Halftime Husband (Sassy in the City 5)

I watched Carson usher Brandon’s daughters out, looking like he’d rather be doing anything else on the planet. Once the door was closed, I said, “I don’t think Carson is enjoying himself.”

“I don’t think Carson ever enjoys himself.” Brandon shoved his hands in his pockets. “My daughters only needed five minutes to fall for you. I guess it runs in the family.”

My cheeks felt hot. I wasn’t sure if it was from the sex, the close call with his kids showing up, or the thought of living in his apartment as his nanny, but I was a little on edge. “Are you serious about this job?” I had to be practical. I needed the job, if the offer was legitimate.

“I know it sounds insane, but I’m in a bind. The girls have run through nannies like they grow on trees, and you know what my job is like. I’m not even in New York when we have away games. I need someone I can trust, who can be there for overnights and game days. The school days would be yours to go to auditions. I would just ask that you be there when they got home.”

I nodded. “That would be fine.”

“Help them with homework, cook dinner, straighten up the apartment.” He made a face. “This is weird, isn’t it? This is a bad idea given our… intimacy. We just had sex on my desk.”

He said the last part as if I might have forgotten that he’d literally just been inside me.

“Maybe.” I thought about it. It might be weird. Hell, it would probably be weird. But I wasn’t exactly a woman with a whole long list of options. “But I’m in a pickle. You’re in a pickle. What if we just plan on this being temporary? You look for a long-term nanny, I look for a job. A regular day job with consistent hours so I don’t have to beg my parents to let their adult daughter move home.” That thought made me willing to do just about anything. I didn’t want a day job, but I had to be realistic. “Say, ninety days? Six months max?”

That seemed to relieve him. “That makes sense. But how can you perform with the cheerleaders? I would need you to bring the girls to my box on game days. They like watching the games.”

“You have a box?” Now that would be cool.

“It’s part of my contract. I could have had my family in the owner’s box, but I don’t trust my daughters.”

“I’m out in two weeks when the girl I stepped in for comes off the injured reserve list. So it’s fine. This weekend is an away game anyway. I’m getting evicted on the fifteenth. I could start now but move in once I get kicked out of my apartment.” Leaving my home of the last three years was going to be very deflating and sad. It was a dark cave but it was mine. It had been home and now it was just all getting ripped away from me.

This was what I got for not planning my life better.

“I can hire a mover to bring your stuff over.”

“Are you sure?” That sounded expensive and something I was in exactly no position to do myself. I probably would have ended up throwing away the majority of my possessions.

“Of course.”

I was ridiculously relieved at that prospect. “Thanks.”

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and reached for me. He brushed back a stray hair that had gotten missed when I had redone my ponytail. The way he was looking at me twisted my gut.

“You realize if you take this position, we can’t date,” he said.

“That was an option?” I asked. Sex, sure. But dating? I hadn’t thought that was on the table given his request for discretion. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to date Brandon. My life was a mess. It was a really bad time to try to start a relationship. Especially with a slightly grumpy guy with a complicated life and children.

He looked surprised by the question. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe not. Probably not, with you cheering. But definitely not if you’re my nanny. I can’t risk confusing and upsetting the girls.”

“So my options are to not date you and have no job, or to not date you and have a nanny job?”

“Yes. With the first option, even sex is a question mark. We would have to be very discreet.”

There it was again. “You know how I feel about that word. It’s just another word for dirty little secret and I kind of hate it.”

“Do you have to put it that way? It’s just my life is complicated and I don’t want a bunch of online bullshit. Or bullshit from my players if they know I’m having sex with a cheerleader. It’s just too hard to keep my private life private unless we’re really private.”

I understood where he was coming from. I wasn’t s

elfish. I knew his family, job, and reputation came first. “I get it. To be brutally honest, I don’t want people to know either. If it was an actual relationship, sure, but I don’t want to be the cheerleader just banging the coach. I’m not twenty-two anymore.”

He misinterpreted my meaning and got sidetracked. “You banged the coach when you were twenty-two? Who? Padlowski? That guy is ancient. Oh my God.” He rubbed his chest, like the thought pained him.

“What? No! That is not what I meant. I did not have sex with the previous coach. I just meant my life is a mess and I’m trying to get it together. I don’t want anyone to know what we’re doing, that’s all, because I don’t need to be judged. I’m trying to be responsible. I’m trying not to be impulsive. For once. Well. I mean, aside from having sex just now. But that was your fault.” Damn it, learning to be responsible was a process. I was getting there step by step.

He didn’t say anything, just nodded. “I accept full responsibility for that. Even though you clearly picked out your clothing this morning with the sole purpose of torturing me.”