Boyfriend? That was interesting though exactly what Macy had expected. “Did you meet him?” Macy asked Hannah.
Hannah nodded. “He’s young,” she said, giggling. “And hot. He’s a gym manager. I’m hungry. Do you have anything for dinner?” She changed the subject like a pro.
“Hey, kid. We ordered you chicken Parm. I hear it’s your favorite. Want to eat or pick your room first?” Jaxon asked her, shaking his head at Macy, obviously warning her to keep her questions light.
“Room! Then food.”
Smiling at Hannah’s enthusiasm, Macy followed Jaxon and Hannah to the side of the house with three extra bedrooms. It was obvious to Macy that the rooms already had a woman’s touch. Probably his mother or Bri had decorated the guest rooms.
“Remember, you can change yours up any way you want,” he said.
Hannah ran from room to room.
“Don’t go by size,” Macy said. “One has a wall across from the bed with the TV, another has a TV on the side. It might be less comfortable watching. One has room for a desk to do your work. Another might not. You and I have time to go through all three and make a decision. Just pick one for tonight,” she said.
Hannah chose the one with the bed by the window overlooking the pool. “When can my friends come over?” she asked.
“Maybe next weekend. We’ll discuss it.” Macy left Hannah in the bedroom to unpack and walked into the hall where Jaxon waited.
“A boyfriend,” she said to him, “who’s a gym manager. He can’t give her the lifestyle she wants.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek.
“Add it to the list to give to Jonathan’s private investigator and we’ll go from there,” Jaxon instructed her.
She nodded, a sudden wave of exhaustion overtaking her. But she still had to give her sister dinner and show her where the shower and towels were and discuss a morning schedule for school before turning in for the night.
* * *
Jaxon met Linc at the stadium gym, leaving Macy home to work in a sunlit room she’d chosen to use as her work space. They walked inside together because Jaxon had driven them both.
“So will Lizzie and I be seeing you at the Children’s Benefit Saturday night?” Linc asked.
“Son of a bitch.” He slammed his hand on his thigh. “I forgot all about it.”
Linc chuckled. “Considering all that’s going on in your life, I’m not surprised. But it’s a mandatory event for all players.”
Through the publicity department, the team sponsored an organization that supported kids in foster homes. Meeting and greeting the team in a formal setting encouraged donors to reach deep into their pockets to help the kids, and even if it hadn’t been required, Jaxon wouldn’t have missed it.
But all he needed to do was put on a tuxedo, which he had hanging in his closet, cleaned, pressed, and ready to go.
“Which means I have to spring a formal event on Macy.” He knew from having a sister that women liked to buy new dresses for big nights out. “Wonderful,” he muttered, and then an idea came to him. He paused outside the locker room and dialed his sister.
“Good news only,” Brianne answered.
“Then I guess it depends on your mood. I have a black-tie event Saturday night that I forgot about. I have to tell Macy and she’ll need a dress. Didn’t you once tell me you have a personal shopper somewhere?”
“Yes,” she said with an overly dramatic sigh.
“Can you have her pull things and send them over to the house? Or better yet bring them over herself with shoes and accessories?”
Beside him, Linc coughed.
“Shut up,” Jaxon muttered. “You’d do the same thing if the situation were reversed.”
Linc turned his head to the side. “Because I’m in love with Lizzie. What’s your excuse?”
Bri burst out laughing. “He’s got you there, little brother. Okay, I’m on it, but I’m sure it’s going to cost you big bucks being so last-minute.”
“It’s fine. Thanks for handling it. I’ll call you later.”
He disconnected and ignored Linc’s smirk as he called Macy to let her know she had to dress up for the role of baseball player’s wife.
* * *
For her office, Macy had taken over a room on the lower level of Jaxon’s house with a set of windows overlooking his beautiful property. The custody hearing loomed in the distance, but so far, Lilah had been behaving, calling Hannah on her cell, asking Macy before picking her up from school once during the early part of the week. Not wanting to rock things, Macy hadn’t asked her lawyer to move anything up. She wasn’t ready for a court date. Instead she put her nerves aside and tried to live her life. Which, at the moment, meant work.
With Hannah at school and Jaxon at the gym, her muse flowed in her new surroundings and work came easily, even the back-end coding.