Page 47 of Curvy Nanny for the Nerd

“Okay!” She bounced up and down on her toes and turned those beautiful silver-blue eyes my way. “Will you stay for dinner tonight, Toni?”

Dammit, I should have known she would ask mostly because she asked nearly every damn day with hope shining in her eyes. “Sorry, kiddo. Not tonight. I need to get the progress reports done for this week. Maybe another night?”

“You always say that,” she pouted.

She was right and I felt bad that my absence at the dinner table was felt so keenly. It was my own damn mistake for ever eating a meal with the family. It wasn’t against the rules but I didn’t do it generally. “I know and I’m sorry, but you have your uncle.”

“Since those progress reports are for me, I won’t mind if they’re a little late.”

I clenched my jaws so tight I think one of my teeth split in half. The last thing I wanted was to have dinner with Brady andpretend that things were all right between us when they weren’t. He knew it too.

He doesn’t care.

I shrugged and feigned rubbing my forehead. “Thank you for the offer but I’m not really hungry. Had a big lunch.” I was off my game because at my words, a look of concern crossed Layla’s face.

“Are you okay, Toni? Are you dizzy again?”

I froze at the question but I recovered quickly. “I’m not dizzy but I am still feeling sick so I’m going to lay down and cross my fingers that I’ll feel better tomorrow. Okay?”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” I said and tried for a smile that would make me sound believable to Layla. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around the little girl, giving her a tight, reassuring squeeze. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Okay?”

She nodded but sadness lingered in her gaze. “Good night, Toni.”

I ignored the heavy weight of Brady’s gaze on me as I left the kitchen. He didn’t get to be concerned about me, not anymore. Not that he ever truly cared anyway. I made my way up to my bedroom, crawled on top of the bed and I promptly fell asleep.

Sleep came easily which was a relief, it was just too bad that my dreams were full of visions of Brady, smiling at me. Laughing with me. Kissing me. Touching me all over.

It was the most peaceful yet torturous sleep of my life.

Chapter 27

Brady

Toni was sick? She’d gotten dizzy today?Why was this first I heard of any of this? If she was too sick to do her job then I should’ve been the first to know. She hadn’t said a word, not that it surprised me at all since she hadn’t said much to me for too many days to count, unless you counted greetings and farewells. And I didn’t count that, especially since they were mostly for the benefit of Layla so she didn’t have a clue that anything in her life had changed.

What was wrong with her and why hadn’t she told me?As her employer, if nothing else, had a right to know. As Layla and I sat down for dinner an insidious thought worked its way into my brain. What if Toni hadn’t said anything because she was setting the stage for another payday? A much bigger one?

Stop it,I told myself. Thoughts like that were how I ended up in this uncomfortable situation in the first place. The truth was that I had no real, concrete reason not to trust Toni. She’d proven herself to be incredibly trustworthy and the problem was now that she could no longer trust me. I hadn’t given her a reason to want to open up to me, in fact I’d given her plenty of reasons not to trust me with her body or her heart.

I wasn’t able to get much out of Layla about Toni being sick other than a brief dizzy spell. It was clear that my niece was worried but she trusted Toni when she told her it was just everyday sickness.

I should just trust her too.

I tried, but I failed. All throughout dinner, my mind was stuck on what was wrong with Toni. What if it was something significant? What if she needed some kind of long-term treatment? Who would she go to for help? I was so focused on my curvy nanny that I absently agreed to Layla’s request for two big cookies for dessert.

Still, after dinner I couldn’t work because I was too damn worried about Toni. At bedtime, all I wanted was to have her in bed beside me, her curvy body curled around mine so that the scent of her skin lulled me into a deep and peaceful slumber.

When it became clear that sleep wouldn’t come easily, I kicked off the bedding and got to my feet and went in search of a cold glass of water. I needed to do something about the Toni distraction. I needed to find a way to get her to forgive me or I needed to forget about her. I already knew forgetting her wasn’t an option.

But luck was shining on me because I found Toni in the kitchen, lit by the refrigerator in a pair of shorts that showed off her silky thighs and a tank top that showed off nearly all of her midriff.This is my moment,I said and crept closer until I could smell her fresh from the shower scent. “We need to talk.”

Her shoulders stiffened and that was the only clue she’d heard me or that I’d startled her. She turned slowly, closing the fridge door, before her gaze settled on my face. Her green eyes studied my face carefully, folding her arms as if preparing for a fight. “Are you unhappy with my work?”

My brows dipped forward at her question. “What? No.” I shook my head because I was anything but unhappy with herwork. “You’ve brought Layla out of her shell and you’ve managed to bring us closer together. I’m grateful to you for that.”

“Okay.” That one word was clipped but it held a wealth of emotion and none of them were positive.

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