Page 36 of Nanny for the Athletes

Braden finally pulled away. “Relax, Chrissy. I’m just sweetening the deal and reminding Beth what she’s missing.” He winked at me. “Bye, Pickles! Be a good boy!”

The two of them walked back to their cars.

“Wait,” I said.

They turned around and paused, waiting.

“When you invited me to the charity event. Did you think we would hook up in the limo on the way home?”

Both of them shook their heads at the same time. “I didn’t intend to make a move on you,” Christian explained. “And I didn’t think anything would happen. But I kind of hoped something would.”

“Ditto,” Braden said.

As I went back to the kennel to brush the dogs, a big smile spread across my face. I was relieved that they didn’t think of me as a random hookup. They wanted more. It sounded crazy—heck, itwascrazy. Dating two guys at the same time, two guys who knew about it and intended to share me both emotionallyandphysically. Was that something I wanted to try?

The smile refused to leave my face all day, which felt like the answer to my question. And as I fell asleep that night, I kept replaying the limo threesome in my head, over and over.

Logan showed up the next day in his big black SUV. He opened the door and the four dogs came pouring out, barking and running up to the gate, tails wagging.

“There’s my troublemakers,” I said, opening the gate to greet them. “Are you going to make my life a living hell today, Loki?”

“He’d better not,” Logan grumbled. I realized who he reminded me of, now: Roy Kent, the grumpy soccer player fromTed Lasso.

“I talked to Braden yesterday,” Logan said.

A lump formed in my throat. I had spent the last day thinking about dating both Braden and Christian, but I didn’t even consider Logan. Was he interested in the same sort of arrangement, the way they’d had with their ex? He was undoubtedly sexy, in a gruff, dangerous kind of way, but I didn’t know him as well as I knew the other two. Yet a ball of excitement was quickly forming in my stomach as I waited for him to continue.

“This whole business.” He gestured around the field. “He said you started as a babysitter when you were younger, before switching to dogs?”

“That’s right,” I replied slowly. What did that have to do with the whole three-guys-dating-one-woman thing?

“Good.” He turned back to the SUV, stuck two fingers in his mouth, and whistled.

A little girl hopped out of the vehicle. She was maybe six or seven years old, and had her dark hair tied in two pigtails. She was wearing a backpack, and walked toward me with her head down while gripping the shoulder straps.

“This is my daughter, Claire. Say hi to the nice lady.”

Claire stared at me, expressionless.

“It’s so nice to meet you!” I said. “I’m Beth.”

“Uncle Braden will pick you up tonight,” Logan told her. “Be good for the nice lady. Do your homework.”

And then he started to walk away.

What?

“Wait a minute!” I said. “This is a dog boarding business. I can’t watch your daughter.”

Without slowing down, he replied, “You just told me you’re a babysitter.”

“Iwasa babysitter. That was fifteen years ago.”

“It’s like riding a bike.” He climbed into the car and tapped on his phone. “It’s just until tonight. I Venmo’d you some cash. If it’s not enough, we can talk about it when I pick up the dogs on Wednesday.”

“Logan…” I said as he started the engine. “Logan! What the hell?”

He rolled down the window and glared at me. “Watch your language around the kid.”

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