Page 74 of The Nanny Game Plan
“Thank you,” I say, my curiosity piqued, but not enough to move a single solitary muscle toward my apartment. “Drive safe, and I’ll text you.”
“Okay,” Plato calls, followed by a sassy caw from somewhere overhead that makes me think Edgar hasn’t gone to bed, after all.
He isn’t a good boy.
And I’mnota good girl.
I’m a very bad girl who has just jumped into the deep end of the feelings pool with my boss. Who isn’t my boss anymore.
But maybe he kind of is? Maybe I kind of want him to be?
“I don’t think I should quit,” I say, as the air outside goes quiet once more. “I don’t want to abandon Ava and Bella like that. We’re already so close, and?—”
“And you’ll stay close. As friends,” Dean says, pulling out and proceeding to mop us both up with his boxer briefs. He’s so easy and relaxed about it that, for the first time in memory, the “after sex” part of things doesn’t feel the slightest bit awkward. “I want you to stay in the apartment as long as you want. And I’ve already arranged for two months’ severance pay and a glowing recommendation with Tasha. You can decide whether to look for another nanny job or shift to working on your design stuff full-time. Meanwhile, you’ll also spend as much time with the guy you’re dating and his adorable kids as feels right.”
I bite my lip, hating how bossy he’s being.
And loving how bossy he’s being.
The part of me that makes my own rules and forges my own path is at war with the part of me that lovesnotbeing in charge of a big decision for once, as I say, “The guy I’m dating, even though I don’t date men with kids, you mean?”
He nods, lips hooking into a crooked grin. “Yes, but you’ve wisely decided to make an exception to your rule just this once.”
“Wisely?” I pull on the pajama top he tosses my way. “Are you sure about that?”
“Positive,” he says.
As we finish dressing, I finally force myself to ask, “But what if there really is no future here? No matter how much both of us might want there to be? What if it just…doesn’t work?”
He pulls in a breath and lets it out slowly, holding my gaze for a beat. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Like grown-ups. Kind grown-ups who care about each other and want the other person to be happy.”
I let that soak in, the words hitting differently than they might have even an hour ago. Maybe magnificent sex doesn’t prove that a man’s a grown-up, but it sure as hell doesn’t hurt.
I believe Dean will stay kind, even when it’s hard.
I believe I will, too.
So, when he informs me that I’ll be accompanying him and the girls to the Mardi Gras parades on Tuesday and—assuming he can find a sitter—going to an adults’ only party with him after, I sigh and say, “Okay.”
He arches a brow, seemingly surprised that I’ve caved so quickly. “Okay?”
“I’m not completely unreasonable.” I shrug. “And I mean, with all this time on my hands, I’ll have to find something to do other than lie in bed all day touching myself and thinking about you.”
“You won’t have to worry about that,” he says, pulling me into his lap. “I’ll keep you coming, baby. You won’t have to lift a finger.”
I moan as he kisses me, long and lingering, while his fingers trail up the inside of my thigh, making me start to burn again.
Damn, this man.
I’m not sure I’m going to survive what he does to me, but hell…what a way to go.
“I was wrong,” I whisper when we finally come up for air. “Two weeks of emergency leave isexactlywhat you needed. Though I am curious where the new nanny is going to live if I’m still in the apartment over the garage.”
“I don’t think a live-in situation is right for me,” he says. “This time, I’ll be looking for someone who has her own place and wants to keep living in it.”
I grin. “Good.”
“Are you the jealous type?” he asks as we start toward the garage, hand in hand.
