Page 12 of Curvy Nanny for the Grumpy Single Dad

Ineeded to apologize to the nanny.

That was my first thought as I came to a stop in the driveway behind the Escalade. Though why I even cared so much was a mystery to me. Lucy worked for me, not the other way around, and despite her snarky yet also chipper attitude, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Three days had passed since she twirled away from my attempt to apologize, and every day since she had been mysteriously absent unless Lena was also around as our unofficial chaperone.

The more I thought about it though, I thought maybe not apologizing was the way to go. As long as she was a little annoyed with me, we could keep a professional distance between us that would prevent us both from doing something stupid, like give in to temptation. Like strip every stitch of clothing from her luscious body and make her mine. Only for a night though, because I didn’t do long-term, not anymore. No more marriages and no more babies for me. One night, or maybe a few weeks of carnal bliss was all I needed to keep me going.

In the end though, for the sake of keeping the peace, I decided to apologize. I found Lucy and Lena in the backyard. But instead of skipping around the grass or having a tea party, they were laid out on a pink blanket with their heads together facing the sky.

“I see a bunny rabbit!” Lena’s excited words stopped my progress across the lawn, and I watched the two females as I rolled up my sleeves and popped the top buttons on my shirt. Lena giggled and pointed at the sky.

“I can’t quite see it,” Lucy said in a gentle, guiding voice. “How many clouds is this bunny rabbit?”

Without missing a beat, Lena pointed as she counted them out carefully. “See?”

Lucy gasped and nodded. “Oh yeah, now I see it perfectly. Very good, Lena.” She was so good at this, finding ways to encourage Lena while infusing even fun activities with learning. “Okay, my turn. I see a pig!” She pointed and did a terrible impression of a pig’s oink.

Lena giggled wildly and pointed to the sky once again. “I see it too!” She counted once again, this time without being prompted. “You’re good at this game Lucy.”

She huffed a laugh and shrugged. “I played this game a lot when I was a little girl, and even during study breaks when I was in college.” There was a wistfulness in her voice that sent a multitude of questions firing off inside my head.

Lena gasped. “You played this as a grownup?”

“Yup, I did.” There was laughter in Lucy’s voice when she answered.

“Not with a little kid like me?”

“Nope. Just with myself. It’s soothing, which means calming. You’ll see when you start school, sometimes you just need a break, and this was mine.”

“I’m always gonna look at the cloud animals!”

Lucy laughed. “You should. You’re never too old to take a few moments for yourself.”

Damn if there wasn’t something totally appealing about the way she spoke to my little girl. Lucy had a knack for talking to kids on their level without it sounding like she was talking down to them. It was clear why she was a sought after nanny, which meant I really, really needed to apologize. I crossed the yard and stood beside them, my body cast a shadow over their smiling faces.

“Excuse me, ladies.”

“Hi Daddy!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Lena. Every single day, without fail, she greeted me with the kind of excitement only a kid could produce. “Hey sweetheart. Having a good day?”

“The best day, Daddy. You wanna look at cloud animals with us?”

My lips quirked and I ran a hand through my hair. “Maybe. I was hoping to have a word with Lucy, first.”

“We’re not done yet Daddy.”

“She’s right,” Lucy smirked and shielded her eyes. “If you want to talk, get down here and find a cloud animal.” There was so much laughter in those blue slits, challenging me, that I had no choice but to lie down.

I found a spot right between them, but my body faced the opposite direction because there wasn’t enough room the other way. I turned my gaze to the clouds and frowned. “What am I supposed to see exactly?”

Lucy chuckled as her gaze swung to mine. “Use your imagination,” she whispered, and that’s when I realized what a big mistake I’d made. I should have taken the spot on the other side of Lena because we were so close, her minty breath fanned across my face.

“I save my imagination for more important things.” The innuendo in my words made her smile even broader.

A single blond brow arched and she leaned just a little closer. “Try harder.”

And now I was thinking about her plump lips tackling something else hard. Shit. “How?”

“Pretend this is important to you,” she said with a smile, but the fire in her eyes told me she thought I was falling down on the job, and I hated that she was right.

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