Page 50 of Bad Nanny

“Not exactly. She’s recommended that I talk to someone a few times.” I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s really necessary.”

Josie traced circles on my chest, right over my heart. “Sometimes it’s good to hear someone else’s perspective or to hear your thoughts and feelings said back to you. I go tovirtual therapy every other month. I should probably go more than that.”

“We’ll see.” I couldn’t see myself opening up to a stranger about intimate details of my life. It was intrusive, and I had my privacy to protect.

I wasn’t famous, by any means, but I was a well-known businessman and had a brother who was no stranger to the press. Up until recently, Lex had been a frequent topic in gossip columns and had been since he rose to fame in the college football world.

“Let’s take a shower before you head up to bed.” Josie slid off me with a sigh. “I feel dirty.”

“Hmm... I don’t think you’re dirty enough.” I jumped up and chased after her into her bathroom, wishing our time together didn’t always have to end with separate beds.

Chapter 17

Fuel to the Fire

Josie

Gabriel: You’re going to hate me.

Me: With the way you eat my pussy? Never.

Gabriel: Don’t get me hard in the middle of this meeting. These men are being difficult. We thought we’d be done by lunch, but it’s going to take a few more hours.

Me: Nora’s dinner is at seven, and I was going to leave here around six-thirty.

Gabriel: I should be home by then.

Gabriel had textedme again around three-thirty to say they were finally on their way back. With Friday traffic being a bitch, that was cutting it extremely close to when I needed to leave. So, when my phone rang at five, I wasn’t hopeful my prayers to the traffic gods had worked.

“Hello?” I stood from the couch, where Delaney and I were watching a movie, and walked into the kitchen.

A heavy sigh greeted me. “Hey . . . so, there’s been a delay.”

My heart sank. I’d been tempted to look at the traffic app but didn’t want to get upset for no reason. “How big of a delay?”

“There’s apparently a crash involving a fuel truck that caught on fire. I’m sorry, Josie.”

Some accidents were quick to clean up, but a fuel spill and fire? They’d be stuck in traffic for several hours.

“It’s all right...it’s not like I didn’t see her last weekend.” I was trying to make myself feel better but, really, I wanted to cry.

“Can you meet her for drinks later or something?”

“She has to be at the airport at six tomorrow morning. Really, it’s fine.”

“Just take Laney with you,” Noah said loudly in the background, so I could hear.

“She’s going to have a hard enough time with me being so late,” Gabriel replied.

“She’s gotten so much better about that over the past few weeks. I could ask her and see how she feels.” She’d even stopped asking what time it was in the afternoons.

“I don’t know... It might be too overwhelming for her to be away from the house.” He sounded uncertain, which wasn’t a no.

“I can understand your worry, but she was fine when you went shopping for the pool, and that was a few weeks ago. She can’t learn to manage her anxiety if she neverleaves the house, other than to go on short walks and for therapy.”

“I see your point, and I trust you, but?—”

“Dude, let her take Laney out to dinner,” Noah said, interrupting. “It will be fine. Why would Josie suggest it if she didn’t feel she could handle it?”

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