Page 12 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

"It's doing well. Thanks for your help. I'd like to pick your brain after dinner, if you don’t mind."

"You're welcome to pick."

Ethan giggles.

"What's funny?" Amy asks.

He doesn't answer but giggles some more.

"Enjoying your food?" I ask him.

He nods with his cheeks full.

Amy stops chewing. "You know, I could help you find a new nanny if the situation with Ethan and the current one is stressing you out."

"Really? I'd appreciate that. It's been two weeks and things still aren't getting better between them. This morning, he combed his hair by himself because he didn't want her to touch his hair. I had to let him do it to avoid the fit that'd follow if I refused. And well, you can guess how well he combed it. Just look at it." I say, pointing my fork to Ethan’s head.

Amy smiles and shakes her head. "I'll help you. I think I know the right person for the job."

"Can we go see Aria after, daddy?"

Chapter 5

Aria

"Doyouthinkthiswill look good on me?" Amy asks, holding a maroon dress up to her chin.

I squint my eyes. "You could just go try it on and see how it looks on you."

She tosses her bag over to me; it lands on my lap, then starts to slide off. I catch it before it reaches my knees.

An employee walks by and Amy asks where she can change. The dressing rooms are right behind us, but that's Amy for you. I look around the store, at the beautiful dresses and nice shoes. Amy offers to get me something when she sees my eyes wandering, but I refuse and tell her to just go in and change. When she’s in the changing room, my eyes catch a silver sandal in a corner of the store on a shelf. I take my bag and Amy’s and walk over to have a closer look.

Amy comes out of the changing room as I’m admiring the sandal. She’s pulling the dress at the hem, trying to make it longer, but it’s a futile effort because the material isn’t stretchy. It's a bit too short and I'm about to laugh. She pulls harder on it in an attempt to inch it closer to her knees, but it won't budge.

"Oh my God. It's too short. Why do they even make clothes this short?"

The same employee walks by again. "It looks good on you. It shows off your great legs."

Amy is horrified and I start to laugh.

"You picked it. No one forced you," I say.

"How was I supposed to know it'd be this short? Christ on a bike! What would my friends from my pottery club think?"

"The dress is just right for you. It looks good on you. Don't you want to look sexy?" I tease.

"For who?" she asks with electric eyes.

"Dad. Who else?"

"I'm sexy enough for your dad, Aria. If I get sexier than this, he'd lose his mind, and we don't want that," she says, marching to the changing room.

I giggle and turn my attention to the silver sandal in my hand. She comes out of the room some seconds later, changed back to her comfortable dress.

She puts the dress back on the hanger. "I'll find something more appropriate."

"What do you mean ‘more appropriate’? Fifty is the new thirty. You don't look a day over thirty-two."

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