Page 76 of The Nanny Goal

Did the hot single mom not teach you about bedtime?

Forrest

Her kids are almost my age

Wow

It’s amazing

Save it for the brothers only group chat, you weirdo (compliment)

Fine fine but what about dinner?

Alexei’s putting Inessa to bed, so try to be patient

Not my strong suit

I wince as I imagine Alexei watching all of this, trying to keep his phone silent while lying next to Inessa.

Or maybe he knows better and he’s got Forrest on auto-mute.

I tidy up the workout space, then turn the light off and quietly head back down to the second floor.

As soon as I step into the hallway, I hear my name called, low and soft, from Alexei’s bedroom.

I turn and look through the open door. He’s changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt that clings to his thick shoulders, and he’s standing at the foot of his bed, folding clothes from one laundry basket and putting them in another.

Was it only this morning that our positions were reversed? That I came out of his room and saw him standing at the top of the stairs?

Now it’s him who stares at me, who dragshisgaze down my body as he finishes pairing up two socks.

I’m barefoot, because I left my shoes upstairs, and my cropped tank top and tiny shorts are soaked with sweat, but Alexei’s gaze suggests he sees something different.

He slowly strides to the doorway.

I back up a little.

His searching gaze follows me, lingering on my bare legs again, sending a bolt of heat through me. When he finally finds my face once more, he’s wrapped his hand around the doorframe, his knuckles turning white as he grips the wood.

“I saw the texts,” he says, his voice low and unreadable.

“I’m sorry that my family is so much.”

He shrugs. “How do you feel about dinner?”

That’s not the question I expected. “What do you mean?”

“Will you be comfortable having them here?” There’s an unexpected hesitancy in his expression.

I don’t know how to read that. “That’s your decision to make.”

His brows snap together, fast. “I don’t like that.”

I cross my arms, suddenly cold despite the heat lingering on my skin from the workout. “Like what?”

“You sacrificing your comfort for your family’s preferences.”

I laugh. “That’s my entire life.”

---