Safe Bet (The Rules 4)

Insane. The girl drives me insane and I barely know her. It makes no sense. She’s pretty, yeah. I can’t deny I find her attractive. She’s nice. She’s good with the kids, and I shouldn’t find that a turn on, but I sort of do. I like her smile. I like the sound of her voice. She smells like fucking heaven and every time I catch a whiff of her fragrance, I want to sniff her all over. See if she smells that good everywhere.

If I don’t watch it, I could become a man obsessed.

And that’s not good.

Not at all.

Luckily enough Drew and Fable came home just past midnight, and I was still awake, anxiously awaiting their return. Drew had texted me around eleven, letting me know she was going to be released soon and everything was fine. He also told me they were taking an Uber Black back home, so I didn’t have to worry about picking them up—considering I offered.

After Drew got Fable settled in bed, he asked me to take care of the kids this morning so Fable could get some extra rest. I readily agreed.

So here I am, taking care of the kids—yeah, that’s my job, but usually Fable is always nearby. Jacob is sitting in his highchair eating his breakfast and Autumn is at the table, talking nonstop while she pushes strawberry slices around on her plate with a fork. She’s not much of a big eater, which worries Fable. I can tell. Jacob, on the other hand, will shove anything in his mouth you give him.

“Mommy!” Autumn exclaims, and I whirl around to find Fable standing at the entrance of the kitchen, wearing a black robe with the belt cinched tight around her tiny waist. Her hair is disheveled and her eyes are sleepy, but otherwise, she looks completely normal.

“Hey baby,” Fable says as Autumn hops off her chair and runs toward her mother. They embrace before Fable hauls her up into her arms and gives her a kiss on the nose. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good! Uncle Wade gave me a bath last night and I splashed him!” Autumn giggles and Fable laughs too.

“Poor Wade.” Fable’s gaze meets mine. “Thank you for helping with everything. I know it was chaotic, but Drew said you seemed to handle it all like a pro.”

Please. I freaked the hell out. Fell down, cried, made a fool of myself. Handled it like a pro? I don’t think so. “It was no problem,” I say easily.

She sets Autumn back in her chair at the table before she turns to me, her expression suddenly very serious. “There are some things that happened last night though, and I’d like to talk to you about it.”

Dread washes over me, slow yet all-consuming. Doesn’t help that the dire tone of her voice sets me on edge. “Um, of course.”

We walk over to stand by the pantry, where we have enough privacy yet can watch the children as well.

“Are you all right?” I ask before she can say anything. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

“Oh yeah. I just had…a moment. They said I had low blood pressure and that’s why I fainted.” She offers me an embarrassed smile. “I haven’t been getting much sleep lately, and I really haven’t been eating much either. I need to take care of myself better.”

“As long as you’re okay.” I want her to know that I care about her, because I do. She’s not only a great boss, but I also really like her and her family. They’ve accepted me so easily since I’ve started, and those first few days, I was a bit of a wreck.

“I’m definitely okay.” Fable smiles then glances in the direction of her children, making sure they’re all right before she returns her attention to me. “So look. I don’t want to freak you out,” she starts, promptly freaking me out. “But the media got a hold of some photos of you and Drew from last night and now they’re…everywhere.”

I frown. This is not the direction I expected her to take this conversation. “Everywhere?”

She nods. “Drew told me about the paparazzi hanging out in front of the restaurant last night, but he blew it off. Said it was no big deal.”

“I guess so. I’ve never dealt with something like that before. I mean, they were asking all kinds of intrusive questions, but I would think that’s their normal behavior, right?”

“Yes, that’s pretty normal. But they’re jumping all over this one particular photo.” Fable whips her phone out of her robe pocket and taps on the screen before holding it out for me to see. “Look at this.”

The headline above the photo captures me first. It screams in bold type, Niner QB Drew Callahan Cradles the Naughty Nanny Close!

Naughty Nanny? Talk about ridiculous.

My gaze drops to the photo just below the sensationalized headline. It’s of Drew, and he’s holding me in his arms, my cheek pressed against his chest. He’s glaring at the cameras, his expression full of angry irritation and I’m oblivious.

“I fell, when we were trying to get into the SUV,” I tell Fable, unable to tear my gaze away from that stupid photo. I guess it does look incriminating, Drew holding me close and the angry expression on his face—we look like we have something to hide. But nothing happened. He just wanted to get to the car so we could pick up Fable and take her to the hospital. “What exactly does the article say?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to read the article. You don’t want to read any of them. They all say the same thing.” Fable shoves her phone back into her pocket. “The media will make up anything to sell a magazine, a photo, a story. It doesn’t matter what really happened.”