Page 27 of Nanny for the SEALs

“We went to a comic exhibition a couple of times. I remember I saved up all my money so we could go. Ben was happy for a while when we go there. He was disappointed that I didn’t spend time learning about all the different characters. I did better the next time, and he was happy about that. Apart from that, I love to paint. I sketch sometimes.”

At last, something she loves to do.

“I had a big dream of going to art college and maybe doing it professionally or something. Ben always said that art doesn’t pay the bills, and that you have to be really good. Excellent, in fact, to get noticed.”

“You could say the same thing about acting.”

“But Ben’s really talented.” Her head sunk as she thought about her words. “Well, I thought he was talented, and so did nearly everyone in town.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Can we talk about something else? I mean, do we have to stay here…”

I could tell I was making her feel uncomfortable. I knew there was more to her, but she didn’t want to share it. Not now. Why should she become a pandora’s box overnight. After all, I did only ask her out after she was living in the penthouse for a month. I couldn’t expect her to give me her life story within one night. Especially, since we’d hardly spoken since we shared that kiss, the one where Rachel woke up and disturbed it. I realized I’d crossed a line, she was the nanny, and I shouldn’t get the situation confused, so I stayed away from her, but I couldn’t do it any longer. It was too hard.

“I pushed too much. I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry.”

She waved. “No need to apologize.”

“It’s just all I’ve done is talk about me. My family. Life on the field and nothing about it is that pretty or even interesting when I play it back in my mind.”

She laughed. “You’ve had more of an adventure in your lifetime than I’ve ever had.”

“I’m nearly six years more older than you. So, that’s possible. Real easy.”

The flow was back on; I didn’t feel like sitting and making cheap conversation, so I got on to the part I really wanted to get to, part of the reason I wanted her here in the first place.

“I was thinking we could book a night at a hotel. If you’re up to it…”

Her face turned bright red, which was a good sign in a way. I’d never asked a woman if she wanted to spend a night in a hotel, it was always either, your place or mine? Or we would naturally end up somewhere, but to formally ask, never. Katie was different; she needed to be treated like a delicate flower. I didn’t know why but there was more to Ben than met the eye. He hadn’t just cheated on her, he’d done a lot more than that.

“Hotel?” She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you would never ask, because you’ve been playing shy guy for a while.”

“I thought you would ask about dessert.”

She giggled. “I don’t know… I was kind of hoping I would be your dessert.”

“You really are a dirty girl.”

She moved closer to the table as she winked at me. “You have no idea.”

I didn’t; she surprised me with her forwardness. Maybe she wasn’t as innocent as I thought she was. But one thing was for sure, I was about to find out as I waved for the waiter to come to our table. I paid the bill with only one thing on my mind, getting down and dirty with the nanny.

I took her hand as we left the restaurant. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, and I wanted to take my time with her. I wanted to explore every inch of her sexy body. I thought about her legs wide open and taking my dessert, her wetness on the tip of my tongue.

The hotel was only a short distance from the restaurant, so it didn’t take long to find one with a room available. She smiled each time holding my hand and I looked at her reassuringly. I felt like a kid going on their first date. It was nuts, it was as if all this was new to me. I realized the reason I was acting like this was because I’d never asked a girl out, let alone tried to get to know her better.

Shit!

I sounded like a jerk, just like her ex.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked as I pressed the button for the elevator. I needed to double-check with her before she stepped in.

“Yeah. Why? Did I do something wrong?”

I shook my head, and she took a step back for a minute as if to say it didn’t matter if I hadn’t changed my mind. She sure the hell didn’t want to go through with it.

I walked back toward her, away from the other couples who were touching and feeling each other, ready to naked as we were a few seconds ago before I spoiled the mood.

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