Jordy paused and turned to him. “Maybe. But I trust Gem as a reference, and it’s only short term. Are you really trying to talk me out of giving you a place to live?”
“No?” Rowan rubbed his face and ruffled his hair. “Let me think for a second.”
“Okay. I’m going to get closer to Kaira.” He left Rowan to gather his thoughts.
So. A millionaire just walked into his job and offered him a place to live. What even was his life? Gem was going to laugh her ass off.
Ugh, no, he needed to focus on the problem—think it through logically, the pros and the cons. Pros: A place to live, presumably with a bed and not a couch to sleep on. Roommates he could tolerate and access to the sort of amenities found in a millionaire’s house. No rent to pay at a time when his employment was currently about to end. Cons: He’d never lived full-time with a child. How would minding Kaira work with him having a job outside the home? What if Jordy and Rowan got on each other’s nerves and hated living together?
Also, Jordy was the most fuckable but off-limits man Rowan had ever met.
He’d see Jordy first thing in the morning. What if he caught him half-naked on the way from the shower? Last weekend the sight of Jordy shirtless in his short-shorts almost put Rowan in cardiac arrest. He would not survive seeing the man dripping and clean. The blue balls from living with Jordy might cause permanent damage.
On the other hand, Gem’s couch wasdefinitelycausing him damage. Not to mention the harm she would do to him if she found out Jordy had offered him a place to stay and he turned it down.
Okay. Rowan needed to ask Jordy some questions.
Jordy stood leaning against a wall, watching Kaira move up and down the aisles in search of books.
“I can’t make nanny my full-time job, so how would that work when you’re out of town?”
Jordy shrugged. “I have teammates with kids who can help. They’ve already agreed to it. Once school starts, there’s aftercare. You could also bring her here if you needed to.”
“Right.” Rowan considered the logistics. The whole point of his job was a children’s program. There was no reason Kaira couldn’t join it. And once he no longer worked at the library, it would be a moot point.
“We can go through a full schedule if you’d like. I can pretty much tell you when I’ll be unavailable from now until April, except for some of the promotion and charity stuff. But I could show you what August and September would look like.”
“Probably a good idea.” Normally Rowan was willing to jump into a new situation feet first, figuring that he’d learn to swim—or at least float—soon enough. But he couldn’t take that approach when there was a child involved.
“Janice gave me notice right before I saw you in the park. I’ve basically been scrambling for short-term solutions—teammates with kids and partners, Clem’s parents. I’m going to be in karmic debt forever. I don’t want anyone to resent me.”
“I’m sure that wouldn’t happen. They’ve gotta know you’re in a bind.”
Jordy nodded. “Yes, but the point is, having you around to cover the night shift would be a huge help.”
Rowan furiously sublimated the mental image he got from words likenight shiftandhuge.
He must’ve looked like he wanted convincing, because Jordy went on, “I’m sure Janice would be okay with me giving you her number so she can give you pointers in an emergency. Kaira already likes you, and you’ve already met her best friend.” This was dangerously close to begging. Rowan absolutely did not think about what it might sound like if Jordy begged under other, more naked circumstances.
“Clem’s a good kid,” Rowan said, forcing his brain back on track.
“The nanny suite is small”—oh God, he was still trying to get Rowan to agree—“but it’s got its own sitting room and bathroom, and there’s a grade entrance if you, um… had company, on nights I’m home with Kaira.”
Okay, now what? “Company?” Rowan asked blankly.
Jordy’s ears went pink. “It wouldn’t be fair to say you can’t have people over. Just… I’d prefer to meet anyone first, before you introduce them to Kaira.”
This was hands down the most bizarre conversation Rowan had ever had. Especially because he knew Jordy didn’t even introduce hisownpartners to his kid, because he didn’t have any. “I’ve actually sworn off dating for the foreseeable future, so that won’t be a problem.”
That sounded like he’d agreed to this mad plan, didn’t it?
“How come?”
In for a penny. “Weeelllll, you may recall I have the world’s most terrible taste in men? Sure, it starts off all right, groping in the club or picnics in the park, and then one day you wake up and he’s trying to make meth in the kitchen sink. I’m better off on a no-dick diet.” That sounded way worse now that there was a kid in the mix. “Now that I think about it, if I ever date again, ‘Would I cut off my arm before introducing this person to Kaira?’ is a pretty good litmus test.”
“Mr. Rowan! I found some good ones. Can we read one of these next?”
Rowan took Kaira’s selections and looked through them. One of them did not feature a single armadillo, which immediately made it his favorite because he kept nearly sayingarmadildoinstead. “Oh, I think I can manage that. But next time I’ll have to let someone else help me pick out a story, okay? Everyone gets a turn.”
