Page 27 of Curvy Nanny for the Nerd

“Trust takes time to build. Remember the rocky road Dante and I had to get to where we are today.”

“Yeah, I know, but he’s not even giving me a chance. He’s already decided that I’m not someone he can trust with something as basic as his identity.” Not just that, he’s already decided that I’m clearly someone who chased after money and status, which meant he still didn’t know me either. If that was the case, why was I so worried?

Lucy sighed. “Sometimes rich men are weird about people’s motivations for getting close to them. You know that.”

“Exactly! Despite the things I’ve shared with him, he still doesn’t know me if he thinks that.”

“It’s a hard habit to break,” she offered sympathetically. “Dante told me about the nannies who tried to seduce him. The women who looked at him with dollar signs in their eyes. It creates a complex, and I mean, who wouldn’t want Dante with or without his millions?”

I laughed. “Spoken like a woman madly in love. Though I will concede your husband is smokin’ hot.”

“Right?” She laughed for a long moment before it died out. “But it definitely made it difficult for him to trust me. Remember when Alex came to visit?”

“The difference is that he was jealous, Lucy. He was jealous because he had feelings for you and worried you might beusing him. Brady hasn’t given me a chance.” The truth of that statement rocked me. I sat up as realization dawned. “You know what? I’m not worried about it anymore. I can’t be.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” I stood and paced the length of my room. “It means that I can’t keep sleeping with him because he doesn’t trust me or know me, and he doesn’t want to.”

“You have feelings for him, don’t you?”

“No. Maybe. Hell, I don’t know Lucy. But what I do know is that I can’t engage in a risky relationship like that with a man who can fire me. It would be worth it if it was going somewhere, maybe, but since it’s not, it definitely isn’t worth it.” I could find casual sex anywhere that wouldn’t impact my career or my professional reputation. “You’ve been a big help this time, Lucy.”

“Thanks, I think,” she laughed just as the sound of a baby whimpering interrupted her. “Let me know how it goes,” she said before ending the call abruptly.

Resolved, I continued to pace until I burned off the nervous energy that pulsed through my limbs. From this moment forward, Brady was just my boss. Our relationship was strictly professional. No more stolen kisses or late night talks. No more toe-curling sex.

No more earth tilting orgasms.

That saddened me, but it was what had to be done. I could getjust sexanywhere, I didn’t need to bring it to work with me. Sex was easy, but the connection we had wasn’t as easy to find. Clearly Brady didn’t feel the same way.

So, it was settled.

Chapter 15

Brady

“Can I buy you a drink, beautiful?” Once again I found Toni curled up on a lounger in the backyard, getting lost in a book.

She looked up at me, but her usually sparkling green eyes were dim, almost sad. “Just got one,” she said and nodded to the martini on the table beside her, promptly returning to her book.

Okay. I took a seat at the edge of her lounger and placed a hand on her leg because I couldn’t be that close to her without touching her. “What are you reading?”

“A book,” she says softly. “About a decade’s long search for a serial killer. Want to borrow it when I’m done?”

I frowned, unable to tell if she was joking or not. “Something’s wrong.” It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Toni was usually a straight shooter, a woman who didn’t play games, but right now she wasn’t herself.

She closed the decorative case on her e-reader and turned her gaze to me, and yeah, there it was. Sadness. Toni was sad. “Nothing is wrong, just clear.”

“That sounds ominous.” My heart lurched and my stomach flipped because I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like whatever she had to say next.

“Not at all. I’ve been thinking, and we need to go back to our professional relationship. Only our professional relationship.”

How could she say those words when my hand was still on her thigh and moving up. “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” she insisted a little too harshly. “You’re my boss.”

“I’ve been your boss from the moment we met, Toni. Why is it a problem now?” It didn’t make any sense.

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