Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Charli

When I woke, Hunter was already gone for work. No good morning, no coffee together. No silly quips to start our day.

It was as if Saturday night never happened.

I got Carina up and ready for our walk. She was such a happy baby, babbling and blowing spit bubbles. I cooed at her while I put the flowered dress over her head and pulled the matching bloomers up her chubby legs. “Your daddy is a complete jerk face, you know that? Yep. I would have thought things were changing between us moving forward. Instead, I feel like we’ve taken ten steps backward.”

She couldn’t understand a thing I said, but it felt cathartic to tell someone. I couldn’t very well talk to my brother about it for fear he’d immediately start hacking Hunter’s life. Not that I would tell my mother the dirty details, but she didn’t need an excuse to beg me to come home. Gia and Penny? We weren’t really friends, more like acquaintances. I barely knew them. And Jasmine? She’d definitely have an opinion, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it was .

It was sad to think that in the two years I lived in Vegas I’d hardly made any friends at all. Perhaps that’s what happened when you put all your time into your job. You ended up lonely and alone.

I picked up Carina and bounced her on my hip. “Good thing I have you, baby girl. You’re a good listener and you keep your opinions to yourself.”

I decided to start our day by walking down to the corner diner where Hunter bought our breakfast. Yesterday we were sharing banana pancakes and today we were pretending like each other didn’t exist. If I’d known a joking comment about being jealous was going to elicit his reaction, I would have kept my mouth shut.

The more I thought about it, the more I stewed. How dare he speak to me that way? I never asked him for marriage. I never even asked him for a relationship. All I asked for was some respect, which I definitely didn’t get. I wasn’t some floozy he picked up off the street.

It was my mistake to think he actually cared about me. I lived there. I was convenient.

He didn’t care.

I thought it would be hard to leave this job when it was over, but it was getting easier by the minute. Of course, I’d miss Carina, but Hunter could go fuck himself for all I cared. It would be strictly business from now on. I was hired to be the nanny and that’s it. There would be no more home-cooked meals or travel mugs with fresh coffee or neatly folded clothes on his bed or any of the other dozen things I did to be nice.

Nice was done.

If he had no intention of ever getting married, then it was high time I quit playing wife to him.

My mind was made up by the time the bell above the door jangled when we entered the diner. The place was busy for a Monday morning, but I found us a table in the corner where the stroller wouldn’t be in the way. I ordered scrambled eggs for Carina and a full country breakfast for myself, with bacon, pancakes, an omelet, and toast. Being mad made me hungry and I was starving, especially since I did little more than push my food around the plate last night. It pissed me off that my meal was ruined by Hunter’s assholeness.

As we waited for our food, a familiar face walked in. I felt bad about canceling my date with Ben, but maybe he’d be up for still going out sometime. It was obvious that Hunter and I wouldn’t be dating. In hindsight, it was stupid of me to cancel my plans with a nice guy for someone who saw me as little more than the hired help.

I waved my arm at Ben and shouted his name. He raised his hand in acknowledgment and came over to our table. “Hey, Ben. I’m sorry I never got back with you. Things have been really hectic with this little one. How have you been?”

His eyebrows knitted together. “I’ve been better, Charli. I see you’re still doing the nanny thing.” His voice held none of the friendliness it did a few weeks ago.

I guessed he was mad about me canceling. “Yes, she’s a doll. Do you want to join us for breakfast?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Definitely still mad. “Oh, come on. What could it hurt? I thought maybe we could reschedule that date.”

Ben blew out a frustrated breath. “Are you for real right now?”

Okay, maybe more than mad. That was not the reaction I expected. “I’m sorry I had to cancel on you.”

“That’s not it, Charli. I was fine with rescheduling. You really don’t have a clue, do you?”

It was my turn to shake my head. “I don’t understand.”

“Your boss”—his nose flared—“got me fired.”

“Fired? For what?”

“Inappropriate behavior with a customer.”

My eyes went wide. “What?”

“That’s right. Apparently, me asking you out crossed the lines of appropriate workplace behavior. No offense, but I recently started a new job, and I don’t need your boss fucking it up for me. So, forgive me if I don’t take you up on that rain check. ”

“I’m so sorry, Ben. I had no idea.” My apology was completely inadequate. “He had no right to do that to you.”

“Yeah, well, he did it. I’m trying to move forward. Have a nice life, Charli.” He turned and left the diner without even eating. The man couldn’t get away from me fast enough.

I fumed. Talk about crossing lines… Hunter crossed a huge one. Not only did he make me feel like shit last night, but he ruined my chance to go out with an actual good guy. He might as well have pissed on me like a territorial dog.

If things had worked out with Hunter, I never would have called Ben anyway, but that wasn’t the point. He got Ben fired before we slept together. Hunter’s whole plan from the beginning was to keep me for himself. For what? To control me?

Screw that!

Pulling out my phone, I began typing furiously.

Me: You got Ben fired?

I stared at the screen and waited for his reply, tapping my fingers on the table impatiently. He could have been in a meeting or knee-deep in his beloved spreadsheets, but it annoyed me that a response didn’t come.

Our breakfast arrived and I tried to enjoy my time with Carina, but my mind wouldn’t stop turning over the conversation with Ben. Mad didn’t even describe my feelings. Furious? Horrified? Embarrassed?

Yep, yep, and yep.

When Carina and I finished our breakfast, I whipped out Hunter’s credit card to pay the bill. It was a small act of defiance, and he probably wouldn’t even care, but it gave me some satisfaction. Twenty bucks was nothing to him, but if I wanted to move back out on my own every dollar counted.

We went from the diner to the park and Carina waved her arms in delight when she saw our feathered friends waddling about. Seemed the ducks recognized us too because they headed in our direction in search of food. I grabbed the bag of stale bread from under the stroller and threw it to the birds, who gobbled it up .

Across the pond, I saw Ginny walking with Teddy. I quickly threw the rest of the bread on the ground and headed toward the apartment. My last interaction with her was weird and intrusive. I thought she had the potential to be a friend, but something was seriously off with that woman. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was definitely odd.

My day kept getting worse. I planned on working out to rid myself of the pent-up frustration but there was a sign in the lobby noting the gym was closed for maintenance.

And I still hadn’t heard from Hunter. He’d read my message but didn’t bother replying to it.

I started wondering if the money was worth the aggravation of this job.

Nannies were a dime a dozen. I could easily be replaced.

While Carina napped, I looked for an apartment. With the money I saved, there had to be something I could afford.

The way I saw it, the sooner Hunter and I went our separate ways, the better.