Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

“For what?” I hesitate for only a moment before sliding my arms around her waist. The action pulls her body closer to mine. A body that while smaller than mine still manages to fit perfectly. A body with curves and breasts and warm, soft skin. Fuck. I need to get laid. I’m so distracted by her hug and the temptation to wrap her legs around my waist that I nearly miss what she says.

“For being so good to Jackson.” After a brief pause, she adds, “And nice to me.” She pulls away, her hands sliding down my shoulders to my arms since I can’t seem to let her go yet.

“You don’t have to thank me for that.” Would her lips get pinker or turn more of a reddish shade if I were to kiss the hell out of her?

“I do. It’s all part of me trying to expand our world and allow people in.” She frowns and tenses in my arms as some thought occurs to her. “He likes you a lot, so please don’t ever hurt him.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Her eyes flick to her hands, which must be what makes her realize we’re in this position because she quickly steps away from me. My arms have no choice but to fall to my sides. It’s probably a good thing, though. I definitely don’t need to fuck my nanny.

Right?

Even if she was interested?

And with Raelynn, I can’t tell. She’s too closed off of a person to tell if she’s attracted to me. I know she’s more comfortable being here, living here, and being my nanny, but that’s about all I’ve gathered about her so far. Except for how she feels about Henry being around. She definitely isn’t thrilled about that.

But is she attracted to me? As attracted as I am to her? Do sexy thoughts about us filter past the Do Not Think About sign in her mind like they do in mine? Is she tempted? Does she wonder what it would be like?

Because the longer I’m around her, the more attracted I am to her. The more I wonder what it would be like. The more tempted I become, even though it seems like a huge no-no. As much as I hate to admit it, Derek was right. Physically, if I have a type, Raelynn is it. Living with her and being platonic might become torture at some point, especially since she’s a really good person on top of that. A person I like. A person I’m pretty sure I want to fuck.

Damn it.

Raelynn tilts her head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to get inside me.”

I blink. She can’t know I was thinking that.

“My head!” Raelynn quickly corrects. “You looked like you were trying to get inside my head. Oh my god.” She turns away and covers her eyes for a moment. “I need to go to bed. G’night, Elias.” She runs up the stairs before I can call after her.

I need to find a way to get Raelynn out of my head because I can not think about fucking with her.

It’s Saturday. We’re on a California road swing and at our last stop before we go home. I think I’ve devised a plan for Raelynn. I don’t know if it’s going to work. One-night-stands or casual flings aren’t my thing. Not after what happened with Vicky. And since I can’t stop thinking about Raelynn, my bright idea is to set her up with someone.

The purpose is two-fold. Raelynn could probably use some fun. A date will give her that. Considering she hasn’t had too many days off, I can also use this to make her take a day off. Secondly, if she’s out with someone else, then surely I won’t think about her.

Plot holes everywhere, but it’s all I’ve got. I most certainly can’t take her out and make sure she has fun. However, I can find one of the guys to do it and watch Jackson for her while she’s gone. That’s another thing. I know she’d leave Jackson with me. The only other person she might do that with is Deanna since they apparently had lunch earlier this week and are friends.

Convincing Raelynn will be another issue, but I’ll worry about that later. Right now, I need to find her a date. I’ve been thinking about all the guys on the team and I’ve narrowed it down to two. I don’t know what I’m thinking, but they seem like the least likely to be jackasses. With a deep breath, I walk over to the table where the Kessy twins are having lunch and sit down.

“Hey, EJ,” they say together, a quirk they’ve been doing since around Thanksgiving to get on everyone’s nerves and to creep some of us out.

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“Good,” Cal answers.

“How’s Bree?” Collin asks.

“She’s good.” The guys exchange a look and I say, “I need a favor.”

“Told you,” Cal says, causing Collin to roll his eyes. “He’ll do it.”

“We don’t even know what it is,” Collin argues. “I might not want to do it.”

“Both of you shut up and listen.” I wait in case they decide to argue with me, but when they don’t, I say, “Would one of you like to take my nanny out on a date?”