The command was soft in my ear like his touch was over my stomach, his thumb brushing just under my pajama shirt in a way it shouldn’t. In a way that had me shivering.
“I’m used to Archer’s help, Mr. Knight.” It was a silly excuse.Really, I was used to not reacting to Archer being close to me. We had a professional relationship that felt friendly. Nothing more.
With Jameson, my body almost ached when I looked at him, when he touched me. It was probably how all women felt around him. He was classically handsome, but his stare was lethally intriguing while his body was huge, like he could dominate a woman in all the right ways.
Or wrong ones, I reminded myself. He’d almost choked me.
And even with that reminder, my thighs clenched together, as if to argue that he hadn’t choked me though, and he should be rewarded for that.
I was losing it, I swear.
“You live here now. It’s Jameson.”
“A live-in nanny still has a boss, and there are still boundaries.” I looked over my shoulder at him. Because without boundaries between us, I think I would find myself hopping on the counter and spreading my legs for him.
A rumble came from deep in his chest before he nodded against my cheek. “True, Ms. Darling. True.” He stepped back then, and I immediately missed his warmth but knew it was for the best. “You’d do well to dress in appropriate attire then at all times and not let my guys stare at your perfect ass as you reach for things in my kitchen.”
My ass was perfect in these pajamas? I almost smiled before I caught myself.
Unprofessional, Ms. Darling, I chided myself. Two freaking million and I’d better find a way to keep it together.
I whipped around to find him staring at my legs again. This time, I saw the fire for the desire it was and lashed out at him instead of myself. “Seems your guys aren’t the ones with the staring problem.”
“Fair.” He didn’t even try to hide it, nor did he stop. His eyeslicked over every inch of my thighs and calves. Goose bumps rose on every single centimeter his gaze touched. “I assess everything in my house from the very top to the very bottom.” And that’s when I watched his gaze drag up my whole body before locking on mine. “Especially when they look out of place.”
My stomach plummeted at how cold his gaze turned.Screw him.“Maybe you shouldn’t have things or people who look out of place in it then, Mr. Knight.”
That large hand of his that had just been on me rubbed over the scruff of his five-o’clock shadow as if the fact that I emphasized his last name again was pushing his irritation to the brink. Through clenched teeth, he responded, “Or maybe those people should try blending in better when they’re working.”
“I was woken up early and didn’t have time to change.” I threw my hand up and felt the grip on the glass tighten. It wasn’t even eight yet, and I was already considering throwing dishes at him.
“I’ll let my guys know to give you more time.” His jaw popped.
“That’s not what I’m getting at.” I set the glass down on the counter harder than intended. He immediately stepped close to me again, and I gasped when his body brushed against mine. I swear I caught his mouth tipping up. “I’m just tired. I have to adjust to being here and feel comfortable to do my job.”
“Are you not comfortable?” He didn’t attempt to give me any sort of space for comfort. Instead, he frowned and pushed a loose curl from my cheek. Then, he glanced toward my bedroom. “Did you not sleep well?”
“No. I slept fine.” Biting my lip, I slowly gripped his wrist and pushed it away. I couldn’t have him being nice or I wouldn’t stand a chance keeping whatever it was between us professional. And complaining on my first day was out of the question. I wasn’t going to tell him about the nightmares or that I likedflannel sheets rather than cotton. They blasted the air conditioning like it was a hundred degrees outside, and I always ran a bit colder. Plus, I’d normally open a window to feel a breeze, but I swore there were men or something out in those woods. I was paranoid, I knew it. The incident at the school had made me jumpy and skittish. “I’m just not used to men watching my door or knowing I’m sleeping under the same roof as the parent of my students.”
His eyes narrowed and darkened like he didn’t like the idea of any of this either. “Archer watched the premises at the academy through the night.”
“Only him. I’m fine with him watching me sleep,” I summarized. “Not Hades or whoever else is here.”
“You want him watching you sleep?” His eyes sizzled with a look I didn’t understand.
“Watching my door. You know what I mean.” I waved off his question.
“They watch the house. And the premises from now on. For your safety, Mia.”
My safety. Or theirs. I wasn’t exactly sure. It didn’t matter, I reminded myself. Two million. Two million for a summer.
He chuckled and stepped back, letting his hand fall away. It snapped my attention back to him. “You’re right. Two million for a summer, Ms. Darling.”
Crap, I must have mumbled that out loud.
“What could go wrong, right?”
So many things. The fact that I was staring at his lips as he said it, that I was considering how wrong it would be if I leaned just a foot closer to him to smell a hint of sandalwood and leather on him again. I couldn’t bring myself to respond to him at that moment.
