Page 75 of Bad Nanny

“Then, this is for you.” He patted the top of the barrel and wiggled his brows. “Don’t know what you need this much for, but power to you, man.”

I took the clipboard he held out to me and signed next to Josie’s name and our address.

“Where do you want it?”

“I guess in the garage.” I walked to the door and entered the code to open it. “Right here is fine.” I gestured to a spot out of the way. “What the hell is it?”

He set it down and slid the hand truck out from under itbefore gesturing to the very familiar branding scrawled on the side. “Ravishing Whispers. You are now the proud owner of fifty-five gallons of the best quality lube.”

I handed him back his clipboard, my face feeling like it was on fire. Was this part of the gift she’d gotten, or had she ordered it? Why on earth would she order so much, unless she was moonlighting as a porn star?

The driver got into his truck and started backing out of the driveway. I examined the barrel, finding the shipping label attached to the top. While it did have the correct address and listed Josie’s name, it also had another name above hers. It took a moment for the realization of what it meant to fully set in.

“Gabe, what’s going on out here?” Josie’s voice came from the front door.

“Josie.” I gripped the side of the barrel, shutting my eyes, my heart beating out of control. She made her way to me, putting her hand on my lower back.

“What’s wrong? What is this?” She leaned back to look at the branding on the side.

I turned to face her. “You’re Sarah Swoon.”

Chapter 24

Fifty-five Gallons Wrong

Josie

I knewthe moment was coming but hadn’t imagined it would be because the company I’d partnered with had sent me a massive barrel of lube. They’d asked me for my home address to send me products, but when the box of toys had shown up, I’d thought that was all of it.

I’d been fifty-five gallons wrong.

I had wanted to tell Gabriel so many times, but it had never felt like the right moment, and the longer I waited, the harder it became. But now the truth was out in the open in the most awkward way possible; I couldn’t have planned a more mortifying reveal if I’d tried.

“You’re Sarah Swoon.” The look on his face said everything loud and clear; he wasn’t happy about my secret alter ego.

“I am.” There was no use trying to hide it, but I didn’t exactly know what to say.

My stomach felt like it was in one huge knot. If there was one thing I hated, it was conflict, but now that I stood right in front of it, I realized that avoiding it made it ten times worse.

“You’ve been lying to me.” The hurt in his voice cut deeper than expected.

Butwhathad I expected? For him to jump for joy? For him to pop the cork on champagne?

I flinched. “I wasn’t lying, Gabriel. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“How to tell me?” His voice was tight with restrained anger and hurt. “I can’t believe you’d keep something like this from me, Josie. How could you think this was okay?”

A wave of nausea ran through me. Did he mean that I’d kept it from him, the existence of Sarah Swoon, or both? I could deal with him being upset that I hadn’t told him, but it would be hard to handle him being angry about something I loved doing.

“I wanted to tell you, and I was, but?—”

“Daddy!” Delaney’s excited voice came from the front door, and she ran to us, Honeybun right behind her. “Honeybun can do tricks!”

He glanced over at me, his expression now completely unreadable. “We’ll have to finish this conversation later.”

“Watch!” Delaney took off to the front lawn, oblivious to the tension hanging in the air between Gabriel and me.

She threw the ball up in the air, and Honeybun jumped at least two feet to catch it. Squealing with excitement, Delaney ran back over to us, taking our hands and tugging us toward the lawn. “Your turn!”

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