Page 93 of The Manny

Gus glanced at me. “Fine. She’s in Hawaii until Monday.”

“Oh.” I wondered if he had a nanny helping out, or if he was taking care of Sammy all by himself. I believed he loved his child, but he’d never been very hands-on. “Are you alone with Sammy until then?”

He flicked his glance to me. “Yes. Why? Want to come over?”

I stiffened. “No. I… I was just wondering if you had help.”

“Wehada girl.” He scowled. “She quit.”

“Seriously? Was she from VIP?”

“No.” He avoided my gaze. “We don’t use your company anymore.”

From the resentment in his voice, I had a feeling that wasn’t by choice. Maybe Bernice had fired him as a client. I hoped so. I hated to think of any of my co-workers having to put up with Grabby Hands Gus.

“How do you know Aiden?” Gus asked gruffly.

I gestured toward Mia. “Mia and I met Percy and Aiden at the duck pond.”

He chuffed. “You sure love that smelly pond. You were always taking Sammy to that park too.”

My face warmed. “It’s not smelly. It’s good for kids to see wildlife and get outside in the fresh air.”

“If you say so.”

I faced him, and lowered my voice so Mia and Percy couldn’t hear me. “Why did you stay behind with me?”

He looked surprised at the direct question, but then he laughed. “You always were disarmingly blunt, Tommy Boy.” He pursed his lips. “I was wondering if maybe you’d missed me. I was hoping you’d hint you wanted to see me once Aiden wasn’t hovering. Sheila’s out of town, like I said. If you want to come over, we’d have the whole house to ourselves.”

Scowling, I said, “If I wasn’t interested before, what makes you think I would be now?”

He shrugged. “Well, you don’t work for me anymore. You always said it was wrong to fool around because I was your boss.”

I grunted. “No, I said I didn’t cheat with married men.”

“Giving head isn’t really cheating. Jesus, you’re such a prude.”

“I’m not a prude,” I sputtered, glancing uneasily at the kids. Luckily, Percy and Mia were distracted, giggling and tickling Sammy in the stroller.

Gus leaned closer. “I’ll leave a key under the mat in case you change your mind.”

“I’m not going to do that.” I frowned. “What is wrong with you?”

He smirked. “Nothing is wrong with me. You’re the weird one. I’ve fooled around with almost every manny or nanny we’ve ever hired. You and that frigid chick who just quit are the only two who had a problem with it.”

Disgusted, I shook my head and stepped away from him. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You know, I’m happy to suck you off too. I’m not selfish.”

Gritting my teeth, I had to restrain myself from losing my temper. “Let me say this for the last time; I’mnotinterested. Not now. Not ever. I will never have S.E.X with you, Gus.”

“Uncle Jack, guess what? I get to have a snow cone today,” Mia announced, looking past me. “I’m having blue just like Percy.”

I went rigid as Jack appeared at my elbow. Had he heard my conversation with Gus? My face was hot as I glanced over, but his expression was inscrutable. “Hey,” I said. “I… I didn’t expect to see you again today. Thought you were too busy.”

He met my gaze and there was a flicker of something in the green depths I couldn’t quite place. Anger? Jealousy? Boredom? “I decided to make time… for Mia.”

That’s very specific.

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