Nannying wasn’t my first choice, but it could have been a lot worse. I was in London. I wasn’t relying on my sister. And my boss was as hot as holy hell. Life wasn’t shaping up to be exactly what I’d planned, but it was good.
“Well, maybe you should have an early night,” Hollie said.
“I need something to eat,” I replied, pulling out ham and cheese from the refrigerator. Gabriel even paid for my food, so everything I earned I could save and spend on travelling next summer. I made a mental note to spend some of my paycheck on a spatula. “And anyway, I’m not tired.”
“Of course you’re tired. You’ve been running around after a four-year-old all day.”
The truth was, nannying was hard work. I wasn’t about to tell Hollie that—I didn’t want her to worry. Bethany had an infectious giggle, loved to be tickled, and her curiosity knew no bounds . . . but she had the energy of a cocker spaniel on crack. At the end of every day, I felt like I’d been run over by a Mack truck.
“Gabriel will probably want you out of his hair when he comes in,” Hollie said. She was trying to sound breezy, like she wasn’t suggesting I keep as far away from Gabriel as possible. Even if I wanted to keep my distance—which I didn’t—it was impossible. We lived under the same roof, and he was frequently the only other adult I saw throughout the day. “He’ll have worked really hard and will want to decompress. But he’ll be far too polite to say so. You should go to bed.”
I glanced over at the locked door at the far end of the kitchen. Last night was my first night living with Gabriel and Bethany, and we were all still learning each other’s habits. When Gabriel had gotten home, he’d disappeared upstairs and changed out of his beautiful, navy blue suit—the one that made his green eyes light up like he was some kind of god. He’d looked so delicious. So powerful. So like a man who would kiss me out of my shoes. He’d returned in faded jeans that clung to his strong thighs and an old t-shirt that lifted up just slightly when he reached for a wine glass, so I got a glimmer of his muscular stomach. And the hole on the seam of the shoulder was begging for me to push my finger through and find out exactly how hot, how smooth, how touchable his skin was. I wanted to beg him never to wear anything else again. I’d felt my mouth go dry as I tried to find something to say to such a serious, commanding, beautiful man before he abruptly excused himself, and disappeared through that locked door without explanation.
Did he decompress behind that door?
And if so, what did decompressing involve when it came to a man like Gabriel Chase?
I could think of a few suggestions that didn’t involve him wearing either the suit or the jeans. In fact, esteemed decompress-ologist Doctor Autumn Lumen suggested a shower for two and kissing the nanny for optimal relaxation.
“We should have a talk about Gabriel,” Hollie said, her tone shifting when she realized I wasn’t taking her trying-to-be-subtle bait. She was using her Sensible Sister voice—the same one she’d used when we’d talked about me dating Darren from Eagle Creek and Stuart from Portland. “He’s a father and a very serious lawyer. And he’s—”
“You know that we’re not dating, right?”
“I know. But I also know that you just moved into his house and you’re going to be around each other and—”
“You’re worried that I’m going to seduce him and take advantage?” I wasn’t quite sure what her problem was. I got it with Darren and Stuart. Back home, she’d been trying to protect me. She didn’t want me ending up pregnant by some guy who would never amount to anything, which would lead to me dropping out of college and ruining my life. But I was different now. Gabriel was different. He’d already amounted to something. We were in London, not Oregon. And I was pretty sure I’d have to be having sex with him to get pregnant.
“Hardly. I’m not sure Gabriel ever does anything that he doesn’t want to do.”
Interesting. I hadn’t seen that side of him yet, but I hadn’t known him that long. I liked the idea that he had steel-like resolve.
“I’m just concerned because he’s . . . you know . . . He’s handsome.” Putting it mildly, sis. “I’m concerned you might develop a crush.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I can remove any ambiguity for you. My crush is fully developed. But that just means I’m human. I’m sure every woman in London has a crush on Gabriel Chase.”
Hollie laughed. “Okay, well that’s probably true. I just don’t want you to get into a situation you might regret.”