The Nanny, the Husband, and the Woman They Forgot I Was novel · Chapter 7 of 32

Chapter 7: Bluff Cove

"Bluff Cove," I said. "What is it?"

"Not here." Cliff straightened up. "Cortado for the gentleman."

The dad behind me took his cup and backed away slowly.

"When, then?"

"I close at noon." He didn't look at me. "Park by the bike racks. Bring the boss."

I sat in my car for an hour and forty minutes.

I fed Rosie. I changed her on the passenger seat.

I read the Cayman statements again on my phone.

BCA. BCA. BCA. Every month for six years, always on the third.

At noon the line was gone and the truck's awning came down with a bang.

The back door opened.

Cliff jumped down onto the asphalt with a dish towel over his shoulder.

He held the door for me.

Inside it was narrow and hot and smelled like burnt sugar.

There was one stool. He pointed me at it and leaned on the counter himself.

Rosie stared at the espresso machine.

"Okay," Cliff said. "First thing. Did he send you?"

"Blake? He's trying to take my daughter."

"That's not a no."

"He filed for emergency custody on Saturday. He said I'm unstable. His girlfriend swore I didn't want my baby." I lifted Rosie a little. "Does she look unwanted to you?"

Cliff looked at Rosie.

Rosie grabbed a fistful of his beard.

He didn't flinch.

He just closed his eyes for a second.

"Okay," he said, a little muffled. "That's a no."

He worked his beard free one hair at a time.

Then he reached up to a shelf over the cups and took down a coffee can.

It wasn't full of coffee.

It was full of receipts, a spare key, and a folded sheet of paper in a sandwich bag.

He handed me the sandwich bag.

"I've carried that around for six years," he said. "It's moved apartments with me four times."

I unfolded it on my knee.

It was an invoice.

Bluff Cove Advisory. Strategic Growth Consulting, Q2. Forty thousand dollars.

← Chapter 6 · All chapters · Chapter 8 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend