Page 29 of Curvy Nanny for the Nerd

Layla glared at me, stood and left the table without a word. She didn’t even put her bowl in the sink.

Since both the females in my life were unhappy with me, I retired to my office and spent the day working. When dinnertime rolled around, I expected Toni or Layla to knock on my office door with a reminder but it didn’t come.

I ended the workday just after nine in the evening and went in search of dinner, finding the kitchen pitch black and the whole house eerily quiet. Dinner was warming in the oven but there was no note, no hint of the consideration I’d grown used to over the past few weeks.

It hurt more that Toni wasn’t blatantly rude, as if I wasn’t worth her wrath, which was all kinds of fucked up. She wasn’t mean or angry, just aloof and quiet. Mostly she was sad and that made me feel like the worst kind of bastard.

I ate my dinner in solitude and vowed to do better tomorrow.

I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Chapter 16

Toni

“Stay for dinner, Toni. Please?” Layla did her adorable pouty face and it was downright irresistible, bouncing in her seat until I relented. “Pretty please?”

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics, but I couldn’t deny that I’d missed having dinner with Layla over the past week. And the taco bar we’d done together looked too good to pass up. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!” She shouted back.

I was all too aware of Brady’s eyes on me, so was my body, which damn near vibrated with a need that I was determined to shove down deep. My attraction to Brady could be managed easily, as long as we didn’t spend any time alone together.

“Then I’ll stay for dinner. You had me at tacos.”

She flashed a satisfied smile and turned to her uncle. “Do you like tacos, Uncle Brady?”

“I love them,” he answered with a genuine smile before his gaze swung to mine. “They’re my absolute favorite.”

As if I could forget one of the few truths he’d actually shared with me. I hadn’t forgotten any of it, especially his flat out refusal to tell me anything personal last week and my subsequent retreat from our budding…whatever it was. For the past week—eight days to be exact—I’d kept a distance between us, both physical and emotional. It was better this way, no matter how much it caused an ache in my chest, no matter how awkward it was between us.

It had to be this way.

He’d made it this way.

“What did you ladies do today,” he asked Layla, who was happy to fill in the silence with the obliviousness of a child.

She told him about what she’d learned during our lessons, which consisted of a lot of math in many different ways. Brady, for his part, listened with rapt attention, seemingly fascinated by the lesson plans. His gaze was genuine however, which only made him more attractive, dammit.

I ate my tacos, mostly in silence, letting uncle and niece bond the way they should have been doing all along. Maybe this was for the best. Maybe withdrawing from family time off the clock was promoting their growth as a family unit. Without me.

Maybe I should just do my job and stop worrying about the hot nerd paying my salary.

There was no maybe about it. This was the for the best, for all three of us. I let out a quiet sigh and enjoyed one last taco before I decided to call it a night. But Layla, the mischievous little minx, beat me to the punch.

“I’m tired now,” she declared loudly. “Good night.”

Brady stood, confused by the sudden end to dinner. “Mind if I help you get settled into bed?”

Layla looked so confused. “You want to?”

Brady looked adorable and vulnerable as he nodded his desire to help. “I do.”

“Okay.” Layla took his hand and practically dragged him out of the kitchen. “Good night, Toni!”

I smiled at the cheerfulness in Layla’s voice, happy that she was finally feeling as if this was her home. When I was alone,the smile dropped and I decided to clear my mind by putting away the dishes and leftover food. The past week without Brady felt strange, which only highlighted how important it was to put some much needed distance between us.

We’d been sleeping together for just a few weeks, but sharing a bed every night and having most meals together made everything feel more intense in a shorter period of time. It was an accelerated non-relationship, and now that it was over, I felt heartbroken.

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