“I’ve been talking to my new partners, and they’ve agreed to let me work just two days a week,” Jill went on. “So that means I’ll only take appointments on two set days per week. They won’t fluctuate. And then the other five days of the week, I’m here for whatever you need. I was thinking those two work days could coincide with your off days.”
“I only get one off day per week,” Maxwell told her, “until the off-season.”
“Then I guess that’s where Miss Nanny comes in.”
Maxwell laughed. “Kelsey. Her name is Kelsey.”
Jill’s brow lifted. “You know her pretty well by now, don’t you?”
Maxwell watched her for a second, unsure if he was picking up on some insinuation in her tone or not. But no—he had to be misreading her. She couldn’t possibly be implying that he and the nanny were hooking up.
“She knows the kids better than she knows me,” he finally said. “I only see her at six a.m. when she gets here, and then at six p.m. when she leaves.”
Jill tutted as she wrote something in her planner. “Six to six. And six days a week. That’s an awful long time to be with the nanny.”
Maxwell knew that on some days, it was even longer than that. Jill had a point. That was too much time for the triplets to spend with someone who would just end up exiting their lives. Luckily, the two of them had options.
“Well, this is all new,” he said. “I’ve been figuring it out as I go along.”
“I hear that.” Jill paused as she wrote, searing him with a meaningful look. “I’m right there with you.”
She peppered him with questions about his exact schedule, taking notes in her floral-lined planner. He enjoyed watching the way she occasionally drew hearts above her i’s instead of dotting them and how meticulous her writing was. He laid out what the next few weeks looked like for his schedule.
“Okay,” she said, holding the planner out in front of her. “So what if we did this? I’ll set my workdays as Mondays and Tuesdays, which coincides with your light day and off day. Then all the other days, I can come over early in the morning, instead of the nanny, to be with the kids until you get home. What do you think?”
The idea of seeing her not just frequently but daily both excited and dismayed him. Yes, he loved getting the chance to be around her. But each time they came together, it proved harder to stop himself from imagining all the things he shouldn’t be indulging in when it came to Jill.
“I think it’s great,” he forced out.
“This will help them stay on schedule, too,” she added brightly. “And I can tell—you’re a scheduled man.”
He laughed. “Had to call me out, didn’t you?”
Jill winked again. “Takes one to know one, I guess. Now, the other thing I was thinking was that we can also have the nanny do more peripheral things. Like take the kids to play groups and stuff. The kids need to start socializing, at least.”
“Genius.”
Jill closed her planner with a big grin. “Well then. That was a successful planning session.”
Successful, yes, and relieving. It felt like the pieces were starting to come together, especially now that they’d worked out a way for both of them to be involved equally, which would make sure the kids got the best of both families.
“I need to get home,” Jill said. “I’m still unpacking from the move.”
“Should have just brought your stuff to my place, since you’ll be here all the time,” he cracked.
She pursed her lips. “Remember—I said I don’t need a second ex-husband.” Jill packed up her things and went over to the triplets, kissing them all on the foreheads. “I know you’ve got a big game tomorrow, and it’s probably too late to rearrange everything you’ve got scheduled, so why don’t we just say we can start the new schedule next week?”
“That’ll give me time to figure out the new nanny schedule too, since I’ll still need her on Mondays.”
Maxwell followed her out of the living room and toward the front door. It had gotten dark during her visit, and when she opened the door, the seductive scent of late fall in Georgia wafted into the house, birdsong and all.
“So I’ll be back in a few days, then, I guess.” Jill paused in the doorway, looking up at him like she might add something else.
“Yeah. Sounds good.” He gripped the doorframe, fighting the urge to swoop down and steal a taste of those lips. Only in an alternate dimension. Not when their brand-new co-parenting schedule hung in the balance. “And if you have a chance, come to the game tomorrow. I can get you tickets if you want. I’ll put your name on the list, and you can just show up and they’ll take you to the VIP family area.”
“Oh, my.” She laughed nervously, glancing away. “That’s very nice of you. I wish I hadn’t made plans for tomorrow.”
“Another time,” he said, trying not to feel like that had been a rejection. The woman was allowed to not make his games a priority. Especially the same week as entering his life. So why was he suddenly desperate for her to witness him in action?
He knew why. Because he wanted to fucking woo her. Make her even a smidge as attracted to him as he was to her. Which was exactly what he didn’t need to be doing.
“I’m glad we could figure this out,” she said, rushing forward to wrap him in a quick hug, the amber undertones of her perfume feeling like a sucker punch. This was a place he wanted to be—wanted to stay. But before he could even realize what was happening or even return the hug, she’d pulled away, waving at him as she headed down the stone path. “Bye, Maxwell.”
He croaked out a goodbye, watching as she headed for the driveway. She slid into the driver’s seat of her moss-green SUV, which somehow fit her perfectly, and he waved again as she pulled down the driveway and away from his house.
Daily visits.
That’s what he had to prepare himself for.
He just hoped he had enough sense to remember to keep his hands off her.
5
That Tuesday, Jill found herself with an unexpectedly free afternoon and a to-do list a mile long.
Her first instinct was to go see the kids—and by extension, Maxwell—even though she loved to remind herself every time Maxwell came up in her thoughts that he was only a colleague. Like her work partners. Someone she collaborated with in an effort to reach a common goal.
And for her and Maxwell, that common goal was raising the triplets.
Nothing else.
And most certainly nothing to do with getting to know him on an intimate level, as her body liked to occasionally argue.
She sighed and squeezed the steering wheel of her SUV as she idled in the parking lot of the new dental center she’d be opening soon with her two partners. It had previously functioned as a dental clinic, so there weren’t many upgrades needed. And everything was miraculously on schedule—the three of them were kicking butt and taking names.
Which meant the most pressing thing remaining on her to-do list was also the biggest and most unsavory. Get a start on Wayne’s estate.
She’d avoided going to his house for a few reasons. Initially, the grief of losing Wayne and missing his funeral was too raw. But now, the house represented the mother of all to-do items. His and Carmen’s wills dictated that the house be sold and all monies earned transferred to trusts for the kids. But selling the house meant emptying it. Sorting through every last item of theirs. Figuring out what to keep and what to sell. And the thought alone gave her a headache.