Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Wishing I’d paid closer attention in Introduction to Astronomy, I head downstairs.
I should just stick to the plan I worked out on the way home.
It’s a solid plan, a fair plan. This was all a misunderstanding, after all, not anyone’s fault, not even the agency’s. I’ll just pay Clover for a full week, give her a glowing reference, and explain to Tasha that the reason I need another nanny ASAP has nothing to do with Clover’s abilities.
It’s all me.
Me, and the fact that I still can’t look at the woman without wanting to kiss her.
Hard.
Up against the door or the wall or those cabinets she’s currently wiping down…
As I step into the kitchen, I do my best not to let my gaze drift to the round curve of her ass in her jeans. Instead, I force my gaze to the now clean kitchen table, remembering how happy the girls looked when I walked in. How relaxed and at ease. How normal.
God, all I want for them is “normal.”
But is it “normal” for me to hire a woman I can’t stop having filthy dreams about to be their nanny? I would obviously do everything in my power not to cross any lines, but vibes are vibes.
And there are vibes here. Serious ones.
They sizzle through the air as Clover turns, her eyes widening as they meet mine. “Hey. The girls down?”
“Yeah. They are.” Ignoring the wave of awareness flooding through my chest, attempting to spread to lower, more forbidden places, I add, “So…I got your text.”
She nods, setting the dish towel beside the sink before crossing her arms. “Okay. Good.” Her shoulders inch higher as she shifts from her good leg to her bad one, then back again with a slight wince. “So, what do you think?”
I motion toward the table. “Let’s sit down. You’re probably worn out after running around after the girls all morning.”
Her jaw tightens as she smiles. “I wasn’t running after them. Obviously.” She casts a pointed look down before meeting my gaze again. “But I didn’t have any problems keeping up with them or taking care of them, if that’s what you’re asking. I promise, I didn’t. If I had, I would tell you. I would never want my injury to put a child at risk, not even for a second. But I feel confident that I can care for the girls, I really do. Now, if they were a little younger or not so well-behaved, maybe I would have concerns, but I—”
“No, please,” I cut in. “I’m not worried about that.”
She arches a brow.
“I’m really not,” I assure her. “I trust you. I believe you’d tell me if you didn’t think you could physically handle the job.”
She hesitates a beat, searching my face before she nods, her expression softening. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And I promise, if you decide to keep me on, I won’t make you regret it.”
I pull in a breath, letting it out slow as I motion toward the table again. “Please, sit. I’ll put on another pot of coffee, and we can talk this through over caffeine.”
She laughs and jabs a thumb toward the coffeepot. “Already going. Should be ready in a few minutes. Great minds think alike, I guess.”
“Oh. Good. I…didn’t notice.” I say, sliding into the closest chair as I think about “great minds.”
I wouldn’t call myself a “great mind.” I made good grades in school, and do my best to engage my critical thinking skills—especially with anything I see on the internet—but I’m not the kind who goes looking for thought problems to wrestle to the ground. I’m not like Nix with his philosophical fixations or Blue with his need to get to the bottom of the spiritual mysteries of the world. I’m just a man who wants to live a good life and avoid trouble as often as I can.
But Trouble has had its eye on me lately, a fact proven by the presence of the woman settling into a chair across from mine…
It’s forcing me to think harder, deeper, and I honestly can’t say I’m a fan.
“Thinking is less painful with caffeine,” I confess, summoning a real smile to Clover’s face.
“Amen,” she says. “Especially when you’ve been up since the ass crack of dawn.” She bites her lip, making me uncomfortably aware of her mouth for a moment before she adds, “I obviously didn’t cuss in front of the girls, and I don’t plan to start.”
I huff and drag a hand through my hair. “Well, you’re a better person than I am then. I let things slip more than I should. Always have. Frederica, my ex, used to ride me about it. But at first, when the girls were babies, I couldn’t see that it mattered. They couldn’t understand what I was saying anyway. Then, by the time I realized that Ava was soaking up everything I said like a sponge who thought the word ‘shit’ was hysterical, it was too late. But I’m working on it. I am. I don’t want the girls saying something that will get them in trouble at school.”