Billionaire Mountain Man

“Actually, I've got his kid sleeping in the room Ethan always sleeps in.”

“What? Damn girl, you move fast!” Kerry teased.

“You know it's nothing like that! He's a single dad. And yes, he is gainfully employed. He's the new principal of the high school down the road, JFK High.”

“Wait. He’s a principal? How old is this guy?”

“According to the neighborhood historian, he’s 32. I guess he must be really good at his job. Anyway, his babysitter canceled at the last minute, so I offered to help him out.”

“Oh, I bet you did.” She gave me that nod like I was some kind of harlot. “And what's he gonna give you in return? A nice, long, drawn-out massage, huh?” she asked with a wink.

“No,” I replied with a laugh. “That wasn’t part of the bargain, but a girl can dream,” I joked. “And hey, he says he's good at handyman stuff, so—”

“Oooo, so he’s good with his hands,” Kerry wiggled her eyebrows.

“I was gonna say he's going to help me fix up a few things around the house. You know I'm not good with that stuff.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know. I guess that worked out pretty well then, huh?”

“It did.”

“I still think that you should have asked him for a good, long massage, though.”

“Kerry!”

“Come on; you know you need it. And by it, I’m not talking about an actual massage. I want to make that clear.”

“Yeah. I was aware, smartass. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.”

“What? You're single, he's single, he's hot, you're hot – what am I missing?” she grinned.

I shook my head. “Really? We both know it's not that simple.”

“And it doesn't have to be complicated either,” she said with a knowing glare.

I sighed. “This is me changing the subject. So, how’s the weather?

“Fine,” she huffed. “But this isn’t the last I’m gonna have to say about the hot guy next door.”

“I’d be surprised if it were.”

We chatted for another 20 minutes and then Kerry needed to get to bed, and so I watched a show on Netflix until I heard the doorbell ring. I went over to the hallway, a sudden rush of nervousness and a tingle of fear coursing through me, and looked through the peephole – something that I always did now before opening the door for anyone, even when I was expecting someone. I sighed with relief when I saw that it was Everett.

“Hi, Everett,” I said as I opened the door. “Jane's fast asleep. She and I had a fun time together. She's a real nice girl, very polite and well-behaved. You must be doing a good job as a parent because, believe me, not all three-year-olds are as well-behaved as she is! After the movie, she announced she was sleepy, and so she’s out like a light in my guest room.”

He smiled. “I try to be a good dad. I'm glad to see it's paying off.”

“How was your meeting?”

His face seemed to harden, and it was almost as if a shadow passed across it as I mentioned this.

“It was, uh... Well, there are some pretty serious issues I'm going to have to deal with,” he said. “I think I'm going to have my hands full.”

From his tone, I could tell that he didn't want to elaborate too much, so I didn't push him for details.

“I can only imagine,” I said. “Running a daycare is tough enough; I can't imagine the stress and problems that must come with being in charge of a high school.”

“Oh, don't worry about me,” he said as we walked over to the room where Jane was sleeping. “I worked at a school in inner-city LA