Page 44 of Falling for the Nanny

As always, when he looked at me like that and said things like that, I melted inside. If we’d been in the pool house alone, we wouldn’t have gotten to the sandwiches. As it was, David carried them to the table and I followed, careful to sit across from him instead of beside him.

When Francesca came down, she sat at the head of the table, and she didn’t waste time with small talk. “I’ve arranged for Lily and me to take a little trip,” she announced.

David’s eyebrows hiked up. He swallowed his bite of sandwich and then asked with exaggerated politeness, “Oh, have you?”

“Yes,” Francesca said, matching his tone. “We’re going to do a girls’ weekend at The Greenbrier while you’re out of town. I used to do them with my mother. We’ll leave Thursday morning.”

She had her chin raised imperiously, prepared to do battle with David. I could tell that he surprised her when he said nonchalantly, “Fine, as long as she’s back in time to start her prep class on Monday.”

“Of course,” Francesca said and immediately found a reason to leave the kitchen, as if she was afraid David was going to come to his senses and throw up roadblocks. Not that she wouldn’t find a way around them.

Our eyes met as, above us, we heard the guest room door click shut. I was thinking that it was time for us to escape to the pool house, but I could tell by the gleam in David’s eyes that he had something else on his mind.

“What?” I whispered.

“My mom is taking Lily out of town this weekend,” he said, emphasizing it as though I hadn’t just listened to their conversation about it. Strangely, he seemed to think this was something I’d be happy about. I supposed I was looking forward to having time to write and catch up with Alyssa, but honestly, I’d have rather had Lily around. She would take my mind off of missing her father.

“That means you have a free weekend,” David said, still loading his words with meaning I didn’t understand.

“I know. It’s great.” I tried to inject some enthusiasm into my words. I didn’t want David to know how much I wished this was just another normal weekend with him and Lily. Did he think I wanted to be able to go out and do my own thing?

I was on the verge of asking him when he said, “And that means you’re coming to Colorado with me.” For a minute, I thought I’d misheard him. I studied his gleaming eyes, the small smirk flickering around the edges of his mouth. No, that was definitely what he’d said.

“I don’t have a ticket,” I said, trying to temper my excitement. “Last minute plane tickets cost a fortune.”

David’s smirk deepened. “I think I can afford it.”

My heart was pounding now. “But what am I going to do there? It’s not like I can be your plus one.”

“You can write and check out the area during the day. And at night,” David unfurled his hand, palm up, across the dining room table. I put mine in it, and he caressed the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist. He didn’t have to say anything else. My mouth had already gone dry, imagining it. At night we could be together, all night, without worrying who found us in the morning.

Suddenly, I was very much looking forward to the weekend.

CHAPTER 26

DAVID

I flew to Colorado on the company plane on Thursday and arrived a few hours before Cat. That gave me time to touch base with my COO and CFO, go through some last-minute details with my executive assistant, and then get back to Denver International in time to meet her flight.

She looked different to me when I saw her coming down the concourse, past security, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. Her golden-brown hair was loose around her shoulders instead of up in its usual ponytail, but I was used to that now. She was wearing her usual jeans and a blouse with Chucks. Her blue eyes still lit up at the sight of me, and her smile still put a crack in my armor. So what was it?

It wasn’t until I grabbed her checked bag off the carousel and turned back to her that it hit me. She didn’t look off limits anymore. The boss/employee filter was off, and she was just a beautiful woman who I was glad to get some time alone with. Not the waitress. Not Lily’s nanny.

Just mine.

“You look happy,” she observed as we walked out to the parking deck. I had her hand trapped in mine, pulling her bag behind us with my other. Some of the people we crossed paths with sent us covert looks–sizing up either Cat or myself–but for once, I didn’t have to worry about who they were.

“I am happy.”

Cat smiled up at me. “I like it.”

“Get used to it. I have to smile the whole damn weekend.” I couldn’t keep the wry aggravation out of my voice. By the end of these five days, the corners of my mouth usually hurt from being pinned to my ears.

When we reached my rental car, I put her bag in the trunk then went around to shut her door.

“Chivalry,” she said, wide eyed. “I like it.”

Cat had been with boys before; now I was going to show her what it was like to be with a man. And I was going to make sure she liked it so much that she never went back.

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