Cutie and the Beast: A Roommates to Lovers Single Dad Romance (Cipher Office Book 3)

by Smartypants Romance

  “I don’t know who you are,” a tall, dark-haired woman says to me, “but I sure hope you’re applying for the afternoon manager position.”

  My eyes widen. “Manager! I don’t think I’m qualified for that. I was just hoping to help out.”

  “Oh no,” the woman says and looks at Keely. “You may as well throw away the other résumés. I think we’ve found her.” She then turns back to me and puts out her hand. “I’m Dinah. I’m the director of the childcare center here and manage the mornings. Our afternoon manager left a few weeks ago to direct a different facility. We were considering hiring within the company, but after that display, I think we’re shifting things around a bit.”

  This is concerning to me. “No, no, no.” I hold up my hands and back up a step. “I don’t want to make anyone mad. Everyone here has seniority, and I’m sure they want the job too.”

  “That’s not the way it works,” Keely chimes in. “To avoid that kind of animosity, any manager is usually promoted from a different facility, unless we find someone from outside. We promote within the company, but not in-house. So, the job is yours if you want it.”

  My jaw drops. “Really?”

  Keely and Dinah look at each other and nod. “Really. Come on,” Keely says. “Let’s go back to my office and go over the logistics of it.”

  I nod, still stunned by this turn of event. I came in today to interview for a childcare worker position, and I’m walking out the new afternoon childcare manager.

  I may be out of my mother’s house sooner than I thought.

  Chapter Five

  ABEL

  Adulting sucks sometimes. For the most part, I don’t mind the responsibility that goes along with the freedom. But some days, I wish I didn’t have to be the decision-maker in the family. It would be nice if I could pass the buck to someone else every once in a while and relieve some of the pressure. But hey, at least I wasn’t late for school pick up again today. Small victories, right?

  “Hey Mabel,” I call to my daughter as she skips ahead of me on our trek to the gym post-school once again, the pom-pom on the top of her hat bouncing along with her. “Are you old enough to pull your own weight around here yet?”

  She stops in her tracks and turns around, narrowing her eyes at me like she doesn’t trust my intensions. Smart girl.

  “Does that mean I have to get a job?”

  “Yep.”

  She purses her lips and thinks for a second. “Do I get to make the rules?”

  I laugh. I should have known there wouldn’t be a yes or no answer from my daughter. Always a motive with that one. “Depends on what the rules are.”

  She begins ticking off her fingers. “No school ever again. No baths unless I want one. I get to kickbox every day.” I knew that one was coming, but she’s not done. “And we have to have ice cream for breakfast. No vegetable omelets.”

  I find myself considering her demands. They are small prices to pay for not dealing with my latest crisis…

  The mortgage.

  When May and I bought our small townhouse, we were in a different financial place. Providing for a family with two incomes is very different than doing it with only one. Now that I think about it, it was actually more like one and a half. May was pretty successful selling some high-end brand of makeup from home, but she didn’t put a whole lot of effort into the business side. She’s a beautiful woman and really knew how to contour, so of course people wanted to know her secret. She was stopped on the street so often I eventually convinced her to create her own YouTube channel, and she ended up with a few advertisers.

  It’s also how she was “discovered” by her current boyfriend-slash-manager-slash-homewrecker.

  Regardless, that additional income is how we qualified for the loan. Money was still tight, sure, but we could breathe and even put a little away in savings.

  Then May left, the gym burned down, the clientele I had built was dispersed all over town and it was the perfect combination of events to throw me into a downward financial spiral. I try not to think about it too much, but every time I transfer money out of my saving account to pay my mortgage, I’m reminded how little we have left.

  Something has to give. And soon.

  Unfortunately, I don’t think Mabel’s up to the challenge of figuring it out quite yet.

  “Sorry, Squirt.” I ruffle her hair as I catch up to her. “If you don’t go to school, I go to jail, so I guess the job isn’t yours quite yet.”

  She bats my hand away and murmurs, “Your loss,” before turning around and running the last few paces to the entrance.

  I grab the door to help her pull it open and receive a dirty look from Mabel in return. Apparently, chivalry means nothing to an eight-year-old girl who is determined to do it all on her own.

  “Hey Mabel,” I say before she runs off, “I need to talk to a few people. Let’s go to the daycare before we go find Joey, okay?”

  She throws her head back and huffs in disappointment but complies. I’m not sure when second graders became melodramatic, but my daughter has it down pat.

  “Is everything okay, Abel?” I look up to see Natalie, concern written all over her face. Not sure why she thinks anything is wrong, but with how much she stares my direction, I suppose it’s not unreasonable to assume she knows all my tells. That’s not necessarily a good thing, and probably something I need to explore at a later date, but right now she might actually be useful to my plight.

  “Hey Natalie, do you have a boyfriend?”

  She sucks in a breath, and before I even realize what a poor choice of words I used, she’s shaking her head vehemently. “No! I’m single and ready to mingle. Why? Do you have a girlfriend?”

  I know I’m about to disappoint her, but I ignore the question just in case. “I’m actually wondering if you know any single men who might need a roommate. I’ve got an empty bedroom, and I thought it might help me off-set my mortgage.”

  “Oh.” Just as I suspect, she deflates right before my eyes. “I thought… never mind,” she says with a shake of her head.

  Sorry, Natalie, I think to myself. I’m sure you’re lovely, but no.

  “Anyway,” she continues, looking back up at me, total indifference suddenly written on her face. That was a quick about-face. “I have a few guy friends. I’ll ask around. If I get a chance.”

  I knock on the counter once and nod. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. Come on, Mabel. Let’s go talk to Dinah. See ya.”

  Natalie ignores me as Mabel grabs my hand. “I think she wants to be your girlfriend, Daddy.”

  I was hoping my daughter had missed that, but I shouldn’t be terribly surprised by her powers of observation.

  “You saw that, huh?”

  She crinkles her nose. “I tried really hard not to.”

  Shaking my head in amusement, we walk into the childcare center. This time, I let her open the door. Not only is it lighter, but she’s not battling the wind either. Before I can make it through the doorway, she’s off into the play area, running around like a loon with the others.

  I don’t know how anyone works in here. I would go bonkers. I’m pretty sure Dinah is halfway there already.

  Speaking of… “Hey Abel.” I find her sitting behind the check-in desk, probably still printing out stickers to put on kids’ backs. “Is Mabel gonna stay a while?”

  “Nah. Just long enough for me to talk to you, actually.”

  Her expression changes as she shifts her attention from the computer to me. “That doesn’t sound good. What’s up?”

  Why can everyone tell something’s on my mind? Is my face really that expressive? No one has ever told me that before, so it’s a little disconcerting. But I don’t want to think about it now.

  Instead, I lean against the desk. “You have a pulse on most of the members here.”

  Her shoulders move in a tiny shrug. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Do you happen to know of a guy looking for a roommate, er housemate? You know what I mean.
Maybe someone wanting to rent a room?”

  She nods in understanding of my latest dilemma. “Looking to cut down on your bills?”

  “Something like that.”

  “That’s a good idea. I know a lot of single people who are looking to find a nicer place for less money than Chicago rent can offer.”

  Suddenly, I feel more hopeful than I did five minutes ago. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know anyone off the top of my head right now, but I talk to dozens of parents every day. I can put some feelers out. Have you looked online at any ads?”

  I blow out a breath. This is where it gets sticky. “I haven’t. I have a kid, ya know? I don’t want to pick some random person. I know I probably won’t know whoever moves in, but I feel like the odds are better I’ll get a decent tenant if I start with people we know.”

  “Why are you looking for a man then?”

  I turn and look at her quizzically. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m about to sound really offensive,” she starts, putting her hands up and me on alert. “But you’re mostly concerned about having someone that isn’t weird around Mabel, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why not look for a female tenant? Not all men are pervs, but statistically you have better odds with a woman.”

  I open my mouth to respond, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I have nothing against men. Hell, I’m a guy. And if it was Joey moving in, I’d have no problem with it. But it won’t be Joey, so maybe I would have a problem. “I guess when I was thinking about someone moving in, it wasn’t computing that this person would be living with my daughter too.”

  “It’s from working in the mornings now. Your brain doesn’t work in the afternoons anymore,” Dinah teases.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Listen—hang on. Hey!” she yells across the room at some boys who have decided to take up wrestling in the middle of the room. “You guys get off each other. Miss Elliott is on the way, and she’ll make you do the boring jobs.”

  Jobs? Since when do we have child labor around here?

  The boys ignore her but have apparently finished up their WWE match anyway and are lying on their backs, arms spread wide, breathing heavily.

  “Those boys are the worst,” Dinah admits to me quietly. “They’re close to aging out of the room, and I can’t wait until their parents have to watch them instead of me.”

  I chuckle. “That bad, huh?”

  “You have no idea. Everyone in Chicago hates winter because of how cold it is, right?” I nod. “I love it because it’s not summer break when my work life goes to hell. One of these days, they’re going to approve my time off request before realizing its during spring break week. I’m getting too old for this.”

  I laugh and rub my face while she speaks. She’s not wrong. Even Mabel comes home bitching about the chaos in here during the summer. It’s why she usually stayed home with May.

  Shit. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with her this summer now that May is gone. More adulting. Mabel needs to hurry up and wear the pants in this family.

  “Anyway, back to your issue.”

  “I’m glad my problems are giving you a reprieve from your own.”

  “And I appreciate it tremendously. Anyway,” she continues, “what about a woman? How were you going to do the living arrangements?”

  I shrug. “I hadn’t put much thought into it, but I assumed I’d give up the master bedroom. I can charge a little extra for them having an en suite, and it’s down the hall from the other two rooms. Keeps Mabel and me closer together.”

  Dinah is nodding rapidly now, a smirk on her face. I’ve seen this look before. I think she might actually have a solution to my problem.

  “I have an idea.” Yep. Once again, Dinah may have come through for me. I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s always been the most reliable person I know. “But I need to pitch it to the other person first. Are you sticking around for a while?”

  “I wasn’t planning on it, but I can go over some of my notes for tomorrow if I need to.”

  Once again, she nods vigorously, only this time she’s splitting her focus between me and the two brats who are at it again. “Hey!” she yells and then thinks better of it. “You know what? I don’t care. Let them get hurt. Natural consequences and all that.” Turning her focus back to me, she says, “Come back in about thirty minutes. Leave Mabel. She’ll be fine. Let me see if I can get you the information you need.”

  Smiling wide at this turn of events, I can’t help but feel some relief. “Thanks, Dinah. And if you need a temporary bouncer, let me know.”

  “Pffft. I’m not putting you in the middle of those two. I like you too much.”

  Laughing, I turn to leave when I’m practically run over by another child. What is the deal around here? Does everyone get sugared up before coming to play?

  “Ainsley! Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” A blonde woman sees me and stops walking. She begins to smile and that’s when I recognize her. “Abel, the trainer, right?”

  “Elliott, the interviewee.” I watch as a girl I assume is her daughter runs off to play, dropping her coat in the middle of the floor. Turning back, I add, “Looks like the interview went well, after all.”

  “Much better than I’d expected.” Elliot makes quick work of pulling off her gloves and coat to put in the small closet and grabs the child’s coat when Dinah hands it to her. “Although, I can’t say things are totally secure yet since Ainsley’s teacher seems to want to talk to me every afternoon. I’m sorry, Dinah,” she calls out.

  Dinah replies, “No problem. I gotcha covered.”

  “At least you weren’t getting a talking-to by Ms. Alexander.”

  Elliott laughs and I notice the tiniest creases around her eyes when she does. “This is true. Anyway, it’s good to see you. I need to get this room under control.”

  She rushes off and Dinah catches my eye. “Half an hour,” she mouths, and I nod in response.

  I have no idea what Dinah has up her sleeve, but I sure as hell hope she has a solution I can work with.

  Chapter Six

  ELLIOTT

  I don’t know how things get out of control so fast. I started working in the childcare center a couple of days ago and things have been running smoothly. When I arrive, everything is calm, and all the kids are playing happily. Then I take a quick break to go pick up Ainsley from school.

  I shouldn’t be surprised by what I return to. Elementary schoolers have so much pent-up energy already, and when you add winter on top of it, which means no outdoor recess, it’s no wonder they’re bonkers by the time they get to our facility after school.

  Fortunately, my mom-whistle seems to be working a lot like Pavlov’s bell—whenever the kids hear it, they come running and sit down in front of me. Even the toddlers have gotten in on the action, because of course whatever the big kids are doing, they want to do, too. Fine with me. It makes it easier to pair up kids with activities.

  “Jayden, I know you enjoy reading, and don’t you have reading log minutes you have to do for school?”

  The second grader nods his head, wide-eyed as he listens. I already know him from volunteering in Ainsley’s classroom, so he’s one of my more reliable “helpers.”

  “You know who else likes to read?” He shakes his head. “Rosemary,” I say, gesturing to the dark-haired toddler doing her best to sit crisscross applesauce next to him. “I bet you could let her pick out some books for you to read to her, and when your mom gets here, I’ll let her know you finished your reading homework already.”

  “Okay. Come on, Rosemary.” He stands up and then does his best to help her stand as well. “Let’s go pick some books, okay? Okay?” he says in his sweetest baby voice, getting right in her face.

  She’s not concerned, though. Once he has her by the hand, they toddle away to the small corner set up with a few books and pillows for reading.

  One by one, I get all the ch
ildren settled so the adults can finally get back to supervising instead of being referees.

  “I love watching you do that.”

  I giggle at Dinah’s comment and turn to respond. “Why?”

  “It’s like you’re a magician. How’d you know he would be willing to read to a toddler?”

  “Easy. He wears a Fortnite shirt every time I see him. I’m going off the assumption he won’t get any game time until he’s done with his homework. We just gave him an extra twenty minutes to build something.”

  “Is that what they do in Fortnite? Build things?”

  “No idea.” I grab a wayward shoe someone walked off without and place it on the counter. “Ainsley would rather watch dance videos on YouTube than any form of gaming. I’m gonna walk the room and make sure everyone is still entertained. I’ll be back.”

  I leave her to meander around the two rooms, observing not only the kids but our staff as well. We have a wide age range of workers. Every child’s needs are different, and it’s nice that we have a variety of staff members to meet those needs, from a grandma whose grandchildren live several hours away to a college student working on her child development degree. We even have a part-time male worker who always gets stuck playing basketball with the boys. He loves it though. And it’s great for the kids to have a positive male role model. Lord knows even my own child needs to see that.

  Everyone appears to be content, happily engaged in whatever assigned activity I gave them. A few have decided to do something different, but as long as they’re burning energy safely, I’m a happy camper. The only kiddo having issues is a fussy baby who’s probably hungry, but she is only seconds away from getting a bottle.

  So far, I like it here. It’s only been a couple of days, and since I’m still technically in training, Dinah is still overseeing me. All that means is she sits at the desk ready to jump in if I need help. There’s not much to get stuck on though, except where to find certain supplies and how to fill out particular forms. She’s shown me that more than anything as she takes advantage of the overtime to finish all her director duties.