Page 17 of Mountain Men’s Nanny

I watched Brie walk up the stairs, the swing in her hips, the way her watch jingled against the single solid bracelet she wore on her left wrist. I recognized her perfume—light jasmine, vanilla, and something hinting at citrus.

I had gotten too close. I had to step back. This would be the last time we spent so much time together.

“Guess who wants to do her bedtime routine all by herself from now on,” Brie said, trotting down the stairs.

“Well, she’s kind of been putting herself to sleep on the couch for years. Bedtime story and all,” I shrugged.

I could feel her walking up behind me to grab a dish towel. She stood next to me and dried the dishes I had just washed. It was a warm, domestic scene I hadn’t imagined myself in. But imagination would only lead to trouble. It had to end.

“Your probation is almost up,” I said, nodding for my own benefit. It meant I wouldn’t be spending so much time with her. It would make things easier. For me, anyway.

“And what does that mean?” Brie asked, turning to look at me.

I didn’t look at her; I just answered while scrubbing the stewing pot. “It means you’ve passed and I’ll be out of your hair, getting back to doing my actual job.”

Her shoulders slumped just a little, but enough for me to notice.

“Just as we were getting to know each other.” Brie hit my arm playfully. “Well, we can still be dinner buddies.”

“Yeah,” I said weakly. “Dinner buddies.”

She moved closer to me, which I thought was accidental. It must have been because suddenly she was standing much too close. So close that her hip brushed up against me as she dried the pot.

I moved over, further from her. I thought I was being stealthy about it; that was my forte, but the more time I spent with Brie, the less capable I felt. It made her dangerous. Guarding and protecting was all I knew, all I had to offer, but she made me weak. And for the first time in a long time, she made me consider putting myself first. Just for a second, not even long enough to think of how exactly I would do that.

“You keep scooting away from me,” Brie giggled. “Soon you’ll be washing the dishes from the other side of the woods.”

She was on to me. Stealth may have been one of my best professional qualities, but dishonesty never had been, not with someone I was practically living with. Coming clean was my only option. If she understood, if we were both on the same page, it would be easier.

“Things have been really… different since you came around,” I started awkwardly. I leaned against the counter, leaving room between us. Enough so that I wasn’t touching her, and she wasn’t touching me. She was still close enough to make my pulse race.

“Not just with me, but with all of us.” I was talking in circles, struggling to get to the point, because how did I tell a woman that I couldn’t compete with my boss for her affections without sounding like a schmuck?

“Tobias, he’s the boss. Yours and mine, and he… he doesn’t just act that way with everyone.”

“What way?”

“The way he is with you.” I was flustered. I cracked my knuckles and only stopped when I felt Brie’s warm hand over mine. This conversation was becoming more urgent.

“I don’t think I understand what you’re trying to say,” she said.

“Look, Brie, I know something happened between the two of you the other night. I don’t like things messy and I—” I couldn’t find a way around this one. “My job is to make Tobias’s life simpler, and that means keeping my distance from you.”

Brie looked up at me, but I couldn’t read her face.

“Do you always step aside from the things you want because of Tobias?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

It was never a hard thing to do until she showed up.

“Even people?”

“Yes,” I repeated.

She stepped closer, still staring up at me. If she blinked, I didn’t notice. She reached up and held the back of my head, her fingers in my hair, then kissed me.

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