Page 101 of Worst Nanny Ever
He smiles for half a second, which I consider a victory. “No, this isn’t how I’d like that to happen again.”
Heat flashes through me, because at least some part of him wants it to happen again. And he’s looking at me in a thirsty way that suggests I’m the only thing that could possibly satisfy him.
“Then you should take them off,” I say, making no move to leave. “I’ll stay to make sure you don’t fall over and hit your head. Now,thatwould be an embarrassing ER visit.”
“You want to watch me take off my pants?” he asks, more of a challenge than a question.
“Yes. I watched you last night, and I really enjoyed it.”
He lowers his hands to the belt and unfastens it with careless ease. I can hardly breathe as I watch him, desire prickling across my skin. His hand misses the button on his pants on his first try, and I turn away, because suddenly it feels wrong for me to be here.
“I thought you were going to watch,” he says, his voice ragged.
“And I suddenly remembered you’re drunk. It would be inappropriate, even for me.”
I hear the fabric rustling as he pushes his pants down. I want to look, I’m desperate to look, but I say, “Get under the covers, Travis.”
“Are you going to tuck me in?” he asks with a husky laugh.
“Yes, but first I’m getting you Pedialyte and Tylenol. What kind of beer did you drink?”
He moans. “The lager.”
“That’s good. Hangovers from the dark beers are much worse. Especially Liam’s. He doesn’t like porters, so I think he does it on purpose. I’ll be right back.”
There’s another rustling sound, so hopefully he’s pulled up the sheets, and I leave the room to get the goods.
When I return, he’s lying nestled in those dark silk sheets, his head resting on the pillow, his hair pushed back to reveal the heart birthmark.
My own heart swells.
I set the Pedialyte and pills down on his bedside table, then sit on the edge of the bed and run my fingers down the side of his face.
He opens his eyes and lifts his hand toward me, playing with one of my curls as it spills down toward him. “Thank you for staying with Ollie. I knew he’d be safer with you than with me today.” He pauses. “I’m a bad father.”
“You would have been a bad father if you’d come home andgotten wasted in front of him. Plenty of dads do. My dad’s a good guy, mostly, but he drank plenty of that beer he and Liam made while he was at home watching the three of us.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Hannah. Being Ollie’s dad is the most important thing to get right, and I keep messing up.”
“He’s doing great,” I say, tracing his face again, letting my fingertips get lost in his hair.
“Because of you. You’re so good with him. I could watch you together all day. You make it look so easy to make him laugh and smile, but I don’t know how to do it. I’m no good at this.”
“Okay, stalker,” I tease as I keep running my fingertips through his hair. “You seem determined to be hard on yourself. Even more so than usual. Feel like telling me why?”
“There have already been lots of social media posts about theShips Ahoyfans at the performance today,” he says, glancing away, a far-off look in his eyes. “A reporter called me. Everyone knows.” He pauses. “Frank, the producer who’s interested in the band, knows too. He told Rob and Bixby we should lean into it. He says he’ll pick us up if we go with it. He doesn’t even care how Drake plays with us.”
“Oh fuck,” I say, because he doesn’t need to tell me how much he hates that. I know it in my bones. This is Travis’s worst nightmare, descending on him in a bunch of poorly matched sailor dresses.
He turns back to face me. But when he meets my gaze again, he says, “Lilah’s going to find out and take him away from me.”
My heart goes supernova in my chest. This man’s worst nightmare is coming to pass, but he’s not thinking about himself—he’s worried about how it will impact his son.
I didn’t want to feel this way about Travis. I’ve tried very hard not to. But he’s making it difficult tonight, damn him.
“You’re a much better father than you give yourself creditfor,” I say, smoothing his hair back. “And she’s already been gone for nearly sixty days. You have a stronger case than you think. Even if she steps off a plane in Asheville tomorrow.”
I’m not sure that’s true. I know next to nothing about the law, but I’m nothing if not determined. And I willnotlet Lilah use Ollie as some kind of bargaining chip to enlarge her bank account.
