She chuckles, and my frown deepens.
Damn it to hell. Her laugh is even cute.
No.
You will not have the hots for your daughter's goddamn nanny. You will not bethatguy. Even if she is the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen in your thirty-four years on this planet. I literally just met the woman. I can keep my dick in my pants to ensure my daughter has adequate care. I will repeat that every damn day if I have to.
I finally give in to the undeniable pull and look at her. She’s smiling again, and a weird feeling I’m choosing to ignore slowly creeps into my chest. It’s like a gas leak, fucking persistent and just as dangerous.
I grind my molars and give her a defeated nod. I don’t really have a choice. I need a nanny, and she needs a job. I know everyone else in town and none of them are worthy candidates.
I could put a job listing online, but the fact that Ivy is close with Sophie eases some of the worry ofleaving my little girl with a stranger. It’s two weeks. I can do two weeks. Maybe it won’t work out. Maybe it’ll be too much for her.
“How old are you?” I ask.
I’m aware it’s an inappropriate question, and I don’t know why I care. Especially since the last person to be Lilah’s nanny wasn’t even old enough to drink.
“Twenty-nine,” she answers without missing a beat, then lifts an eyebrow. “How old are you?”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” I clip back.
She seems completely undeterred by my sharp tone, and smirks back at me. It makes my stomach clench.
Not a good start, Wes.
“It was relevant for me, though?” Her eyes are full of amusement.
“Do you have time to follow me home and meet Lilah?” I ask, completely ignoring her calling me out on my bullshit.
She gives me a full-toothed grin. Her eyes dance, like she knows she caught me. All that smile does is hammer the nail in the coffin.
I’m fucked.
————
I put my truck in park just as Ivy’s car rolls up next to mine on the gravel drive. She agreed to come meet Lilah and check out the house today, so I called my mom when we left the cafe and asked if she could meet us here.
Ivy hops out of her car and rounds the hood to meet me at my door. I cut the engine and slide out, catching the look of awe on her face.
“This place is beautiful,” she says softly, turning her head slowly taking in the view behind me.
I grunt in agreement and usher her forward, doing my best to look at her as little as possible. The plan backfires, and I’m met with the perfect view of her ass in those tight black pants as she walks up the steps of the house.
It’s hard, but I tear my eyes away from her when we reach the top of the wraparound porch and Ivy turns to admire the view from my front door. The Rocky Mountains steal the show with pine trees blanketing the horizon and surrounding the property—a reminder of how lucky we are to live here. You tend to forget just how beautiful this is when you’ve seen it nearly every day of your life.
“The couple of times I’ve been here, I didn’t see much because it was dark. And there’s great views in town, but this is… beautiful.”
I’m stopped from saying something stupid when the front door swings open behind us. I whirl around to see my mom, then instinctively drop my eyes lower to see Lilah. My daughter is standing there in her overalls, barefoot, with Burrito the dragon hanging limply from her little hand.
Lilah gasps, loudly and theatrically. “Are you my new lady?”
she asks Ivy.
“I’m your new lady,” Ivy responds without hesitation, giving Lilah a huge smile, both hands resting on her hips.
Before I can get a word in, Lilah squeals. “You’re so pretty!”she shouts, and starts jumping up anddown on the balls of her feet. She bounces out onto the porch with us and starts yanking on my hand.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy, for getting me a pretty lady!”
