Page 8 of Bad Boy for Hire
“I’ve managed to keep my distance, but in a way that feels like a betrayal. After my mom died, they were all I had. They rallied around me when my own family didn’t.”
Her mother had been in a car accident five years ago and never woke up. May had been twenty-eight at the time and caught in the purgatory of hospital visits and false hope.
Her father, who had been emotionally absent for most of her life, had slipped further and further away after her mom passed. He moved out of state, started over with a new girlfriend, and left every memory of her mother behind—including May. As for the rest of her family? They’d scattered too, as if the coma and everything that’d followed had somehow been May’s fault.
“May’s family is distant,” Lou said judiciously, knowing the gory details and, thankfully, not sharing any of them.
“That’s a nice way to say it.” May flicked her gaze from Lou to Elliott. “I’ve practically been disowned.”
“Which is why you are invited to all of mine and Ant’s holiday celebrations this year,” Lou said.
Sometimes May wished she hadn’t shared the details with Lou. Not because she didn’t want her to know. It would be unfair to crash everyone else’s intimate family celebrations. And the only reason she’d been invited was because she didn’t have a family of her own to celebrate with. The entire scenario stank of pity.
“You can come over and eat dinner with Brady and me any Sunday you like. Gramps is usually there,” Elli offered. Sweetly.
“Thank you.” May didn’t have the heart to tell her no.
“In the meantime, what are you going to do about that?” Lou pointed at the invitation.
May crammed the card stock into the envelope, folded it in half, and shoved it into the pocket of her dress. “Right now, I’m going to find a bathroom and a snack.”
“I’ll come with you.” Lou started to stand.
“I need a moment, Lou.” May softened her comment with a smile. She was accustomed to handling things on her own. Processing her feelings by herself. “Alone” wasn’t something she’d mastered, but like it or not, she was good at it. She put on a good show at girls’ night out, and when it was over, she dropped the smile and casual facade.
The habit had become a double-edged sword. She’d protected herself but felt isolated sometimes. She climbed the stone steps to the house, thankfully not calling attention to herself. She didn’t want an escort in the form of Ant or any other well-meaning man at this party.
Well, maybe one, she reconsidered.
She spotted Xavier at the bar, leaning in to poke Brady in the chest. Their laughter bounced off the air, causing May’s stomach to flutter. Xavier was gorgeous, without a doubt. But he also felt like home to her. He exuded that warm, included feeling that had been prevalent in the years before her mother’s accident.
Inside the house, she stepped through the kitchen and around the catering staff, finding the first-floor bathroom occupied. Rather than wait, she climbed the wooden staircase in search of another bathroom, her hand sliding along the thick, smooth banister on her way up.
Chapter Four
Out of the corner of his eye, Xavier spotted May entering his house via the back patio door. He’d been trying to make his way to where she’d been with Lisa and Lou all evening but had been waylaid by his buddies more than once.
After wrangling Warner and Pearce into a conversation with Brady—which had taken longer than expected—Xavier ducked out, using the excuse of grabbing a refill. Full beer in hand, he walked in through the kitchen…only to be pulled aside by the caterer.
“Would you like us to make more fritters, Mr. Dane?”
“Xavier,” he corrected, one eye on the bathroom door. “And yeah, however many of those you want to make is fine by me.”
“Excellent. And would you…”
“Do what you think is best.” He placed a hand on her arm before excusing himself. The first-floor bathroom door swung open, but it was Elliott who exited, not May. “Hey, Xav.”
“Hi. I thought I saw May come in here.”
Elli smirked but was too polite to grill him about it.
“I followed, but I didn’t see her. She told Lou not to come with her but didn’t say anything about me. Lisa told me to open the invitation,” Elli continued, clearly attempting to defend herself. “I was only following orders. By the way, I love your new beer. I’m going to find Brady and make out for a while. Thanks for hosting.” She jumped to her tiptoes to hug him.
Overloaded with information, he chuckled as he caught her. Next thing he knew, she bounced away from him, a skip in her step.
“You are welcome,” he said to himself, hands in his back pockets as he looked around the room. His house was large, but it wasn’t so expansive he wouldn’t spot May’s colorful dress. Then he heard a creak upstairs and made the safe assumption that she’d wandered that way.
He climbed the steps two at a time and stopped on the landing when he spotted her. May was leaning, one shoulder against his bedroom’s doorframe. The sight of her that close to his bed sent his mind spiraling for the gutter…until he heard a sniffle. She hadn’t noticed him yet, and he figured she would appreciate privacy. But everything within him recoiled from that idea. He couldn’t leave her crying outside his bedroom door, no matter how much he didn’t want to embarrass her.
