“All right,” he calls to her.
“Well, this is your whole life now. Being Skyler’s personal sprinkler system.”
He laughs, his dimple warming my insides. He’s handsome when he’s not smiling. When he is, the whole world tilts, and I have trouble breathing.
“You’re not kidding.” He shoots the water up so it rains down on Skyler.
“I can take over if you have work to do.” I’m silently asking him why he’s out here playing with Skyler when he’s hired me to do that job.
“It’s okay. I couldn’t concentrate with everything that happened with Violet this morning.” He gives me a side-eye. “You sure you don’t want me to spray that sand off you?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m capable of getting cleaned off by myself.” To prove it, I wipe sand off my arms and legs.
“That’s too bad,” Tobias says under his breath, and I blush. Did he just flirt with me? I stare at him, but he doesn’t look like he said anything, and I wonder if I’m losing my mind.
CHAPTER 10
TOBIAS BARRETT
Kiki is staring at me, and I can’t believe I just said what I did. I pray she didn’t fully hear me. That was so inappropriate. I have no idea what came over me.
“So, how old were you when your grandmother died?” I cringe. Way to change the subject. Next I should ask about her failure to find her biological mother. I’m sure that would be another great subject to bring up. “Sorry, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine. I was eleven. My grandmother used to watch me and my sister after school, when both my parents were working. She only lived a block away.” Kiki brushes sand off her tank top. She’s acting like it’s no big deal, but the way her eyes mist up tells me her emotions are running high.
“Today must have brought back a lot of unwanted memories. I’m sorry.” I shoot her a sympathetic look.
“Yes,” she says quietly. “It did.”
“How did your grandmother pass?” I just can’t stop with the fantastic questions today.
“Heart attack.”
“Sounds like you were close.” I wiggle the sprayer and Skyler giggles as she tries to run to catch the water.
“She was like a mother to me. My parents did the best they could, but they didn’t go to college. They both had to work full time just to pay the bills.” Kiki frowns, and I try to figure out what she’s thinking.
“Are you close with your parents?”
She blinks and her expression hardens. “They disowned me.”
“Really?”
She raises a hand. “In their defense, I did some pretty terrible things.” She clenches her jaw, and I wonder if she’s going to elaborate. She doesn’t.
“Oh?” I ask, hoping to prompt more from her. Not that I think she would ever do anything to hurt Skyler, but I’m curious what happened in her past.
“They told me they were done with me and to never contact them again.” Her voice turns soft. “I obliged.”
“How old were you?”
“Eighteen.”
The hurt is evident in her voice, and I scramble to think of something supportive to say. “Maybe they’ll come around.”
She shakes her head. “I did things they can never forgive me for. They never want to see me again.”
I grow too curious not to ask. “What happened?”
