Page 42 of Mr. Wolfe's Nanny

“Mmm-hmm.” I raise my hand to tuck a stray tendril of hair back behind her ear. She leans forward, allowing me to cup her face. “It took her time to get used to it but she did. And, Quinn, even if you never feel comfortable at events like this, that’s okay. It doesn’t make you some sort of failure. We all have things we're good at and things we’re not okay with. You handle yourself with so much grace. I was grateful to have you with me tonight.”

“Thank you, Theo.” Her eyes dart to my lips. God, I want to kiss her so much. “I’ll bet you always made her feel better when she felt out of place.”

Are we still talking about Kathy? I don’t want to talk about the past. I’d rather take steps forward tonight. “I tried to. I don’t want you to ever feel out of place either. I want you to… I want you...”

I’m not even sure what I mean to say until Quinn leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you for making me feel better. I was enjoying myself and being with you tonight until… Whenever you were near me, everything was okay. I want you to know that.”

My heart clenches at her words and then she shyly bites at her bottom lip and sends a pulse of desire racing from my heart straight to my dick.

But, she draws back after that chaste little kiss and, while I want nothing more than to claim a proper kiss, I won’t push her so soon after an attack. “It’s still early and the kids won’t be home tonight. Want to go have some ice cream with me?”

“Ice cream?” How her eyes sparkle.

“Yeah.”

“It’s November.”

“Ice cream’s good any time of year, isn’t it? My children have told me so, so it must be so.”

She snickers. “Okay but dressed like this?”

“Ms. Batista, I always wear formalwear when I go get ice cream, don’t you?”

21- Quinn

Our cheeks and the tips of our noses were red from the cold by the time Theo, Dan and I finished our cones and we’d drawn a curious group of onlookers though it hadn’t bothered me under the circumstances. I suppose the three of us, Theo and I in formalwear and Dan in his crisp suit, lounging against the back of the sleek Town Car made for an interesting spectacle outside the local ice cream parlor on a Saturday night.

I asked the men to take a selfie with me which I sent to Isa, one of those moments which will become a memory. Some younger girls loitering around decided to discreetly take their own pictures of us. Maybe they thought we were famous. Maybe they just wanted a picture of Theo looking utterly dashing in his tux while licking Rocky Road off his thumb. I can’t blame them.

One thing I’ll say about our ice cream outing, it worked to get me past my usual post-panic attack depression.

Dan drops us at the door, he’ll put the Town Car away and then drive to his home. Theo and I enter a quiet house. It’s nearly midnight and Maria and Julieta are abed being early risers. “Would you like a drink?” he asks at the foot of the stairs.

“Yes.” I’d been prepared to bid him goodnight, thinking that would be wisest, but I didn’t really want to say goodnight yet.

We go to his office where he pulls off his jacket and pours us both a drink. “I hope scotch is alright. That's all I keep in here.”

I take a sip, stifle a cough which makes him chuckle but find I don’t hate it. “It’s a nice chaser for my Butter Brickle.”

He gives me a smile, that slow, sexy one I love. Not knowing if I’d rather stand or sit, I lean against his desk. He mirrors my move and we’re shoulder to shoulder. I can smell a hint of his spicy cologne mixed with the drink and that masculine scent that’s just Theo.

Our shoulders brush as we take another sip. The last time we were alone together in this house, we acted in a very inappropriate manner for a nanny and her employer. I’m longing to be his very naughty nanny again.

“Quinn…” The deep rumble of his voice and his closeness is really all it takes to make me wet, isn’t it?

“Yes?”

His eyes darken as we stare at each other. Just like last week. Déjà vu, anyone? He sets his drink down on the desk behind us slowly and I do the same with mine. “Quinn,” he says again.

I lick my lips, waiting. Wanting. Wanton.

“About what happened last week…”

I could nearly curse with frustration.Now, he wants to talk about it?

But his eyes drop to my lips and his hand circles my wrist. “I’ve had the damnedest time concentrating on anything this past week. My mind keeps circling back to that night,” he tells me, his voice growing thicker, raspier.

“You have? It does?” I whisper. He nods while searing me with that intense blue gaze. “Me, too.”

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