Nanny Makes Three

“I tried to lure him off with a treat, but Waldo being Waldo wouldn’t budge. As I was picking him up...” Swept by mortification, Hadley closed her eyes for a span of two heartbeats.

“Yes?” Kori’s voice vibrated with anticipation. “You picked him up and what?”

“I was leaning over the bed and Liam was sleeping. And dreaming.” Hadley shuddered. “About having sex with some woman, I think.”

“And?” Kori’s delighted tone prompted Hadley to spill the next part of her tale.

“The next thing I knew, his hand was up my shirt and he—” she mimed a gesture “—my breast.” Her voice trailed off in dismay.

“No way. And you’re sure he was asleep?”

“Positive. Unfortunately, I was so shocked that I didn’t keep a good hold of Waldo and he jumped onto Liam’s chest, waking him. I don’t think he knew what hit him.”

“What did he say?”

“I honestly don’t remember. I think I mumbled an apology for waking him. He retrieved his hand from beneath my pajama top and I bolted with Waldo.”

“Did you talk to him later?”

“He was gone before Maggie woke up again, and then I took off before he came home for lunch.” Hadley glanced at her charge to make sure the baby was sleeping soundly. “What am I supposed to say or do the next time I see him?”

“You could thank him for giving you the best sex you’ve had in years.”

“We didn’t have sex.” Hadley lowered her voice and hissed the last word, scowling at her friend.

“It’s the closest thing you’ve had to a physical encounter in way too long.” Kori fluffed her red hair and gazed in disgust at her friend. “I don’t know how you’ve gone so long without going crazy. If Scott and I go three days without sex we become vile, miserable people.”

Hadley rolled her eyes at her friend. “I’m not in a committed, monogamous relationship. You and Scott have been together for seven years. You’ve forgotten how challenging being single is. And if you recall, the last time I fell in love it didn’t work out so well.”

“Noah was an ass. He led you on while he was still working through things with his ex-wife.”

“She wanted him back,” Hadley reminded her friend. “He’d never stopped loving her even after finding out she’d cheated on him. And he was thinking about his kids.”

“He still hedged his bets with you. At the very least, he should have told you where things stood between them.”

On that, Hadley agreed. Five years earlier, she’d been a blind fool to fall in love with Noah. Not only had he been her employer, but also things had moved too fast between them. Almost immediately he’d made her feel like a part of the family. Because it was her first time being a nanny, she hadn’t understood that his behavior had crossed a line. She’d merely felt accepted and loved.

“That was a long time ago.” Thinking about Noah made her sad and angry. He’d damaged her ability to trust and opened a hole in her heart that had never healed. “Can we get back to my more immediate problem? Do I quit?”

“Because your boss sleep–felt you up?” Kori shook her head. “Chalk it up to an embarrassing mistake and forget about it.”

“You’re right.” Only she was having a hard time forgetting how much she enjoyed his hands on her skin. In fact, she wanted him to run his hands all over her body and make her come for him over and over.

Kori broke into her thoughts. “You’re thinking about him right now, aren’t you?”

“What?” Hadley sipped at her cold drink, feeling overly warm. “No. Why would you think that?”

“You’ve got the hots for him. Good for you.”

“No. Not good for me. He’s my boss, for one thing. For another, he’s a major player. I knew him when I used to race barrels. He had girls chasing after him all the time, and he enjoyed every second of it.”

/> “So he’s a playboy. You don’t need to fall in love with him, just scratch an itch.”

“I can’t.” Hadley gave her head a vehement shake to dispel the temptation of Kori’s matter-of-fact advice. “Besides, I’m not his type. He was asleep during most of what happened this morning.”

“Wait. Most?”

Hadley waved to dismiss her friend’s query. “It might have taken him a couple extra seconds to move his hand.”