Ugh. No. I’m disgusting.
I pull out my phone.
Me: You have to take me out next weekend.
Dakota: Twist my arm, why don’t you. What’s going on?
Me: I can’t have a workaholic millionaire having more of a life than me.
Dakota: What’s Zaddy doing exactly?
Me: He’s having a pool party.
Dakota: And you weren’t invited?
Me: Not really…I mean, kind of? But I could tell he didn’t want me to come.
Dakota: Why do you say that?
Me: ’Cuz I’m the nanny and it was like a courtesy invite. I hate that I’m here right now. I look pathetic. Let’s dress up and go out next weekend. Make it look like I actually have a life.
Dakota: Your wish is my command.
Me: I need to find a guy to distract me from the Zaddy.
Dakota: I knew him working from home this week was going to be a recipe for disaster.
Me: You have no idea. I’ll tell you everything over drinks.
Dakota: I can’t wait. I’ll see what’s going on in town. Stay tuned.
A knock on my door has me sitting up in my bed with wide eyes. I glance down from the loft and see a mane of red hair standing outside my door.
“Oh, God,” I mumble nervously, lumbering my big ass down the giant ladder to see who’s knocking on my door. If I had to guess, the grown-ups want to get drunk, and they are hoping to pay someone sober to watch the children. I hate being a grown-up nanny. It suddenly feels very pathetic.
Begrudgingly, I open the door, and my lips part in shock at the person standing there. “Mercedes Lee Loveletter?” I glance down at the baby strapped to her chest, my brain not quite computing the combination of my favorite erotic romance novelist standing before me…with a baby.
Her lips part into a stunning smile. “Oh, my God, do you read my books?”
“I…I…” My voice gets caught in my throat. “I do. And I follow you on Instagram. So…yeah…I swear I’m not a stalker.”
“I love stalkers!” She laughs and takes a step inside. “Mind if I come in?”
“Sure.” I stand back and watch Mercedes walk around my tiny house, feeling like I must be in the middle of a fever dream because there’s no way the woman whose books I’ve been reading for the past six months is standing in my place of residence right now.
“Typical Max…can’t even make a tiny house look basic.” She walks down to the bathroom. “Oh, my God, even the bathroom is sexy!” She re-emerges and pats her baby’s back. “This is a sweet pad.”
“Yeah, it’s really nice,” I offer, my mouth feeling dry. “The bedroom is up that ladder.”
“Cool.” She nods thoughtfully. “What was your name?”
“Cozy,” I reply quickly.
“Like warm and cozy?” Mercedes asks.
I nod and smile like an idiot.
“Totally putting that adorable name in a book,” she deadpans.
“Will you really?” I respond breathily. My fangirl hysteria is raging at full force.
“Oh, yeah.” She nods thoughtfully again. “My real name is boring old Kate. Mercedes is my pen name just so I could feel fancy.”
“That’s neat.” Oh my God, Mercedes Lee Loveletter just told me her real name. I feel so fucking cool right now.
“Come up and have a drink with us.”
She makes her way out of my cottage, and I pause, shocked that Max is friends with an author. He seems too uptight to have a friend as cool as Mercedes Lee Loveletter.
“I don’t want to interrupt,” I offer weakly from the doorway as I glance up to see everyone staring down at us like we’re a couple of zoo animals.
“You’re not interrupting. You’re invited. Formally…by a New York Times Bestselling author. Are you really going to say no to having a drink with a bestselling author?”
I lick my lips thoughtfully. “No…but can I be real lame and ask you to sign my books first?”
“You have my freaking paperbacks in there? Oh, my God, yes. I’ll sign the shit out of them. Whip ’em out!”
Mercedes, I mean…Kate, signs my books, and we snap a quick selfie in my tiny house before she leads me up to the deck where the party is going on. Everly waves at me from the pool, making me feel welcome, but the look on Max’s face has me struggling to walk.
He looks…uncomfortable.
My eyes are locked on Cassandra as she sits with all the ladies and talks animatedly. They erupt into laughter, and from the way she’s gesticulating, I can guess she’s telling stories about the ropes course. Or maybe her near-drowning experience? Hell, a lot has happened in a week, so she’s probably not short on content.
She appears to be charming the fuck out of all of them the same way she’s managed to captivate me this week. It’s crazy to think that I went from loathing her whole life philosophy and debating firing her to feeling oddly protective over her with all those women. I hope they’re laughing with her and not at her.
Not that I think she’s laughable. I mean…showing up to that job interview in tie-dye was pretty comical, but as I’ve gotten to know Cassandra this past week, I can tell this “do less” life philosophy is a front for something. What, I do not know. But I have a strange feeling she’s done more with her life than work at Subway. Why she’s hiding it remains to be seen.
“Did you hear me, Max?” Dean asks, pulling my attention away from the ladies.
“What? No…sorry. What did you say?”
Dean laughs and hits me with a disbelieving look. “I said we’re pregnant.”
“Who’s pregnant?” I bark.
“Norah and I.”
“Are you serious?” My jaw drops, and I look around at the group of guys who all seem to be in the know already.
Dean chuckles and adjusts his dark-framed glasses. “It’s not really a thing you joke about, so yeah. I’m serious.”
“Holy shit, man, congratulations!” I pull Dean into a hug and slap him on the back. “That’s amazing. I didn’t see this coming so fast. You just got engaged!”
“I know.” Dean laughs again and takes a sip of his IPA. “It wasn’t exactly planned, but we’re both really happy about it.”
“As you should be.” I clink my glass with his and have flashbacks of Jessica having Everly. We were so happy back then. And in love. Or so I thought. I never saw what was coming.
I quickly shake that thought away. “Becoming a dad is the most incredible experience.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait…although I can because Norah really wants to get married before the baby comes.”
“I can understand that,” I reply knowingly. Jessica and I had a similar situation fresh out of college.
“Which is why I wanted to talk to you.” Dean looks at me with an odd expression. “Norah wants to get married before the baby is born, which means by this fall at the latest, and well…all the good venues are booked up already.”
“Okay…” I respond, still wondering how this involves me.
“We want something small with room for an outdoor tent…maybe a little scenic view…like a little creek or something.”