant education over the last year.

Wren, my best friend, manages the Raptor’s PR department and frequently talks baseball stats, but I swear it’s like it’s in one ear and out the other; I can’t retain the information to save my life. Though maybe that will change working for a player since Crew and I will be attending some of the home games and further away games.

The promise of Disney and ice cream is enough to derail the conversation and remind Crew why he had to take a bath in the first place, so we rush back out to the living room and dive into the fort, creating the perfect little nest bed.

I promised him we could sleep out here tonight since he seemed so panicked about Aidan leaving all day. I don’t want to encourage his attachment issues, but with a kid this young, it’s important to enforce healthy boundaries and give a little when big changes happen. Hence, the fort sleepover.

I set the alarm and triple-check that all the doors and windows are locked before I truly allow myself to get comfortable, a habit I’ve developed since leaving Sebastian. The next several hours are spent watching fairies chase a crazy beast while Crew plays with my hair, and despite my best efforts to stay awake, I feel my eyes closing as sleep quickly overtakes me.

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