Page 29 of This Baby Business
“Is it that simple?” He didn’t think once you started the ball rolling in family court you could just stop the forward momentum. Frank had accused Levi of being a danger to Grace.
“I don’t know. That’s all Frank’s doing. God knows what he does late at night on that computer. He researches California custody law and whatnot. I’m sorry about all this trouble.”
Levi suspected as much. He’d been worried that Frank had spoken for both of them. Grace, who had been standing on Irene’s lap while staring up at the trees and some children playing nearby with their dog, finally noticed him. She squealed and held out her arms to him from across the table.
“She wants you, Levi.” Irene scooted Grace over to him across the table. “Isn’t that sweet.”
Carly was still staring at her phone, obviously a real pro at stalling in addition to lying. Either that, or maybe it would take forever to find a date that didn’t exist.
“I heard about how you two met. Frank and I met at work, a few years after he lost his first wife. Frank is a good man, really, once you get to know him. We’ll be here for a month. Plenty of time to get together.”
“Amonth?”Carly dropped her phone.
Levi coughed and hit his chest.
“Frank had some time off, and he decided we’d come here and spend a little quality time together. I’d like to drive up the coast, see San Francisco, and some of the B&Bs in the area. And of course, get to visit with our little Grace. Just to make sure you two are doing well. Maybe we can all have dinner sometime.”
A month. A month in a small town where he and Carly would have to keep up this pretense or risk looking like complete idiots. Right now, he wanted to wring his pretty little neighbor’s cute neck. She might have solved one problem but had given him another.
Grace, who was cuddled in his arms but still fidgeting, reached out to Carly and touched her face.
“She’s not sure which one of you she wants more,” Irene said. “This is adorable. Let me take a picture.”
She pulled a phone out of her purse. “I want a photo of the happy couple. Believe me, this will help Frank. I think if he sees you three so happy together, he’ll stop being so angry all the time.”
Levi doubted that very much, but if a simple photo would make a difference in fixing this mess so he could go on and live his life with his daughter in peace, he was all over it.
“And I also want my friends back home to see the real Carly Gilmore.” Irene backed up a few steps, presumably to get a panoramic shot. “Wait until they hear the authority on babies is going to raise my granddaughter. I still can’t believe it. Scoot in closer, you two. Show us how you love each other.”
He pulled Carly in tighter. “You have a lot of explaining to do,” Levi whispered near her earlobe then gave it a slight tug.
She sucked in a breath. “I know.”
CHAPTER13
Carly
Itook adetour on the way home, choosing not to follow Levi and Grace. I wasn’t ready to face Levi and explain. Not yet. Or ever.
Realistically, considering I lived next door and happened to be his nanny, the avoiding couldn’t last long. But for now, I would stay away from one Levi Lambert. He of the magic tongue and fingers. Because this wasembarrassing. And anyway, what I needed more than anything right now was ice cream. Or coffee from the Drip. No. Ice creamincoffee. With cookies. And also my two best friends so they could tell me that I hadn’t been crazy stupid to come up with this lie. Or, that even if I’d been crazy stupid, they would still love me. Especially when I wasn’t sure I could even love myself right now.
Did I go along with the lie for Levi or for RockYourBaby?
Both.
When Irene had noticed my ring and made a huge leap, I could only think of how that scenario played a hell of a lot better for me than being Levi’snanny.It made a difference, of course, that Irene had been such a fan. Otherwise, I would have probably corrected Irene.
I’d never done anything this crazy in my life, unless you counted taking off to New York City to study fashion design. And look how well that had worked out.
As I drove down Main Street, I tried to wrap my mind around the past two hours. How could I have possibly known that the Lanes would spend a month in Fortune? Who did that? I didn’t see how I could be blamed when that seemed so random.
Anyway, Levi should simply be grateful that the emergency screening would be cancelled and he would no longer have that stress hanging over him. Of course, now he had a different kind of stress and worry. And, hello? So did I. If news somehow managed to get back to Daddy that I was engaged, fake or not, he’d probably break his other hip.
I hadn’t wanted Irene to know that I was the nanny, because how would that look for the owner of RockYourBaby? Besides, was itsucha crazy idea for me and Levi to be athing? We certainly connected on a physical level. Oh, how weconnected.And also, I hadhelpedhim! Irene had been so happy. She absolutely loved the idea of me being Grace’s stepmother. Another win-win.
Definitely the angle I was going to use with Levi.
I blamed this latest disaster on the past few months of being in constant sale mode, presenting the very best side of everything, whether it was one hundred percent true or not. Maybe I’d been a little desperate, too. I’d already seen how fast a viral post could change things. It wouldn’t surprise me if my popularity could drop as quickly as it had risen. Fame and fortune were fickle beasts, or so I’d heard.
