The Layover by Allyson Lindt

Author:Allyson Lindt [Lindt, Allyson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acelette Press

17

carly

I shouldn’t have gone home with Raul and Diego, but their place was close, and they were safe and warm…

In the morning, I woke up to them talking in hushed, strained voices, a few feet from the bed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Diego looked up, startled, but his expression softened quickly. “Ariana has food poisoning, and can’t take Eloise. Everyone else’s schedules are full too. We’re trying to decide which one of us will stay home with her.”

I couldn’t have that. Raul and Diego both needed to be on-site today for different reasons.

“I can stay here with her.” Whoa. What was I doing? I’d like to be on-site as well, but I didn’t need to be. Any work I had could technically be done from anywhere. That didn’t mean I should babysit.

“We can’t ask you to do that,” Raul said.

This was where I should say you’re right. You should stay. We can shift your schedule. “You didn’t. I volunteered.” Apparently I was determined to do this. “You both need to be there, I don’t. And I’ve watched kids before. I promise they’ve all come out of the experience with their fingers and toes intact.”

“Not exactly a screaming recommendation.” The way Raul raised an eyebrow said he didn’t find the same humor in my words that I did.

“Do you want my references?” Now I felt like I had to defend myself. So I could do a job I shouldn’t have volunteered for in the first place. “You’ve talked to Daria before. She trusts me with her children.”

Diego shrugged and glanced at Raul. “Pretty sure Daria doesn’t even trust people to borrow a pen, so that seems like a good reference.”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind.” Bless Raul for giving me one last chance to back out.

“I don’t.” And damn me. “Leave me with any instructions I need. Allergies, screen time, all of it. Eloise and I will have fun.”

Diego’s smile of relief was worth my offer. The soft expression that crossed his handsome, chiseled face. “Thank you.”

Before Eloise got home, I borrowed clothes from Raul, rather than taking the time to go back to my own place and change. His T-shirt was too big, and I had to tie the sweatpants up tightly and roll up the ankles, but it was oddly comforting to be wrapped in something that belonged to him, and it would keep me modest and ready for my day of childcare.

Raul’s mother came in with Eloise, handed the girl’s bag to Raul, and exchanged hugs with him and Diego. She said several things rapidly in Italian that I didn’t catch, including pointing at me more than once, and Raul replied in kind.

There. That was my name. I understood that one word. As Raul said it, he gestured to me. I understood his introduction, at least that was something, so I summoned a warm smile and offered my hand.

She clasped it warmly between both of hers, and fired off another short string of Italian.

I looked to Raul for a translation, but all I got was him blushing.

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