“Fine, thanks.” Brooke closes the door and comes over to stand at the end of the coffee table, pushing her glasses up her nose. I notice then that she's got a sprinkling of glittery pink eyeshadow on her lids. It's kind of random … and a little bit sexy. “Zayden, this is Dan, my study partner for survival analysis.” Um, no clue what that is. I smile anyway and nod. “We'll be in the kitchen working on a project.” I lift a hand in a loose half-wave and the guy smiles at me, pushing some dark hair off his forehead. I hate him instantly. “Zay's our nanny,” Brooke adds, making my mouth twitch as she turns and her camel colored coat wafts out behind her.
“Nice to meet ya,” Dan drawls, shrugging his shoulders, his rain spotted leather coat rustling as he turns and follows after Brooke. There's a moment of silence and then some giggling from the kitchen that makes my skin prickle with nerves. It's not like Brooke and I are anything to each other—obviously we're strangers—but I'm not all that keen on watching other guys hit on girls I like. Just bugs the hell out of me.
“You hungry, doll?” I ask Sadie and she makes a sound that I'd like to think means hell, yes, Uncle Zay, get your ass in that kitchen and see what's up with this dude. I grin. “You got it, babe.”
I get up and move into the ugly linoleum kitchen with its builder-grade cabinets, noticing as I do that Brooke's eyes flick up to watch me. I give her my best award-winning smile and kick the fridge open.
“You okay with applesauce, chickee?” I ask as I reach in and grab a jar with my right hand, the open book tat on my skin fluttering with the motion. “And look at that, unsweetened and organic. Pretty posh.” I heel the door shut behind me and sit Sadie in the high chair I brought over. I pretend not to be interested in what Brooke and Dude are doing, but I'm totally watching.
“Did you get the reading done last night?” Dude asks as he flips through some pages in a thick textbook and glances over at her from under his eyelashes. He's totally checking her out, but she's not paying attention, opening a laptop up next to her own textbook and logging in with a quick flicker of her fingers across the keys.
“I did it after my other class yesterday,” she says and then bends down to dig something out of her bag, coming back up with a notebook. “I also got that study sheet filled out, but I didn't have time for the extra credit. Did you want to work on that first?”
“Yeah, sure.” Dude What's-His-Face shrugs out of his jacket and flashes a really ugly tribal tattoo on his right arm. Puh-lease. He stretches his arms above his head like those weak ass triceps of his mean anything. I narrow my eyes at him as I fish one of those rubber baby spoon things from my back pocket and spin it around in my fingers, dragging a chair from the table and flopping down on it. “Your baby?” Dude asks Brooke as he shuffles around in his own bag.
“Me? Oh. No.” She waves her hand in my direction. “Zayden has other kids he watches. He's … kind of staying here for the week to help me out.” When she looks at me, she smiles and the expression is genuine as fuck. Screw Rob, that dickhead. This is totally worth it, my good deed of the year or whatever. Lord knows I'm kind of a selfish fuck. Maybe I owe the universe this?
“Ah, cool, cool.” Dude looks back at me and I meet his dark gaze. Silent man communications are sent. He's digging Brooke; I'm telling him to eat shit. I let my smile simmer wide and hot and when Brooke isn't looking, I flip the guy off. He gapes at me as I turn back to Sadie and lift up a spoonful of applesauce.
Brooke can do whatever she wants with this douche when I head back to Vegas, but this week … this chick is so mine.
“Don't think I didn't see what you were doing in there,” I say as I close the door behind Dan and lean against it, watching Zayden as he pauses in the middle of the living room, wearing a t-shirt that says I Would Pierce the Fuck Outta You. I don't quite get it, but okay. “Trying to scare that guy off. You're not very subtle, you know.”
He lifts up his hands, palms out, and flashes me the tattoos that start at his wrists and go all the way down to his elbows and beyond.
“Nah. Subtle isn't exactly my cup of tea, Miss Overland. I didn't like that guy. Did you see his ink? It was some fake tribal shit he probably got off of the internet.” I raise my brows and stand up, pausing near the back of the couch to pet Hubert. God, this is an ugly cat. But, at the same time … it's a little bit cute. Not at all like Dodger. I pause and listen to the chorus of yaps coming from the backyard. Hopefully we don't get any noise complaints. That'd really get me to the end of my rope.
“He's just a study partner. I met the guy like three days ago.”
Zayden shrugs his sexy shoulders at me.
“So?” He grins at me. “You also met me three days ago.” I purse my lips at him and give the hairless cat a scratch near the base of his tail. His sweater today is red with a black guitar on the back. It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life.
“Five. And I don't exactly make a habit of sleeping around. Virgin, remember.”