Flo’s lips quiver with a smile, and she pops another raspberry into her mouth, playing with the straw poking out of her iced beverage. “You said you want me to teach Leo over the summer? What kind of things were you thinking? I’d appreciate your suggestions. I’m not a great dancer, but I don’t mind a bit of karaoke. We could plant some summer squash or tomatoes, too. I used to do that all the time with my parents. Oh, what about magic? My dad taught me all kinds of cool card tricks because he’s a bit of a nerd whenit comes to that stuff. I even know how to tie a animal balloon.”
I stare, unable to move my lips. This woman’s mind works a mile a minute. I don’t even know what to say. No nanny has ever suggested that much before—it’s usually me offering them suggestions.
Flo laughs softly. “I’ll take that as a yes, please, Flo. If he likes making things, I can teach him to sew, too, but that might be a little advanced for his age. Or boring, I don’t know.”
“You sew?”
“Yeah, I prefer to make my own clothes. They fit better. I made this last week.” She plays with the skirt of the sundress, and my eyes round.
She made that?
“It’s… nice,” is all I manage to say. But it’s more than nice. Everything about Flo McKenna seems more than fucking nice.
“Glad you think so. I’ll make you one if you want.” Her tone is playful, and forcing my gaze up, my eyes flick to the iced drink she’s holding. Theverygreen drink, and I use its heinous colour as a distraction from her pillowy lips and husky voice. “What the fuck are you drinking?”
Her eyes stretch, tutting me teasingly. “No F-bombs around the children. That’s a dollar for the swear jar.”
“We don’t have a swear jar.”
She laughs, jostling her drink. “It’s amatcha latte.”
“It looks like you blended up Shrek. You can’t be serious about actually liking that stuff. Matcha tastes like pond water.”
“You’ve tried pond water?”
“No… obviously not.”
God, this woman. She’s infuriating. How the hell am I going to put up with her for the rest of the summer? She’s tolerable when around Leo, because she focuses mainly on him, but when it’s just her and me, she has that dangerous glint in her eye. A glint like she’s determined to mess with me, and knows exactly how to do it.
“I’ll be back just after eight tonight,” I tell her, refocusing. We have a training session after the barbecue, and Gracie isn’t around. “Please have Leo in bed by seven. He likes a cup of warm milk before brushing his teeth, but he needs his kiddie stool to reach the sink. And you have to pretend to brush Donkey’s teeth, too. Otherwise, he won’t go to bed.” Humour slips into my tone as I think about his bedtime routine. It’s almost like having two kids sometimes, because whatever Leo gets, Donkey does too.
He was devastated when he couldn’t find him. I was scouring the internet for replacements, but the only ones I could find looked brand new, and there was something about buying one and beating it up so Leo wouldn’t know the difference that felt a little bit psychotic.
Still, if it came down to it, I probably would have done it for him.
“I can do that. Does he have a teeth-brushing song I need to sing or anything?”
I cock my head at her, because never have I had a nanny ask me if my son has a teeth-brushing song they need to sing to help him.
At first, I’m unsure if it’s a joke, but after Flo lifts her eyebrows at me, encouraging my response, I see that she’s deadly serious about singing a song for my son while he brushes his teeth.
“Um, no, there’s no teeth brushing song.”
“That’s fine. I can make one up.”
Before I can respond, Leo calls for me, laughing so hard I’m sure his lungs are about to burst as he rides Bennett’s back like a pony.
“That’s your cue.” Flo releases a tinkling laugh and sips on her gross-looking matcha drink, popping one final raspberry into her mouth and sauntering away to re-join Mae.
But I can’t help but stare after her, eyes locking in on her ass and the way it moves from side to side as she walks. Grumbling to myself, I force myself back over to my teammates.
I’m met with Bennett and Sam’s curious eyes, and it looks like they’re both holding in their laughter, chins quivering.
“Man, you are well and truly fucked,” Sam chortles, quickly glancing down at Leo to make sure he didn’t notice his use of foul language. He’s distracted, arms wrappedaround Bennett’s neck, begging him to get back down on his haunches and make pony sounds.
“She’s just the nanny.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll ask you again in a couple of weeks and see if your answer has changed.” Bennett chuckles, shooting me a wink, making me push him away with a huff.
