Page 31 of Nanny for the Firefighter

A slight chuckle leaves me, and in the next few minutes, I have all the groceries brought into the living room. I give the delivery guy, Saul, a wave and offer to help him back to his car.

He looks far too old to be doing this job, but he waves me off.

“Nah, I’m fine. See you next week, Breanne.”

Rolling my lips between my teeth, I grin. “Um, Bridget.”

“Oh,” his brows shoot up, “darn it. Bridget, yes, of course. See you next week.”

“See you then, Saul.”

He toddles off to his car, which takes two tries to start, and then drives off further into town. I watch the car on the quiet road for a few minutes, standing at the door with my hand on the knob.

Crack.

I snap my attention to the trees off to the left, where I heard the sound. There’s nothing. I’m being paranoid again.

With a resigned sigh, I go back inside to put away the groceries. I need to make a trip into town today to look at a car, and I should really get going.

NINE

Mason

There’s a knock on the door right when I expect it, and I head over to let Bridget in.

“Mia! Bridget’s here!” I call out, and within seconds, I can hear the pitter-patter of her little footsteps rushing to the door.

I’m glad she’s here a bit early today, too. I have a number of things that need to get sorted at the office for the renovations I’m doing to the newly acquired lodge, and getting a headstart on them could mean I’m not home so late this time.

Reaching for the door, I start thanking Bridget for coming early before I even see her.

“Bridget, thank you so much. I need to head into the?—”

Hudson is standing on my porch, and even though I see Bridget there, I’m surprised to see my buddy at the door today.

He’s been waving from the car before heading to his own job since he started bringing Bridget here to watch Mia.

Why is he gracing me with a face-to-face now?

“Hey, buddy. Something I can help you with?” I cock a brow at Hudson and notice Bridget smiling out of the corner of my eye.

She steps forward, slipping past me to go inside, and I turn long enough to see Mia run into Bridget’s arms. Bridget carries Mia to the stairs, likely going up to her room.

“Yes, actually. Mind if I come in?”

Turning back to Hudson, I shake myself back into focus and nod. “Sure. What’s up?”

Hudson steps in, going to the kitchen and leaning on the tall marble countertops with a sigh.

“I’m afraid your buddy overpromised, and I really can’t afford to underdeliver.”

Cracking a bit of a grin as I roll my eyes, I walk to the other side of the counter, standing across from Hudson as I fold my arms over my chest.

“Explain.”

Raking his hand through his hair, Hudson stands up again, taking a deep breath as he leans back.

“The boss asked me to host a work function. Which, you know, is great and wouldn’t usually be a problem if it were just for the local office. But this time, he’s inviting the entire regional team. He doesn’t want to use an event hall, either. He wants it ‘comfortable, a relaxed get-together.’ His words.”

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