“No.”
Taking the seat on the bench next to him, I pop a pretzel in my mouth. “You can’t blame her for being somewhat related to the guy.”
“I don’t blame her for anything. She’s a literal angel who can do no wrong in my eyes, but I can blame her mother for having terrible taste in men and marrying who I can only assume is the devil, seeing as Dean Cartwright is Satan’s spawn himself.”
I fall forward in laughter.
“It’s not funny, Miller. This is the worst possible scenario.”
“Nah. It could be worse.”
He scoffs. “How the hell could anything be worse than Kenny being related to Dean motherfucking Cartwright?”
“They could’ve been sleeping together, so I count ‘stepbrother’ as a win.”
Isaiah’s brown eyes widen as I watch the realization flash through his mind. “Oh my God, you’re right.”
Feet dangling off the bench, I snag a few more pretzels.
“Happy birthday, by the way,” he says, nudging his shoulder into mine.
“Thank you.”
“It’s going to be weird not having you here, traveling with us. All the other nannies have sucked.”
God, I don’t want to think about another nanny. I haven’t even asked Kai what his plan for childcare is once I go, mostly because there’s no part of me that wants to picture someone else in my place.
“Do you . . .” I begin. “Does he know who is going to replace me?”
“No one yet. The trainers and some of the staff have figured out a schedule to help Kai for the rest of the season so he doesn’t have to bring someone else on quite yet. And depending how deep we go into the playoffs, we only have a month or so of baseball left at best.”
I quickly nod. “That sounds . . . good.”
He swings an arm over my shoulder. “You’re irreplaceable, Miller. No one else will ever be the Hot Nanny.”
My chest rumbles in a silent laugh. “Always the charmer, Isaiah Rhodes.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Not great.”
“I assume you’re a mess over leaving me and it has nothing to do with my brother or nephew.”
“You’re charming and brilliant now? You really are becoming a whole new man.”
He chuckles. “Do you think you’ll be back to visit soon?”
His question holds so much hope, and I know that hope is strictly for his older brother.
“I don’t think so. Work keeps me busy, and at this point I have sixteen kitchens I’m scheduled to consult for. That’s four years of bookings.”
“Four years?” His tone is filled with shock. “Hell, I don’t know what I’m even doing in four days, let alone in four years.”
When I first opened my schedule to consultation services, I wanted every booking I could get. I didn’t have much family or friends I was worried about penciling in. I had my attention laser focused on being the best, but now the lack of free time, the lack of a social life sounds dreadful.
And awfully lonely, if I’m being honest.
“Can I be serious for a moment?” he asks. “And you know this is important because I’m very rarely serious.”
“You and me both.”
“I know. We drive my brother nuts.”
I pop another pretzel into my mouth as Isaiah adjusts himself on the bench, trying to get comfortable when getting serious makes him anything but.
“Malakai is the best person I know. He’s my best friend and the best dad to his son. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to realize everything he’s done for me. No fifteen-year-old should’ve been left to raise their sibling. He got me through our mom’s death. He got me through high school. He taught me how to drive. Hell, the guy even took me to buy my first pack of condoms.” He chuckles to himself. “Which is ironic now, seeing as he’s the one who ended up with an accidental pregnancy.”
We find those two, Max tugging at the flips of dark brown hair curling out from Kai’s hat.
“What I’m trying to say is that my brother deserves the world and for him, you are the world.”
My pulse is thundering, my heart pounding in my chest. There’s an odd contradiction happening inside of me. I want to be his world because he’s quickly become mine, but the last thing I want is for this man to get hurt because of me. Isaiah doesn’t have to tell me these things. I know how good his brother is, how much he deserves. It’s what made me fall in love with him when I was trying so hard not to.