Page 49 of Single Dad's Hot Nanny

“I’m not seeing the problem.” Lincoln shrugged. “Call her up—hopefully, she’s still available—and date the woman. Simple.”

“Not so simple. She’s now Poppy’s nanny.”

Lincoln blinked. His mouth opened, then closed as if he was processing the information, but nothing came out. I watched his expression shift from confusion to pure shock. I’d barely seen Lincoln in person lately with the many business trips between the two of us, so he hadn’t met the new nanny yet.

”Yournanny?" His voice rang with disbelief. “Well… that’s… Jesus, Mike. You weren’t supposed to use the dating site as a source to find employees.”

I gave him a withering look. “I didn’t, you jackass.”

He laughed, and I scowled.

“I was out of town when Amber hired her,” I explained. “I didn’t expect to ever see her again. It was a major coincidence. The problemnowis that Poppy adores her. She’s the best damn nanny I’ve ever had, but with our history, things were a little weird. It’s worse now that I’ve mucked things up further…”

“How did you do that?” Lincoln asked. When my eyes darted around guilty, he shook his head. “No… You didn’t…”

I tucked my chin into my chest and sighed.

“It happened when we visited Aunt Neddy. She then insisted it couldn’t happen again.”

“And you disagreed?”

“Hell no!” I gave him a look of disbelief. “If my kid’s nanny no longer wants to cross the professional line, I can do nothing other than respect her wishes. I told her it was fine, and we’ve moved on.”

“Have you really, though?” Lincoln asked with raised eyebrows.

I suspected he knew the answer. There were few in my life who really knew me, and he was one of them.

“No,” I grumbled.

“But she has?”

“She’s on a fucking date,” I spat.

Lincoln rubbed his jaw as he studied me. “You gave her a warning before, didn't you? Because of the so-called nanny curse.”

See? He knew me well. I nodded.

“And the tables turned because you’re the one who fell in love with her.”

The word love hit me so hard, I nearly dropped my phone and my drink. “I am not in love with her. Are you insane? I’ve known the woman for a few months. Love is the furthest thing from my mind.”

“The gentleman doth protest too much.”

“Fuck you, Lincoln.”

He chuckled at that. “Come on, a few months is enough time to fall for someone. As I recall, Alex fell for Olivia at first sight.”

I snorted derisively. “He was an eighteen-year-oldkid…He was confused…”

“You’re such a cynical bastard.”

I didn’t deny it.

He shook his head. “I remember how you used to lecture us for being irresponsible back then, hell, even now. How the mighty have fallen. Look at you Mr. Uber-responsible, making mistakes and showing human emotion like the rest of us. Alex would find this incredibly amusing.”

I clenched my jaw. “If you tell him about this, I’ll murder you.”

Lincoln bellowed, and all I could do was listen to his amusement with my typical scowl. How the mighty had fallen indeed.

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