Free Fair Play by Emerson Rose

here.”
    Whoa, now that I wasn’t expecting. I thought he was going to razz me some more about staying at The Madison, not invite me to stay with him.
    “Oh, I couldn’t impose on you like that. You’ve got enough going on with your nanny situation. I don’t want to add to your problems.”
    “You’re not a problem at all.”
    Scarlet sits up straighter in her seat and looks from Nick to me.
    “You’ll stay with us?”
    Her eyes are sparkling and full of hope. Oh my God, how am I supposed to say no to that. I look to Nick for help, and he lifts his coffee to his smirking lips and shrugs.
    He knew he had a little weapon sitting next to him. He used her irresistible allure to suck me in. It’s not that he isn’t a good enough reason to accept the offer because he is, but he is still essentially a stranger.
    Her big blue eyes seal the deal exactly the way he knew they would.
    “You play dirty, don’t you?” I ask, directing the question at him.
    “Whatever do you mean?” His eyes pop open wide with feigned innocence and insult.
    “Please,” Scarlet says, dragging out the word, imploring me to stay with them.
    “Okay, I’ll come under one condition.”
    “Anything,” he says, all traces of playfulness gone, replaced with a serious tone. 
    “You go about your day like I’m not there. I don’t want to disrupt your life.”
    “Easy. Done.”
    “You’re staying?” Scarlet asks, holding her breath. I’ve never seen a child get so excited.
    “Yep.”
    She lets out a screech that draws the attention of the few people who are in the restaurant.
    “Letty honey, shush, mind your manners.”
    She’s smiling from ear to ear and his words aren’t stern, as if he’s only saying them for the other patrons’ sake.
    “Shall we go?”
    I groan, “Yes, I’m stuffed. Let’s go work off some of these calories running around on the pier.”
    Hours later, we pull up in front of a southern plantation home with columns, a wrap-around porch, and a lush sprawling green lawn that goes on forever.
    “Oh my God, this is gorgeous. We have to take some pictures here, on the porch on the lawn.”
    Nick pulls the car around the circle drive and I plaster my face against the window, craning my neck to see the balcony that mirrors the porch directly above it. He chuckles at my excitement, but he has no idea that his house is a photographer’s dream come true.
    “Seriously, Nick, your house is a fantastic location for your family photo shoot. I can’t believe we were wasting our time on the beach when you had all of this at your disposal.”
    “I’m glad you like it. I never thought about it but yeah, it would be a great place for pictures.”
    I rip my eyes from the beauty of his home and look at him with my mouth hanging open.
    “You never thought of having family photos done here? It’s your family home, what better place to have family pictures done?”
    His chuckle turns into laughter. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ansel, I don’t think like a famous photographer.”
    “Ansel Adams was my great grandpa,” I say, completely deadpanning. He stops laughing and eyes me with suspicion until I can’t hold my straight face any longer. I crumble into a fit of laughter and point my finger at him. “You were thinking about it, weren’t you? Admit it, you were doing the math in your head, weren’t you?”
    He rolls his eyes, “You’re a jokester huh? I’ll have to remember that.”
    “Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s just so beautiful here.”
    “Thank you, I guess I do take it for granted sometimes. We are so busy running in and out and traveling all the time I don’t take time to really look around.”
    I shake my head. “That’s a damn shame. Whoops, sorry.” I look back to see if Scarlet caught me swearing, and she’s out cold with her head lolled to one side and her mouth hanging open.
    “She’s heard worse, believe me. Most of the guys on the team are pretty foul-mouthed, except for Ben. I should tell you