Page 48 of Nanny for the SEALs

I really didn’t because I thought I was pretty hands on, but it seems I still had a lot to learn about fatherhood.

“Don’t look like that, as if you’re disappointed not knowing everything about your kid. I’m pretty sure every parent goes through that.”

I rested my elbow down, making myself relax. She seems to be at ease, and the kids were being kids and enjoying their toys, which she strategically laid out for them.

“I know. I suppose I’m a little bit of a perfectionist.”

She choked, “You think?”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Well, when you realized what Stan had done with Bianca and you wanted her back, Pete said you were a little excited because you’d spent months looking for the perfect nanny, then ended up with me.”

“Pete loves to exaggerate.”

Or maybe not?

“No, it was the whole deception thing. Not so much about you, but more about Stan going out of his way to just pull the wool over our eyes, and then to keep you hostage in some fucked-up way. Just didn’t sit right with me. Sorry, he did that to you.”

She shook her head. “I did it to him. All I know is that fate was smiling down on me that day for sure. I would have been stuck in an apartment with a guy who was sleeping with everyone apart from me. He did me a favor in so many ways. You shouldn’t think badly off him. Especially because he’s your brother.”

I didn’t want to tell her about the darkness which laid in me. The time I met Maite, let alone the one inside of Stan, which at times keeps me up at night. I swiftly changed the conversation.

“If Pete lands this job, then we can all go visit him in San Fran if you would like? Have you been there before?”

“The most I’ve traveled is to the lake, and here. This is as much of America as I know.”

I was shocked by her revelation. How can she live here and never have seen all of it; well, not all, but at least a little more than Ohio and California.

“Even if Pete doesn’t get the job, we’ll still visit.”

“It’s on my top ten places to visit. Oh wow, thanks.” She wrapped her arms around me. As she realized maybe she'd been a bit too forward, she pulled back and stuttered, “Sorry.”

There was nothing to be sorry about, and for a split second, I forgot about the twins. Shoot, this is why we were here. Rachel yanked on my chain again. No doubt for her to be back up again, she was probably bored playing with the toys. I held her in my arms and stood again, awkwardly making sure I didn’t lose my balance.

I looked down, and Katie was looking up and smiling at us. I loved her smile.

What the hell was I thinking when the word love and Katie popped into my mind?

* * *

There wasa knock at my door. I knew Stan wasn’t back and as for Pete, he texted and said he would be there the whole week since things were looking promising. I could tell by the conversation he was excited about the prospect of working in San Fran.

Maybe this was a good thing. Stan, Pete and I had spent so much time together, somehow along the way, we’d morphed into one. Maybe with Pete away and Stan off to find himself, this could be the time for me to spend with not only the twins, but with Katie, too.

“A penny for your thoughts.” Katie smiled as she opened the door.

“Pete said he wasn’t coming back for a few days, the twins are down, and I haven’t seen you around that much since we went to the park. I thought maybe we could eat or maybe go out, that’s if you’re not busy?”

She raised an eyebrow. She was wearing hot pants and a bright orange shirt. I noticed she’d strayed away from the dark clothes she wore when she first lived here and seemed to be venturing out.

“Cats out.” I smiled as I stood up from the bed.

She moved closer to me. “Oh, you know the label?”

“Yeah, I may be a little older, but I’m not completely out of it. Besides, I remember the girls in the club talking about it when they first opened their store. They said they loved the designs, and the store was always busy meaning they caused quite a storm since the time they opened.”

“I just happened to be passing the store, and I must admit the window caught my eye. I’m not that much into designer clothes.”

“Maybe L.A.’s rubbing off on you.”

She lifted her hand as if to weigh up the options on whether it was rubbing off on her or not. “Is that a good or bad thing?”

I shook my head as we naturally moved closer to each other. We were flirting, toying with each other, and as I opened my mouth to reply to her question, it was met with a finger.

“Don’t spoil it.”

“May I kiss you?” I asked as I moved the finger away from my lip.

“I thought you would never ask.”

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