Page 97 of Nanny for the SEALs

“They were my first concert!” Maurice was saying excitedly. His legs were curled up on the couch and he was resting his arms on the back, twisted to look over the couch at Brady, who was making a drink at the bar. “I had the biggest crush on Nick Carter. I would do so many yummy things to him if I had a chance.”

At the bar, Brady poured liquor into a mixer. “Too bad Lance was the gay one in the group, huh?”

Maurice rolled his eyes. “Honey, Lance was NSYNC.”

Brady turned and handed him a drink. He was wearing his Backstreet Boys T-shirt. “Sorry, I’m rusty on my nineties boy bands.” That’s when he noticed me. His face lit up. “Hey! There’s our girl! How’d the filming go?”

My stomach did a backflip when he saidour girl, even though he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. “Filming was long. Until Mr. Howard showed up and slapped the director into shape.” I gestured at them. “I didn’t expect to find the two of you hanging out when I got home.”

Brady grabbed a coffee mug and sat next to Maurice. “I got home from the Weiman meeting early, since I’m heading over to Amirah’s place for the night.” He raised his drink. “Hence the coffee. You want a drink?”

“I’d love one,” I said.

“This Boston boy makes thebestManhattans,” Maurice gushed. “It’s enough that I can ignore that awful accent.”

“Woah, pal,” Brady said while making a new drink. “The fuck’s wrong with my accent?”

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer.” Maurice sipped his drink and said, “How is Amirah Pratt,really?Is she a total bitch? She has the appearance of the kind of girl who would let fame go to her head.”

“Hey!” I said. “She looks like me!”

Maurice swung his eyes toward me. “I rest my case, your honor.”

Brady laughed it off. “No way. Amirah’s a real sweetheart. Real humble. She grew up on a farm out in Iowa, I think. She’s always real nice.” He handed me a Manhattan.

“Thanks.” I took a long sip and said, “How were the kids?”

Maurice snorted. “Do you mind if I’m brutally honest?”

“I don’t think you know any other way,” I replied.

“They were tiny demon spawn,” Maurice immediately replied. “It was like babysitting a trio of little Hitlers.”

I sighed. “I was making great progress with them until a week ago. I don’t know what’s going on. The next step is to start withholding their favorite activities when they misbehave, but I don’t want to do that to the boys just yet…”

“It wasn’t just the boys,” Maurice said. “Cora’s just as bad as them.”

I gave a start. “No way. How was she bad?”

Brady nodded along and pointed at Maurice. “Tell her. Tell her what you found.”

Maurice leaned toward me. “I know why the boys have backslid in the last week. It’sbecauseof Cora. She’s the one doing it.”

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Heather

“You’re joking,” I said. “Cora is always a little angel.”

“Maybe when you see her,” Maurice replied. “But she can’t fool me. She’s the ringleader. She’s been convincing the boys to act out, and bribing them with her candy.”

“How do you know?”

“I heard them talking in her room,” Maurice replied. “And both boys had chocolate on their hands after that. She got a candy bar from the big bucket, and then gave it to the others.”

“Or they stole it from her,” I argued.

“That’s what I said,” Brady chimed in. “Tell her the rest.”

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