Just a Bit Dirty (Straight Guys 10)

“People say the kid was traumatized by the atmosphere in his family,” Shawn said quietly.

“What atmosphere?”

Shawn seemed uncomfortable. “They say Caldwell’s wife had a drug problem,” he said. “And she liked… to have fun.”

Derek sneered. “You can call a spade a spade, Shawn: she was a whore. But from what I heard, Caldwell wasn’t going to win any Husband of the Year awards, either. No wonder that kid was traumatized with such stellar parenting.”

Miles frowned. Caldwell had said that Liam had likely been traumatized by his mother’s abandoning him in an unfamiliar place, but maybe living in such a difficult environment had contributed too. Either way, poor kid.

“So you won’t work at the office anymore?” Shawn said.

Miles shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Apparently no.” He smiled ruefully. “Sorry. I know I promised to keep an eye on him, but—”

“You can still keep an eye on him,” Derek said, boring his dark eyes into him.

“Derek,” Shawn said sharply before giving Miles with a sheepish look. “Ignore him. You don’t have to do anything. Now that Caldwell is your employer, we can’t exactly ask you to spy on him. It would put you in an awkward position.”

“Keeping an eye on someone isn’t the same as spying,” Derek said. “We would appreciate it if you tell us if he’s up to something. That’s all.”

“Okay,” Miles said, wincing on the inside. So much for being relieved. “I’ll go pack my things. Thanks so much for your hospitality.”

Shawn nodded, shrugging. “Don’t mention it. And you’re absolutely invited to come here whenever you want, Miles.”

“Thanks,” Miles said with a smile. They really were such a lovely couple. “I’ll go pack now.”

On the drive back to Caldwell’s house, Miles mulled over Derek Rutledge’s request-slash-order, trying to understand why he felt so uneasy about the whole thing.

He didn’t owe his loyalty to Ian Caldwell. The man hadn’t been remotely nice to him. The Rutledges were good people who had done him a huge favor.

So why did he still feel like he’d just made a mistake by agreeing to “keep an eye” on Caldwell?

Chapter 6

By the end of his second week as Liam’s nanny, Miles felt like he was slowly going insane.

Liam wasn’t the problem. Contrary to his father’s words, he was a lovely, quiet child—at least he was lovely and quiet when he wasn’t clinging to Miles’s leg and throwing a fit whenever Miles tried to leave the room. It was more than a little uncomfortable, but it was something that had been slowly improving as the second week came to an end: Liam now seemed to take Miles’s leaving only with a trembling bottom lip and wide, sad eyes. Although that look made Miles’s chest tighten with illogical guilt, it was still an improvement over the hysterical sobbing, so Miles took it as encouraging progress.

No, Liam wasn’t the problem. His father was.

Caldwell still stared at him. Not as obviously as he used to, but far more intently than was normal. And since he now wasn’t evaluating him as a prospective nanny for his son, Miles didn’t know what the hell the guy’s deal was. Miles got a reprieve from the weird staring only when Caldwell was at work.

“Look, what’s your problem with me?” Miles finally snapped one day.

They were in Liam’s playroom, and Caldwell was supposedly watching his son play with Miles, except his unnerving gaze was fixated mostly on Miles. It made Miles… weirdly self-conscious. He couldn’t focus on Liam at all, acutely aware of Caldwell’s attention on him.

Caldwell raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Oh, yeah?” Miles said, keeping his voice low for Liam’s sake. The boy didn’t like raised voices. “In what world is it normal to stare at your son’s nanny like a creep?”

“In the world I’m paying the nanny ten thousand dollars a week,” Caldwell said, his voice very dry.

“I agreed to be Liam’s nanny, not an object for gawking.”

Blue eyes gazed into him lazily. “For ten thousand dollars a week, you will be what I want you to be.”

Miles stared at him for a moment before laughing. “Just when I started thinking you couldn’t get more unbearably bossy, you prove me wrong again.”

Liam made a demanding sound and Miles tore his gaze from the father to the son. Liam had destroyed the block tower they had built, and it seemed he wanted to build it again—or rather, he wanted Miles to build it.

“You can build it yourself, too, mate,” Miles said, brushing his fingers through the boy’s soft hair and smiling at him.

Liam shook his head, something stubborn about his expression, but he remained silent.

Miles tried not to frown. For all the encouraging progress in Liam’s behavior over the past week, he still hadn’t spoken a word after he said the word “ma-ma.” Miles was pretty sure the boy understood speech well; speaking was another matter entirely.