Page 77 of The Nanny Goal

The words come out sharper than I mean them to.

“It’s your house,” I add quietly. “You’re allowed to decide who’s in it.”

He doesn’t flinch, but his jaw tightens like I’ve said something wrong. “You live here, too.”

“Temporarily.”

Alexei shifts, stepping into the hallway’s dim light, his gaze dipping—again—to the hem of my shorts. His throat bobs as he swallows. “You think that’s all this is?”

I freeze. “What else would it be?”

He doesn’t answer.

He just looks at me, eyes dark and steady, and it feels like my heart is sprinting in place. I want to look away. I don’t.

Inside, everything is tight. Twisting. My body wants to lean into him, wants to feel that heat again.

I can’t let that happen.

I clear my throat. “It’s just dinner. We can do dinner.”

He snorts, and the tension breaks just enough to breathe. “If it gets awkward, we’ll just ask Forrest about his new friend.”

A smile tugs at my mouth. “Do you know anything about her?”

He shakes his head. “We don’t talk about women.”

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

He shrugs. “Idon’t talk about women. He says stuff sometimes, but those messages tonight were for you. To get a rise out of you.”

I groan. “I walked right into it, too.”

“But he gave you a good tool to use against him tomorrow.” Alexei’s gaze slides again, like he can’t stop looking at me.

I shift my weight, suddenly aware of just how little I’m wearing. His gaze flicks back up to my face, trying to be respectful—but it’s too late. I see it. And deep in my belly, Ifeelit.

I need out of this moment before I do something stupid. “I should shower.”

“Okay.” A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

I make it halfway down the hallway before I glance back.

His eyes are locked on my ass. Slowly, unashamedly, he drags them up to meet my gaze. “Goodnight, Emery.”

He steps back into his bedroom.

I race into my own room, and close the door before I lean back against it and close my eyes.

This thin door is all that between us now. I’m no longer two floors away from him in a suite that is separate from the rest of the house.

There’s a lot to be said for me living up here, close to Inessa. That will be easier.

But now he’s going to hear me go into the bathroom for my shower. Hear the water turn on, and know that I’m peeling off my workout clothes and standing under the hot spray, rinsing off the day and trying hard not to think about how good his gaze feels on my skin.

Thatpart… That’s going to be so much harder.

CHAPTER25

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