Hammer - Galactic Cage Fighters 5 (3 page)

*****

Molly was a little overwhelmed. Hammer hadn’t even checked her credentials. She could be a kidnapper or mass murderer for all he knew. Well, she wasn’t and Maya probably told him all about her anyway. She got the job solely on Maya’s word. She was determined not to let her friend down or regret helping her.

She had to find a new job and a place to live until the condo was sold. Jerry refused to allow her to stay there, claiming that her presence would hinder the sale of the property. He was always giving her a hard time. Even now that their divorce was final. She would be glad not to have anything to deal with Jerry over once the condo sold. He seemed even more belligerent since the divorce. Which had her baffled. He clearly didn’t want to stay married to her so she would think that he would be glad to put an end to things. However, he always found reasons to call and harass her.

When she first called Maya, she had dialed the grandparents' home first. They told her Maya now worked for the Galactic Cage Fighters' Association. They gave her Maya’s cell number. She then called Maya to see if she knew of any jobs at all that she could do with the GCFA. Maya immediately told her about Hammer, one of the GCFA fighters, who needed help with his nieces and nephew. Maya didn’t tell her much about Hammer, just the man stepped up to take the kids when his sister and her husband died. That was enough for Molly to say yes. He was a true man in her eyes and she hadn’t even seen him yet.

Now that she had finally seen him in person, she was awed, intimidated, and—turned on. The last thing was unwelcome. He was her new boss and she would also be living with him—them. He said he had a fourth bedroom that was not used. She would have turned it down insisting on having her own suite, but currently the ship was booked up until the next spaceport. Maya was going to have her kids’ room together so Molly could stay with them until a suite was available. But she didn’t want to impose and staying with Hammer and the kids would be more convenient for everyone.

So here she was, half dragging her large trunk down the corridor toward Hammer’s suite. It was all that she had really. Everything else was to be sold and divided. The door swung open and Hammer stepped out.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier, Miss Maynard? That trunk is way too heavy for you.” He bent down and lifted it with no strain whatsoever.

Damn.
Molly admired his strength. He carried it as if it was air. She thought he could lift her up in his arms just as easily. He could probably hold her with one arm while she rode him like a bucking bull.
Hell yeah! No!
Hell No!
She could not be thinking these things at all. Not with him being her boss. She shook her head and made herself keep a safe distance from him.

Shit!
He was scaring the female with his size and strength. He had only meant to help her. He watched her eyes go wide and then she stepped back from him. He didn’t want Molly to fear him. But then again, maybe this was a good thing. If she kept a good distance from him, it would help him to keep his as well. It was going to be hard because now that he had her scent, and she smelled damn good, he was going to be in a constant state of arousal.

He carried the trunk to the room at the far end of the hallway. “Did you have any more luggage?” He sat the trunk down at the end of the bed. It actually looked like it fit in with his sister’s furniture.

“No, that’s all I own.” Crap, she meant to say that’s all she had. Maybe he didn’t catch her slip.

“That’s all you own?” he asked with concern.

No such luck
. She sighed. “Yeah. That’s it. The rest of my stuff are antiques and are considered joint property. All joint property, including my condo, is going to be sold off and the money divided between me and my husband…ex-husband.”

He looked down at her flushed face. “Maya told me you were going through a bad divorce and that it caused you to lose your job. It must have been financially draining as well.”

Maya nodded, walking around the room admiring the furniture and decor. It didn’t fit Hammer’s taste. “It has been. I’m not broke. I have my own personal account that I saved some up in. But the joint accounts with my ex are frozen.” She didn’t add the lawyer’s fee over the past year had drained a substantial amount that she had saved.

He wanted to ask her more about her ex-husband. What kind of idiot let a fine looking female like Molly walk away? And what kind of an ass would leave the poor thing with nothing but one trunk to call her own? He would have to wait to get the answers he wanted. She acted nervous and uncomfortable talking about it.

“Well, let me know if there is anything that you need but don’t have.” He backed out of the room.

“Wait! When did you want me to start?”

“Tomorrow morning is fine. I will walk you through our typical day.”

“Okay, see you in the morning, Mister…”

“It’s just Hammer.” He gave her a smile before closing the door behind him.

The man had dimples and his eyes lit up when he smiled. How was she to resist a man like that?

*****

Jerry was shaking. “Mr. Lasiter, I will have your money as soon as the condo is sold.”

The man standing across from Jerry wore a scary scar across his face. “I have given you plenty of time to pay me back the loan you owe. Your half of the condo will not cover your debt and your time is up.”

“Please wait! I will get all rights to the condo. Then when I sell it there will be enough to pay everything back.” Jerry pleaded with the two large goons who took hold of his arms.

“I will give you two months, Mr. Fields. If you do not produce the money, you will no longer breathe.”

“I’ll get it no matter what,” Jerry swore as the goons threw him down to the ground. He stayed down until the loan shark and his goons left. What the hell was he going to do? Even if the condo sold, his half wouldn’t be enough to cover his debts. He would sell all the crap on the inside of the condo, but it would take a while to sell everything. As he stood he turned on the nearby television and a news report showed a house that had caught fire. He wondered what kind of insurance they had on the condo? Molly always dealt with the boring stuff like the insurance and taxes. He needed to know what his options were.

Chapter Three

“Operation Nanny Scape will proceed as planned,” Tomas said to his sisters. They had gathered in his room early that morning to discuss their strategy to get rid of the newest nanny, Molly.

“I wanna keep her,” Kate said, stubbornly holding Molly’s bear close to her.

“Come on…we don’t need a stinking nanny. We’re family, she isn’t. You always stick with family,” Tomas told her sternly.

Kate put the bear back down on the floor. “'Kay. But I stills like her.”

“I’m with Tomas on this. We have to work together to get rid of her,” Lauren said, texting someone on her iPod 3000.

“Exactly. Everyone stick to the plan. We’ll have Nanny Molly gone before the end of the day.”

“Humph.” Lauren looked at him with doubt. “It took two days to get rid of Nanny Johnson, and she was old.”

“Fine, by tomorrow Nanny Molly will be on her way home.”

*****

Molly tossed and turned all night. New place and new bed kept her from getting comfortable. Plus, she kept closing her eyes and seeing Hammer there with her, kissing her, touching her. He really left an impression with her. She had never fantasized about any real life man before, not even her husband—ex-husband.

So weird to not be married anymore. Obviously her marriage was not a very loving one. In fact, she spent too many years in hell. The divorce took almost longer than the marriage had lasted. The biggest reason was that her ex was a liar and a cheater. She would go as far as to call him a con artist.

She had met Jerry through a friend of hers at a party. She liked going to parties and out dancing at clubs with her friends. She was a normal warm-blooded woman. She never dated anyone from the clubs or parties, not until she had met Jerry. They had hit it off talking and dancing. He had taken some dancing lessons so he showed off his moves. It was impressive, but that should have been her first clue to the real Jerry. His showmanship.

Jerry liked to be the center of attention. She knew that from the beginning of their relationship. But she had been lonely for a while before she met him and she didn’t want to be lonely anymore. She was ready for a relationship and a family. She thought Jerry wanted the same thing as well. He made her think that anyway.

She lied to herself about the problems. She should have known right after their wedding night that something wasn’t right. Jerry had taken the money her father gave him to book them a honeymoon and blew it all away gambling at a casino for his bachelor party. He didn’t tell her until right before they were supposed to leave to go on their honeymoon. Instead, they had stayed home, telling people that she had come down with something and couldn’t go.

Then it was one thing after another. He was always spending money they didn’t have. If she tried to put them on a budget, he would always blow it. He would then push her to borrow money from her parents just to help them pay the bills. She wanted to go back to school to get her teaching degree but that plan went down the drain too. Jerry decided he wanted to go back to school so she had to get a job to support them while he did that. A year in and Jerry decided he didn’t want to go to school anymore. He quit and got a part-time job at a sales firm of her dad’s long time buddy.

Nothing was ever good enough. No job he had, no amount of money she made was ever enough. Two years into their marriage she refused to borrow any more money from her parents. She worked extra jobs to try to make ends meet. That’s when she suspected he had started to cheat on her.

She remembered that fateful day when she finally caught him in bed with her friend. She had headed straight for the bedroom. The door was wide open. She watched as one of her so-called friends was sucking on his dick. It was the last straw for her. She screamed and threw them both out of the condo with barely anything on.

Molly snorted remembering the two asses, half nude out in the driveway trying to get into their cars. They caused quite the scene. She was glad to know the truth finally, but it still hurt. She had wanted so much to have a husband and family, she just picked the wrong guy.

Well, she was almost completely free of her ex and she was starting a new life and a new job. Things could only get better from here on out. But the idea of opening herself up to another man was just too scary for her right now. How could she trust someone else not to hurt her like Jerry did?

*****

Hammer heard shuffling from the kitchen. Cabinets being opened and closed, drawers opened and shut. He figured it had to be the new nanny learning where everything was. He went to take a quick shower and dress. He wanted to get out there before the kids so he could prevent any…mishaps.

Twenty minutes later, he entered the little kitchen-dining combo. The kids weren’t there yet, good. He watched Molly silently as she made scrambled eggs and bacon. It smelled delicious. She also had several boxes of cereal out with bowls. She almost dropped her pan of eggs when she turned and saw him standing there. He smiled as she hummed a tune while cooking. He could tell that cooking was something she liked to do.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, taking a seat at the table. He wasn’t planning to have her wait on him but he didn’t want his height to intimidate her.

“It’s okay. You move so quietly, I didn’t hear you.” She held up the pan of eggs. “Scrambled eggs okay?”

“Yes, please, and the bacon. It smells wonderful,” he replied. He stole a lingering look at her snug t-shirt covered chest when she leaned forward to scoop some eggs on his plate. Damn the woman made a t-shirt look good. He heard scraping of chairs, which made him tear his eyes off her quickly.

“Good morning everyone,” Molly greeted the children with a bright smile.

“Morning,” they grumbled back when Hammer gave them a look warning them to mind their manners.

Lauren had brought Kate out and sat her in her toddler chair. The little girl looked at Molly and then gave her a big smile. “Molly!”

Molly smiled at the little girl. She was just the most adorable little thing. She had reddish brown hair and blue eyes. “What would you like to eat this morning?”

“Cereal!” Kate yelled out.

“Of course. What about you two?” Molly asked Lauren and Tomas.

“I want eggs and bacon,” Lauren responded.

“Cereal for me,” Tomas told her, shifting in his chair.

She turned to go get a bowl of cereal. She then made more eggs for Lauren. By the time she had her own breakfast of eggs on her plate, she was starving. She pulled out the chair slowly and almost sat down but stopped just as she heard a distinguishing hiss. She jumped back up to her feet.

“What the?” She looked down at what looked like a frog. It was blue in color with green spots. Instead of it croaking, it hissed and its tongue was extra-long with a split end like a snake.

“What did you guys do?” Hammer paled as he leaned over to get the creature. However, Molly got to it first.

“Well look at you,” she cooed. “I haven’t seen a Plutian Snake Frog in years. I used to have one when I was a kid.”

“You aren’t scared?” Tomas asked with surprise.

“Of this little guy? No way, he’s adorable.” The creature hissed and his long split tongue came out and swiped her cheek. Instead of shrieking, she giggled. “I think I’ve made a friend.”

Tomas looked angry as he stood and stomped toward her. “Give him to me, I’ll put him away.”

Molly handed the Plutian Snake Frog over to Tomas. “I’ll make sure I get him extra treats for later.”

Tomas grunted as he walked toward his bedroom. Hammer called after him, “Tomas, we will discuss your punishment later for allowing your pet out of his terrarium.”

Molly didn’t miss a beat. She got busy preparing everyone’s lunches together, and then she started cleaning up the dishes. The kitchen was spotless by the time Hammer was ready to take the kids to their school.