Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Charli

When my alarm went off at six the next morning, I reached over to the nightstand and hit snooze. The sheets were soft, and I was so warm it felt like heaven. After closing my eyes for another minute, they popped back open. “Shit!” I quickly sat up in the bed and grabbed my phone, pulling up the app for the baby monitor.

Thankfully, Carina was still sprawled out on her back, sound asleep. The last thing I needed was Hunter up my ass for being neglectful on my first morning.

Hopping out of bed, I smoothed out the wrinkled dress I slept in last night. Since I didn’t have pajamas, I thought it would be strange to sleep in my underwear, especially if Carina needed me in the middle of the night. I certainly didn’t want to run into my boss in my bra and panties.

My new room was nice but lacked all traces of personality. The walls were painted dove gray, with sheets and a comforter to match. The black furniture had more than enough space to put my clothes in, and there was a large walk-in closet. The whole room screamed bachelor, but it was clean, and everything looked brand new. If I had to bet, I’d guess I was the first one to ever stay in this bedroom. When I got my things today, it would feel a bit more homey.

I went to the bathroom, quickly took care of business, brushed my teeth with a new toothbrush I found in the vanity last night, combed my hair into a ponytail, and touched up my makeup with the few things I had in my purse. It wasn’t fantastic, but given the circumstances, it could have been worse. I wasn’t here for a fashion show and doubted Carina would give a crap if I was wearing yesterday’s mascara.

After making myself somewhat presentable, I ventured toward the kitchen, peeking into the nursery on my way to double-check that Carina was still asleep. Not only was Carina’s room quiet, but the entire apartment was eerily silent.

I needed coffee and I needed it bad. Of course, Hunter had one of those fancy coffee makers with a dozen different settings I didn’t understand. After giving it a once-over, I popped a pod in and hit a few buttons, then said a little prayer of thanks when it started to sputter.

My stomach rumbled. All I had to eat last night was a turkey sandwich I made from the meager contents of the fridge. I went to get some eggs for breakfast and stopped to stare at the sheet of paper attached to the front that wasn’t there last night. On it were the names of two acceptable babysitters with phone numbers and a list of emergency contacts. At the top of the list was 911.

I rolled my eyes. “Duh.” He really did think I was a child.

Pulling the eggs from the fridge, I set them on the island counter. That’s when I noticed the second sheet of paper filled with Hunter’s perfectly perfect printing.

Today’s Schedule:

7:00- Breakfast (see approved list), Diaper Change, Face Washing

8:00- Walk (there is a park across the street)

9:00- Carina’s Furniture Arrives (DON’T BE LATE!)

10:00- 6oz. of Formul a

12:00- Go to your apartment and pack (Take the Escalade- Spot #32B- Do NOT speed! My daughter is precious cargo and if anything happens to her…)

I stopped reading after that. Hunter had the entire day planned out for me. Under the schedule was a printout of acceptable foods for six-month-old babies that he’d found on a website. Though his attention to detail was admirable, it was also annoying as hell. The man was a control freak. I’d sensed it before, but now I was getting the whole picture.

Staying here actually might not have been better than staying with my brother. It was tough to discern which of them had a stick further up their ass.

I scrambled some eggs, ate breakfast, and washed the pan. There weren’t any dishes in the sink, not even a coffee cup on the counter. I had assumed Hunter was still sleeping, but as the time crept closer to seven, I wondered if he was already gone for the day. Tiptoeing down the hall, I peeked into his dark office. Seeing it empty, I went to the next room. The door was barely cracked open, but through the small space, I saw the large bed neatly made.

He wasn’t in the apartment, and I breathed a little easier. When he looked at me with those icy eyes, it felt like he was staring into the depths of my soul. Like he saw every insecurity and could shred me to pieces. Seemed strange that he left for work before six, but what did I know? I only met him yesterday. We weren’t friends. I was merely the nanny.

I had the urge to snoop but decided to save it for another day. Although getting a peek at what made my new boss tick tempted me, apparently my schedule was already stuffed to the gills.

Instead, I went to wake Carina, only to find her waving her arms wildly and babbling. “Good morning, sweet girl.” Picking her up out of the playpen, I changed her diaper and took her to the kitchen. There was no high chair, and I assumed that would be coming today also. There was a stroller by the front door, so I wheeled it over and set her in it.

After a breakfast of peaches and eggs, I took Carina to the park across the street. Although I hadn’t noticed it yesterday, the park was beautiful. There were benches along the walkway and two playscapes, one for younger children and one for the older kids. Obviously, Carina was too tiny to enjoy the playscapes, but I couldn’t help imagining her teetering up the ladder for the slide, dropping to her butt, and racing down the smooth surface. I would catch her at the bottom and tell her how brave she was before scooping her up and smothering her in kisses.

A girl could fantasize. I’d thought about the kind of mom I would be, but it wasn’t practical at this stage in my life.

Every night I climbed thirty feet into the air and performed choreographed routines most people never dreamed of attempting. Or at least I used to before one false move sent me tumbling down and landed me in the hospital. Honestly, I was lucky I only ended up with a broken leg and some torn ligaments. It could have been worse. So much worse.

As we made our way around the path, the alarm I’d set on my phone went off. “Crap!” I hustled us back to the apartment building and into the elevator. It seemed to take forever to ascend thirty-two floors. The doors slid open to a burly guy pounding on the apartment door. “I’m here! I’m here!” I shouted.

Hunter would have killed me if I missed the delivery. I thought his detailed schedule was overkill, but maybe not. Perhaps I needed more structure in my life.

The delivery guy scowled at me. “I was about to leave. I’ve got a truckload of stuff to bring up and a team of guys waiting downstairs. There’s an upcharge if we need to reschedule.”

A team? Jeez. How much did Hunter order? “I’m here now. There’s no need to reschedule.” I quickly stuck the key in the lock and wheeled Carina inside. She was sound asleep despite jostling her in my rush to get back to the apartment.

The delivery guy followed me inside. “Where are we setting everything up?”

I walked him down the hall to what would be Carina’s nursery. “In here. I’ll move the playpen.”

He barely looked at me. “There’s more than furniture,” he said, scanning the paperwork in his hand .

“Okay. Well, you bring it in, and I’ll find a place for it,” I said in my most chipper voice. There couldn’t possibly be that much stuff for one tiny baby.

The delivery guy grunted as he left the apartment, presumably to go down to the truck. I guessed being friendly wasn’t part of his job.

I checked on Carina and rolled her into the kitchen, then got to work on moving the playpen. It was too big to fit through the door, so I assumed it folded up. But how? I pulled on the sides, but nothing happened. I tried tugging in the corners. Again, zero movement. No matter what I did, the thing didn’t want to close. I considered shoving the playpen in the corner and letting Hunter deal with it when he got home.

The thought scared me a bit. It was very domestic. Me waiting for my husband to get home from work to help me. Only Hunter wasn’t my husband. He would expect me to figure this out on my own.

I tilted the playpen on its side and looked underneath. Nothing jumped out at me, such as a lever or a button. “Screw it.” I began pushing it into the corner.

“Here, let me help.” A young guy about my age set down the crib mattress he was carrying and lifted the padding attached to the uprights, pressing buttons on each corner. The thing folded up like an umbrella.

“Thank you,” I said, pushing my hair behind my ear.

“First baby?”

My hand flew to my chest. It made sense since I was getting baby furniture delivered, but it still took me by surprise. “Oh, no. I’m not the mom. I’m the nanny.”

He stuck out his hand. “Good to know. Now, I won’t have to worry about your husband punching me in the face when I ask for your number. I’m Ben.”

I giggled and shook his hand. “I’m Charli. Thanks for your help.”

“Ben, the truck isn’t going to unload itself. Get your ass moving!” His grumpy boss was back with a dolly full of boxes.

“I’m moving,” Ben answered with a roll of his eyes.

Over the next hour, a team of men paraded in and out of the apartment with furniture and boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. I’m fairly sure Hunter ordered one of everything. There were boxes on the kitchen counter, stacked in the living room, and all down the hallway. It was a complete disaster.

Ben held up another box. “Where do you want this?”

I inspect the picture and the writing. It was some kind of fancy bottle warmer. “In the kitchen is fine.”

Mr. Grumpy appeared. “That’s everything. All we have left is assembly and we’ll get some of these empty boxes out of the way.” He thrust a clipboard at me. “I need you to sign that everything was delivered.”

I stared down at the list. It was two pages long. There was absolutely no way for me to know if everything was here without going through the apartment and checking each item off the list. “You sure it’s everything?” Hunter wouldn’t be happy if I signed for something that hadn’t been delivered.

“You’re welcome to check,” he grumped.

I bit my lip and looked at the mess in the apartment. It would take me an hour to go through everything. “I trust you,” I said as I scribbled my name across the line.

“Gee, thanks,” he said sarcastically as he walked away.

“Knock, knock,” a woman said as she entered the apartment, squeezing by one of the guys on his way out. “I thought I’d stop by to see if you needed some help.”

I recognized her as Hunter’s mom from Mystique yesterday. We hadn’t been formally introduced, but I wasn’t going to turn her away. “Mrs. Dorsey, right?” I stuck out my hand. “I’m Charli.”

She smiled at me and took my hand in hers. “I remember. And I’m Rose.” She looked around at the chaos. “He went a bit overboard, didn’t he?”

I pinched my thumb and forefinger together. “Just a tad. I don’t even know where to put half this stuff or what to do with it.”

“We’ll figure it out.” She gave me a quick hug. “But first, where is my granddaughter? ”

“Believe it or not, Carina’s slept through all this madness. She’s in the kitchen.” I motioned for Rose to follow me.

Rose put her hands to her mouth. “She’s so adorable. I expected Trent to give me my first grandchild, but Hunter always has been full of surprises. It might not be traditional, but I’m not complaining. Can I hold her?”

It seemed like Hunter and Rose didn’t have a great relationship, however, there was no way I’d tell this woman she couldn’t hold her granddaughter. “Of course. I’m surprised she’s slept this long. She’ll need to eat soon.”

Rose rubbed Carina’s belly and her little blue eyes fluttered open. She stretched in the stroller and smiled at her grandma. I swear she had to be the happiest baby I’d ever seen. Although I hadn’t been here long, Carina hadn’t cried once.

“Come to Grandma Rose.” Rose carefully lifted her from the stroller and snuggled her. Carina yawned and nuzzled into her grandma’s shoulder. “I love her already.”

“She’s a keeper, that’s for sure. Do you mind holding her while I get a bottle ready?” I asked while moving boxes off the counter.

When the bottle was ready, Rose fed Carina, who promptly went back to sleep. Before Rose left, we unwrapped the bazillion other things Hunter ordered and got everything in its proper place. If there was any doubt a baby lived here before, there wasn’t now. Every room was now outfitted to accommodate his daughter—from the tub seat to the bouncy chair to the dozens of stuffed animals to the fancy bottle warmer and the high chair. He even bought electrical outlet covers and padding for the coffee table. I doubted very much that those were necessary at this age, but better to be safe than sorry.

The saleslady probably got dollar signs in her eyes when Hunter placed his order. It was one hell of a commission.

If Rose hadn’t stopped by, there was no way I would have been able to get everything done before going to my own apartment to pack. She was a godsend. I’m not sure why Hunter didn’t seem to care for his mom, but everyone butted heads with their own mother at one point or another. Lord knew my mom and I did. She was still aggravated I’d moved to Vegas to live my dream. My only saving grace was that Tom moved with me. I guessed it gave her a sense of peace, knowing my brother was only a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Overall, it was a good morning. I got to meet Hunter’s mom, Carina and I were bonding; everything was unpacked, and the boxes were all taken away by the delivery guys. But best of all, Ben slipped me his number before he left. Who knew? Maybe I’d be using a babysitter sooner than I anticipated.