Page 12 of Curvy Nanny for the Nerd

I frowned but it wasn’t with anger or even embarrassment. I felt like one of the group, as if we were—in a way—commiserating over something universally relatable. “She works for me.”

Sierra sighed. “Considering how much most of us work, where the hell else are we supposed to meet people?”

That was a good point, one I hadn’t considered. Thankfully the sound of a small but powerful knock on the office door stopped that line of conversation.

“Enter.” I steeled myself to see Toni again, but it was Layla who poked her head in.

“Hi. Lunch is in the kitchen if you’re hungry!” She ducked out and the sound of her fading footsteps was all that was left of my niece.

“Cute kid,” Sierra said. “No wonder you’ve been distracted. There’s a lot going on here lately.”

“I’m working on it,” I bit out harshly.

“No judgment,” she offered. “It’s a lot to take on, and now it makes sense. We all thought you were burnt out maybe. Glad to see it’s just normal life shit.”

I frowned. “Why didn’t you just ask?”

She laughed. “You’re not exactly the sharing personal deets kind of guy,Brady.” Her emphasis on my name wasn’t lost on me.

Had I really not told my employees that I was now guardian to my niece? That my sister and brother-in-law had died? Most of the time I work in my home office, leaving my COO to run theoffice. It was an arrangement that had worked well for years, so I had never needed to share much of my personal life with the staff before now. But maybe I sold myself short as well as them? “Let’s break for lunch,” I said and glanced down at my phone. “Or an early dinner.”

“Food anytime of day is good,” Cal replied with a smile as he made a quick exit.

There was no hint of Layla or Toni in the kitchen. I found a note written in neat cursive telling me they’d gone to the park for some outdoor time and that Layla helped make the sandwiches. There were more sandwiches than four people could eat, plus chips, cheese puffs, salad and a platter of antipasto.

“Whoa, fancy stuff here,” Sierra laughed and plucked a sundried tomato from the platter, groaning as she chewed it. “I say we make this a working lunch,” she began with a conspiratorial smile. “To make sure we make the most of their hard work,” she added with a laugh.

I ignored the pang of disappointment that washed over me when I read Toni’s note, clutching it in my hand like it was a Dear John letter. “Yeah, a working lunch sounds good.”

We worked through lunch and the early evening. I was satisfied that we were all caught up and back on track when I closed the door behind my team.

Progress.

It felt good to finally have some semblance of control over at least one aspect of my life.

Since I had not one fucking iota of control over my thoughts where a certain fire haired nanny was concerned.

Chapter 8

Toni

The one thing I missed about living in an apartment since leaving my family home was having a nice place to curl up under the stars and get lost in a fascinating story. Sure, as a nanny I was often living in a large home just like this one, but so many families have no concept of personal time. If you show your face during off-the-clock hours, then you couldn’t have a moment of peace. The kids looked to you as the authority figure in their lives because you were there for them, and the parents were out of their depth and expected the nanny to pitch in out of the goodness of her heart.

That shit was tiring, so I got used to reading in my room.

But Brady,no last name, wasn’t that much of a stickler, and he spent every waking hour in his office, so once Layla was down for the night I knew I could come out here and read in peace. And the readingwouldhave been peaceful if I didn’t keep imaging the sexy cop from my novel with Brady’s long-legged, lazy gait and his sexy smile. The man rarely smiled, but when he did—holy crap—it was a thing of beauty. His full lips spread into an almost picture-perfect smile highlighted by straight white teeth and that ever present hint of stubble that I could practically feel on the insides of my thighs.

“You didn’t have to make lunch today.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Brady’s deep voice. Slowly I turned to look over my shoulder, trying with everything in me to pretend as if I wasn’t just thinking about his face buried between my thick thighs.

“Brady.” My voice came out breathless, and I cleared my throat and tried again. “Did I overstep?” I knew there were some people, mostly women, who objected to any move that would make it seem as if they weren’t superwomen who could lead board meetings and whip up lunch for a crowd.

His dark brows pulled into a frown and he shook his head. “What? No. Absolutely not. I’m grateful for your thoughtfulness, I just wanted you to know that it isn’t expected of you. It’s not part of your job description, so while it’s very much appreciated and always appreciated, it isn’t required.” He looked so sincere it was hard to look away, especially with the way his blue eyes searched my face.

And then lower.

I felt his gaze deep in my belly before the hot flushed feeling worked its way down between my thighs.Dammit, no Toni. No lusting after the sexy, nerdy, single dad.

---