Page 20 of The Accidental Nanny
“Fuck.”
My release trickles down my hands. I need a date. I have to get laid. It’s been too long. I grab some tissues from my bedside table to clean myself, before pulling my pyjama bottoms back up.
Eden has a habit of coming into my room at night since her mother left. I don’t want her to find me naked in bed.
I wake with Eden asleep next to me. “Eden, it’s time to get up,” I whisper as I stroke her hair, trying to wake her from her slumber.
“I’m tired. I don’t want to go to school,” she mumbles, still half asleep.
“Darling, I have to work.”
“Gemma will look after me.”
As soon as she says that, there is a soft knock on my door.
“Alex,” Gemma’s voice calls me from the other side.
“Gemma!” Eden squeals; she’s now wide awake. Excitedly, my daughter jumps out of bed to open the door for Gemma. “You’re here.” Eden grins and wraps her arms around Gemma’s tummy.
Gemma stands in my doorway wearing pink shorts and a tank top. My dick gets semi-hard just looking at her, and I hide under the cover. This situation is not appropriate, not least because my daughter is in the room.
Old granny knickers, old granny knickers,I think to myself.
“Umm, I need to shower, but there are no towels,” Gemma says as she holds Eden.
“Eden, can you show Gemma where the fresh towels are, please? I’ll be up in a minute.”
I catch Gemma staring at my chest. I have let myself go a bit over the last six months since Julia walked out. I’m still in good shape, but not like I used to be in my twenties or thirties. Her eyes are still looking me over. It isn’t until I start staring back that she blushes and stops.
Gemma
Alex doesn’t have the same physique as Wesley. He’s older, rougher around the edges, and his chest hair is greying. He’s not the perfect sculpted man like in a magazine, but he is hot. He caught me staring—holy shit, do I feel guilty.
This job is supposed to be purely professional. I have to remind myself that. I must prove to my family that I’m not a failure. Me checking out my boss is a definite no-no.
I’m trying to get the towels, but Eden is asking a hundred and one questions. We haven’t moved from outside Alex’s bedroom door. I’ve not even had a coffee yet. I need to upload some content on my social media account as well, as I didn’t get a chance to do that yesterday.
“Eden, why don’t you come with me and leave Gemma alone?” Alex asks as he opens the bedroom door.
He’s now wearing a pyjama top. Alex could no doubt hear Eden chattering away. He puts his hand out for her.
Eden pulls away and closer to me. “But she doesn’t have towels yet.”
Ace walks out of his bedroom at the same time. “Why is Gemma here so early?”
“We’ll talk downstairs. Let her have a wash, please,” Alex grumbles, looking half asleep.
“Towels?” I ask. With Eden’s excitement and her chatting away, and now all three standing in the hallway, I haven’t been able to get a word in before now.
“Right.” Alex runs a hand through his messed-up hair, making it worse. “Ace, take your sister downstairs.”
The siblings complain, but Ace takes Eden by the hand and leads her away. Alex walks me to a closet down the hall.
“In here,” he says as he opens it. “Help yourself to whatever you need. The laundry basket is in the bathroom. Chuck it in there when you’re done.”
He leaves me alone to go back to his room, and I’m left to think. Did I make a mistake walking out on my family? Should I swallow my pride and stay at home? My family is right: I am useless. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. But I can’t go back now either, not after that dramatic walkout. I won’t hear the end of it, especially from Brody.
I shake my head, grab some towels, and go back to the bathroom to shower. The water clears my head and puts some resolve back into me.
