“Nope. Not until you show me what you’re writing. I know good and fucking well there’s no bill in congress that uses the word pussy. If I’m wrong, then maybe there’s a place for me in politics after all.”
“I’m not showing you a damn thing,” I chuckled. I tried to close the computer but Xari launched herself across my desk. Nearly landing in my lap. Her long lean lines were laid out on top of my papers and notes about characters while her leg hung off the side, brushing against my lap.
I pushed the laptop to the edge of the desk but it was too far out of my reach to close it so Miss Lucas got an eyeful of the sex scene I was working on.
Her greedy eyes ate up the words on the screen while my greedy eyes ate up her perfect body. My hands ached to slide down the curve of her back to grip her ass through the silk. I wanted to pull her on top of me and stuff her full of dick while she rode me.
“Fuck,” She said, sliding off my desk…finally. I was paralyzed while she was sprawled out like that. “You um…you have a way with words, Freeman.” When she stood up, her nipples were stiff pebbles.
“Yeah. Thanks. You weren’t supposed to see that.” I pulled the laptop close to me and shut it with a huff. “Look, you want help with your budget or not?”
“Um…yeah. Sure.” Her cheeks turned pink as she tucked a chunk of fluffy hair behind her ear.
“I’m sorry you saw what I was writing. If it made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But you did insist on reading it.”
“Uncomfortable?” A half-laugh escaped her. “You have to get to know me more. I’m rarely uncomfortable.”
“Then what’s that?” I asked, pointing to the pinched-pink hue on her cheeks.
“You really wanna know?” She smirked, showing off a hint of those dimples.
“I do.” I folded my arms and tipped back in my seat once my erection settled down. I knew better than playing this game with Xari but the whiskey helped to erase my common sense.
“This is my turned-on face,” she said gesturing to her gorgeous features. I tipped my head to the side and laughed.
“You got turned on reading that one page, huh? Doesn’t take much for you.”
“It’s a start.”
I intentionally let my gaze drop to her perfect tits, zeroing in on her nipples. I shook my head and ran a hand over my close-cut hair. “Let’s keep things professional, Miss Lucas. I’m sorry for overstepping my bounds.” I turned on the desktop computer and told her to pull up a chair.
“You know I’m never letting you off the hook, right? Now that I know you’re not the buttoned-up human yawn I thought you were, I’m going to fuck with you.”
I wished there was a way for me to let Xari know she was barking up the wrong tree. I understood where she got the idea of me being a stick in the mud from but it couldn’t have been further from the truth. The things I wanted to do to her were proof of that. Thank fuck she couldn’t see inside my mind.
“That’s unnecessary,” I said.
“Whatever, Freeman.” She made sure to enunciate as many letters as humanly possible, making me laugh. “Also, I saw the way you were looking at my tits.”
“You came in here empty-handed. Do you already know all of your numbers?” I asked, ignoring her previous statement.
“It’s all on my phone.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and waved it in my face before she sat beside me behind the desk. Her leg brushed against mine when she crossed one over the other. I had to get away from her subtle floral scent. I walked over to the bar and poured myself another glass of whiskey.
“You drink a lot,” she noted. Her eyes tracked me over the top of her phone.
“You pay too much attention to me.”
“What are you trying to drown, Freeman?” Her voice was a soft purr. She reminded me of a rambunctious, curious kitten that couldn’t stop getting into trouble.
“Let’s look at your income versus your expenses first.” I moved back to my desk and picked up her phone to look at the figures she’d put down. I learned that if I ignored Miss Lucas consistently enough, she’d let go.
I was right. Eventually, the fact that she wanted to work on her budget outweighed her need to push my buttons.
After an hour, a frown had made itself at home between Xari’s sculpted brows. “I need more money,” she said.
“Yeah. Your paycheck from working for me still isn’t enough to cover your credit card bills. You need to cut it down to maybe three at the most. You have ten cards, Miss Lucas.”
“Well, I’m not getting rid of my Starbucks card or my Neiman’s card.” She rubbed her temples and blew out a puff of air.
“Keep a low-interest rewards card, a standard Visa card, and a Capital One card. Your credit score isn’t bad thanks to your parents helping you out but if you want to handle everything on your own, you’ll have to eliminate most of these cards.”
“This is bullshit.”
“You can do it.” I rubbed her knee and she looked down where my hand touched her. I’d tossed back two more glasses of whiskey and I knew it was only a matter of time before I took my laptop to my room and wrote until I fell asleep.
“Will you help?” She asked. I studied her pretty face and stared at those full lips for a few beats. My mind went crazy with nasty thoughts about all the ways I wanted to taste her.
“I can do that. I’ll give you some homework,” I said, standing and tucking my laptop under my arm. The way she looked up at me with big bright eyes had me dying to wrap my hand around her slender throat and see how long I could choke her before her eyes watered and she begged for more.
“Ooh, homework from the hot professor. I’m down.”
Did she just call me hot?
“Find another source of income. Right now, you’re five hundred dollars in the hole every month. Find a few things to do from home or on the weekends that you think could generate the money you need to bridge the gap.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” She asked, standing to her feet.
“If I told you the answer, it wouldn’t be homework would it?” I winked at her before walking out of the den and hitting the lights.
“Just to be clear, there’s no fucking the hot professor to get an A…right?” My dick stiffened at her words but luckily, she was behind me.
“Absolutely not, Miss Lucas.”
“You were looking at my tits, Freeman. I saw you. I know what hunger looks like.”
“Good for you,” I sighed.
As fine as she was, she was still immature. I couldn’t have fun with her like I could with the other women in my rotation. It would make things at home too awkward. I couldn’t shit and eat in the same place.
“Good night, Freeman.” She paused at Frankie’s door and wiggled her fingers at me. I tipped my head up then let my eyes linger on her face for a while before going into my room.
This book wasn’t going to write itself.
Even though I shouldn’t have, once I was in my room, I stared at the computer screen wondering what Xari was doing. I kept picturing her in those damn silk pajamas and the way they flowed over her breasts and hips…and that ass.
Before I knew it, my main female character, Riley was wearing a pair of silk pajamas while she was stuck under the same roof with her boss.
Xari had gotten into my head. Like being under my skin wasn’t enough. As much as I hated how Riley morphed into Xari, it made the words flow. I wrote 6,000 words over the next three hours. Every single one of them seemed to be fueled by Xari Lucas. She was a song stuck in my head.
…
TLC’s Creep thumped from behind Frankie’s bedroom door. When I opened it and stuck my head in, I saw Xari standing in front of the fan teaching Frankie how to do the choreography from the music video. It was hard to stifle my laugh because my kid lived in a time with Tik Tok. She didn’t have a full appreciation of the ’90s. Honestly, neither did Xari.
“This is all wrong,” I said, shaking my head, stepping further in
to the room.
“Okay so show us how to do it then, Freeman.” Xari put her hands on her hips and challenged me with a look.
“Oh, I’d pay good money to see you do the Creep dance, Daddy.” Frankie shoved me playfully and lit up the room with her bright laughter.
“Lucky for me, you don’t have any money, kiddo. I’m not blessing either one of y’all with my dance moves.”
“Because you don’t have any.”
“And you do, Miss Lucas? You weren’t even born when this song came out.”
“First of all, the nineties run through my veins. Secondly, I’ve watched this video so much I know it by heart.” She started dancing again and even though Creep was coming through the speakers, Bonita Applebum was running through my mind because Xari moved like a hip-hop beat. Fluid and deep. Rich and persuasive. Hypnotizing.
“Okay, as fun as this is, you need to get ready for school, Frankie.” I aimed a finger at her and she pouted as I expected.
“I’ll get ready if you do the Creep dance.”
“Nah. No. Not happening.”
“Come on, Frank. I’ll do it with you. We’ll put it on Tik Tok.” Miss Lucas looped her arm with Frankie’s and just like that, the smile was back on my baby’s face.
“Wait, you let her call you Frank? You bit my head off when I did it and you were in the third grade.”
“Xari’s cool, Dad.”
“Told you.” Xari stuck her pink tongue out at me and I fought the urge to say what was lingering on the tip of my tongue.
“I’m cool,” I said instead.
“No. You’re not. Embrace your cringy-ness.”
“Let me hear you say cringe one more time, little girl…” I snagged Frankie’s slim body in a bear hug then tickled her sides until her face was red and her eyes were wet. As long as she was still laughing, I knew I had her.
“Aw, tickling isn’t fair,” Xari laughed.
“Everything is fair when you’re at war.” I shoved Frankie over on the bed while she caught her breath. “Don’t ever forget who the king of cool is.”
“Oh wow,” Miss Lucas winced.
“Daddy, you did not just say that. King of cool? Ugh. My life…”
“What? King of cool. That’s fine to say. Did I break a cardinal cool rule or something?”
“The good times just don’t stop with this one.” Miss Lucas fell over on Frankie’s bed and laid on her shoulder. My mind immediately took a snapshot of the moment. It was a rare one where Frankie didn’t seem too withdrawn or attached to her phone. She was in the moment. I loved how she looked when she was present.
Then there was Xari. Wild curls running free, an ear-to-ear grin, and those fucking pajamas showing her perfect, tight waistline. I hung onto her sunburst navel ring and wondered what else was pierced. I already knew her nipples weren’t because they were hard as fuck last night and I didn’t see an outline. That didn’t mean she didn’t have a pierced pussy.
Just the thought of Xari Lucas’ pussy was enough to threaten a stiff dick.
Thankfully, my phone broke up the moment.
Any semblance of a hard dick was obliterated when I heard Alexis’s ring tone playing in my pocket.
“Y’all gone make me lose my mind! Up in here! Up in here!”
“It’s your mother,” I said, showing Frankie the phone.
“Oh my god, is that Mom’s ringtone? That’s Ja Rule, right?” Frankie asked.
“Ja Rule?” Miss Lucas and I said in unison with a matching recoil.
“Forgive her, Xari. She has no idea what she’s talking about.” I laughed while Xari stared at Frankie like she had two heads.
Fuck. I called her by her first name. I’d have to deal with that later and I knew it didn’t slip past her ears.
“Alexis, hello.”
“I’m here, Van. Open the door since you had the locks changed.” I passed a hand over my face and rushed to the front door. Alexis’s sculpted features had softened a bit since I saw her at the courthouse. I guess her injections were settling.
“Good morning,” I said, letting her in.
“Where are the papers you need me to sign?”
Upstairs, Frankie squealed followed by Xari laughing uncontrollably. I looked above my head and sighed.
“Did you let her have a sleepover on a school night? And I’m the irresponsible parent. Whatever,” Alexis grumbled.
“She’s not having a sleepover. Let’s focus on why you’re here. I need you to sign the papers saying it’s okay for Frankie’s nanny to pick her up from school.”
“You’ve already hired a nanny without consulting me?” She stormed into the kitchen and started opening cabinets and checking the fridge.
“Can you stop rummaging through my kitchen, please?”
“Your kitchen? I designed this kitchen. It’s my brainchild.”
“Can you sign the papers, Alexis?”
“Where is my pizza stone, Van?” She blinked at me, wielding almost a foot of false lashes that made her look like she belonged on Sesame Street instead of in my kitchen.
“Papers, Lex. Concentrate. They got you pumped full of Xanax?”
“Fuck you, Van. I’m not signing shit until I meet this nanny. Let me guess, you rescued a little sob story from getting deported and let her watch my kid without my consent. Can she even speak English?”
“Wow. You’ve reached a new level of miserable. Tell your surgeon to pluck out a few more ribs since you don’t need them to protect a heart you don’t have.”
“Whatever, Van. No deal with the papers unless I meet this nanny and she can speak American English. Oh, and she has to have a degree.” Alexis spun in a full circle and sighed like I was ruining her life. “Where is my pizza stone? Why did you move the olive oil?”
“Fucking Christ,” I groaned into my hands.
“Ten minutes to make breakfast, Frank. You know the deal. No breakfast, no treasure hunting in my clothes after homework.” Miss Lucas’ voice cut through the toxic fog Alexis unleashed in the kitchen.
“Don’t start the timer yet. Let me get the eggs out.” Frankie’s footsteps thundered into the kitchen with Miss Lucas laughing behind her. “Oh, hey Mom!” She stopped for a quick side hug then pulled eggs and fruit out of the fridge in a mad dash.
The bright, sharp click-pop of Miss Lucas’ heels on the floor came around the corner before she did. “Timer’s on,” she said stopping at the island.
Fuck, she looked good.
She tamed her wild curls into a full, tight bun on top of her head and carefully laid the fine hairs around her hairline into faint swoops. Her wide espresso eyes were lined in black and her lips were red suede.
The urge to pin her to the wall and bite those red lips was strong as hell.
The fact that she was dressed to the nines, as usual, didn’t help. She wore a cream blouse with a deep V-cut neck that dipped to the waistband of her tailored cream pants. A slim red belt accented the otherwise monochromatic outfit with a matching pair of red shoes that made her six inches taller than she was. I couldn’t tell if Alexis’s face was stuck in a sour expression or if it was just the angle of the Botox. Either way, her reaction to Miss Lucas was what I expected.
“Hello,” Xari smiled big and bright. She even extended a hand to Alexis for a handshake. When she wasn’t met with the same polite enthusiasm, I saw a switch flip and a shield of barbed wire drop down over her usually bubbly disposition. “Okay, so clearly manners are optional today.”
“This is my house. Why do I need manners? Especially for a stranger roaming around like she owns the place.”
Xari clenched her teeth and paused to inhale slowly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Xari Lucas. I’m Frankie’s nanny.”
“The hell you are, little girl.” She turned to me and said, “She needs to leave and never return.”
“Woah. Wait a minute. I hired her based on her qualifications and how much Frankie likes her. It was a mutual decision between us.”
“Why wasn’t I involved?” Alexis asked me.
“Because Miss Lucas won’t be living with you. I have Frankie most of the time. When she’s with you, Miss Lucas won’t be anywhere near you. I planned to introduce you to her when it was your weekend to get Frankie. I make the hiring decisions in this household though, Alexis.”
“If she’s going to be around Francesca then I needed to approve her.” I looked at Frankie, scrambling eggs, and focusing on the pan with much more intent than she needed. She was withdrawing. I shut my mouth and tried not to explode the way I wanted to.
“You know what, Alexis? You’re welcome to stick around today and get to know Miss Lucas. That way you can pick Frankie up from school and bring her home since you refuse to sign the papers.”
“Okay, you’re down to three minutes, Frank. Let’s go.” Xari moved around the kitchen and put the eggs away.
“I’ll eat breakfast in the car.” Frankie grabbed a paper plate, a fork, and tossed some fruit beside the scrambled eggs. Xari glanced at me with worry on her face.
“Am I going to pick her up from school today?” She asked.
“No. You won’t. I’ll pick up my daughter from school. Go get in the truck, Francesca.” Alexis rolled her eyes and brushed past Xari who seemed to have red waves of anger rolling off her.
“Have a good day, sweetheart,” I said with a groan.
“You think you can hire an expensive piece of pussy to be Frankie’s nanny so you can have your way with her while my daughter sleeps across the hall?” She scoffed. “I’ll never allow her to pick my baby up. I’ll never allow her to be around Frankie.”
“You think I hired Miss Lucas so I could fuck her?” My voice was a growl. Xari snapped her espresso eyes to mine, bewildered. “I can fuck whoever I want to. I don’t need to hire anyone to stick my dick in.”
“I don’t put anything past you, Evander,” she fired back.
“If you keep Frankie from Miss Lucas she won’t forgive you.”
“What? Because they’re best friends or something? Give me a fucking break. She doesn’t know Frankie. You can find someone else. Not her though.”
“What the hell did I do to you?” Xari asked. Her body went stiff beneath the fluid lines of her blouse and pants.
Whiskey and Regret Page 8
