Page 20 of Falling for the Nanny

But even as I let myself think about it, I had to question myself. Was I insane to think that there was sexual tension crackling between David and me? Maybe it was just tension, the kind that should make me worry about losing my job. Maybe I was completely obvious in my own way, and therefore just as irritating to him as Mackenzie’s mom.

God, it was exhausting. The emotional pinball of thinking about David kept dragging my emotions up and down. As I stepped out the front door of the pool house and pulled it shut behind me, I made a firm resolution. I was not going to talk about him tonight. I wasn’t going to make my friends tell me what I already knew–that I was crazy for even thinking about it, he was my boss.

No, I’d go one better, I decided resolutely. Tonight I would find someone who would make me stop even thinking about him.

And then my life would be a lot easier.

CHAPTER 12

DAVID

I happened to be looking out at the pool when Cat’s front door opened. She was wearing a little black dress that showed off her long legs, and her hair was down for once. She looked…different. Golden brown waves cascaded down her back. Her legs and arms were the color of honey, like she’d been laying out by the pool all summer even though it was only mid-May. I watched as she let herself out of the gate, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. She looked right at me, but with the way the sun was angled, I didn’t think she could see me through the window.

I could see her too clearly though. Dressed up for a night out. A date? My hands curled into fists in my pockets. She’d better not try to bring some frat guy back here. I hadn’t put anything into the contract about overnight guests, but she was on the probationary period. I didn’t have to give cause to let her go.

I brooded about where she was going and who she was meeting far more than I wanted to admit. I was almost relieved when Melissa showed up with Mackenzie fifteen minutes early, carrying a bottle of wine.

Almost.

“Wow,” Lily said, looking her over. “Are you going to a party?”

“Yes, a slumber party.” Melissa laughed and winked at me. She was clearly trying to sus out whether I was willing to make the joke into a reality.

I smiled noncommittally. I liked Melissa well enough. She had a mind that was sharp as a scalpel, and she was exceptionally good at her job as CFO of a tech company–two qualities I prized far above her looks, which she was playing up tonight. She looked great. I should have been tempted, but I wasn’t. Not even a little bit. I took the bottle of wine without offering to open it and ignored the flicker of disappointment in her eyes. She gave every indication that she wanted me to ask her to stay, but after Lily and Mackenzie escaped upstairs, I made a polite excuse about having to work.

“You work too hard, David. It’s a Saturday night.”

I offered her a deprecating smile. “Quarterly reports.”

She smiled to cover her disappointment and left without making things any harder than they had to be. I appreciated that about Melissa. She wasn’t shy about letting me know she was interested, but she didn’t overstay her welcome. We both knew we’d never date. It wasn’t worth even trying, and it would complicate things between Lily and Mackenzie when it inevitably went to hell.

So instead, I spent the evening thinking about another situation that would complicate things for Lily and inevitably go to hell. Cat shouldn’t have been so damn alluring with her hair always back in that ponytail and her aggravating, passive aggressive comments. I didn’t like people who challenged me. I liked people who either understood that I knew best or got the hell out of my way, especially when it came to parenting Lily.

Despite her beauty, Cat literally checked none of the boxes for what I was interested in in a woman–except that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It felt almost like an illness. A cold I couldn’t shake. I’d think I was over it, and then I’d feel the tickle in the back of my throat again. I’d chalk it up to some strange reaction to seeing Lily so obviously adore her, but then, she’d adored Mrs. Barnes, too, and I’d never wondered what Mrs. Barnes was wearing under her dress.

I checked on the girls at nine and gave them a thirty-minute warning for lights out, and then I went out to sit on the deck. It had been a hot day for May, but it was dipping into a cold night. I needed it to clear my head. Although I wasn’t sure how clear my head was getting as I continued to watch the pool house, wondering where Cat was now.

I thought about where I went in my midtwenties and cursed myself for it. I didn’t need to picture Cat in some obnoxiously preppy bar where the guys all wore too much Axe body spray and bragged about their entry level position at their uncle’s hedge fund company. I didn’t need to picture her anywhere, but especially not with their arms draped around her neck, wrapped around her waist, buying her drinks.

I might have gone further down this path, but the sliding glass door behind me squeaked open. My first thought was that Cat was back early. She’d come in through the front door like I’d asked, and now was on her way out to the pool house. She’d gotten bored. She realized those assholes weren’t worth hanging around for. Savage satisfaction filled me, but in the next instant, I was proven wrong.

“Daddy?” Lily asked tentatively. “It’s been an hour.”

“What? No it hasn’t.” A quick glance at my phone told me she was right. I’d completely lost track of time, brooding out here. Any other kid might have run with it, but Lily lived by a schedule. Mackenzie had probably had to clobber her to keep her from coming out to get me earlier.

Reluctantly, I dragged my mind back into the present. Cat was still out doing fuck knows what, but I had to focus.

I waited in the hall while Mackenzie and Lily brushed their teeth, then I followed them into Lily’s room where they were both sleeping in her castle bed.

“Are you too old for storytime yet?” I asked.

Mackenzie nodded–that kid was always trying to grow up too fast–but Lily shook her head and pointed to her favorite book.

“The Paper Bag Princess,” I read, and showed them the cover.

“This is a baby story,” Mackenzie complained at first.

“Dragon slaying isn’t for babies,” I corrected. “It’s for seven-going-on-eight-year-old girls, so this is the perfect story for you.”

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