by Cat Johnson
I was so unprepared for this gig it would be funny if it wasn’t tragically serious.
My poor sister. She deserved to know her child was safe as she went traipsing around the world for the next six months.
Good thing I was well schooled in being convincing even when my own self-doubt could choke a horse.
With that thought in mind I glanced up and saw Boone as the front door swung wide. Talk about a thoroughbred.
Damn, if I’d known they grew men like him in the country, I might not have settled in a city.
He walked out, beaming with a bright smile as he came toward the car. I’d known the man for only twenty-four hours but I already realized that a smile was his go-to expression.
Great. Another optimist who would make me feel like I was an irrationally gloomy dark cloud in his eternally sunny world.
I called it being realistic. My ex had not. I learned the hard way a glass half full optimist can’t be happy with a glass half empty realist. I wasn’t going to make that mistake in my personal life again.
Yet somehow, thanks to Stewie, I’d ended up committing to living with this sunshiny man for the next couple of months.
I was beginning to wonder who was in charge here—the kid or me. I was afraid I knew the answer.
Boone grinned, leaning one arm on the top of my open door. “Hey. Good to see you. How was your drive?”
“Um. Fine,” I answered.
Small talk. Great. Just what I needed after my traumatic first twenty-four hours with a three-year old.
The drive had been fine. Stewie had slept most of the way. It was the rest of the morning that had put me in a grumpy mood.
I hadn’t gotten to shower this morning and my hair showed it. Stewie was similarly unwashed since my place didn’t have a bathtub, and I had recently learned children his age didn’t take showers.
He had instant oatmeal in his hair from this morning’s breakfast. I was afraid to look in the mirror because there was a good chance there could be some in mine too from when he’d grabbed onto me as I’d lifted him up to the sink to wash his hands.
I’d barely slapped on cover-up to hide the dark rings beneath my eyes caused from lack of sleep.
The lack of makeup left me looking deathly pale—a result of too many hours spent inside an office and not enough fresh air and sunshine. Both of which I assumed Boone got plenty of judging by his generally healthy glow.
Here before me, in stark contrast to myself, stood a golden Adonis. His skin bronzed and his light brown hair highlighted from the sun until it was almost blonde in places. His body was hard and thick, from physical labor I guessed as I saw the farm name painted on the door of his truck.
He opened the rear door and reached inside with tanned muscular arms busting out of his short-sleeved T-shirt to unstrap Stewie.
“Hi, Boone,” Stewie said.
“Hi, buddy. How are you today?” Boone asked.
“Good,” Stewie replied. “We get a new house today.”
“Yes, you do. Are you excited?”
“Yeah.”
The man talked to the child like he would an old friend he met at the diner. And Stewie responded in kind, impressively holding up his end of the conversation.
I hated to admit it, but Boone might be the perfect companion for Stewie. Lord knew the boy needed a male role model in his life.
Conversely, Boone was definitely not the perfect companion for me.
That he was oh so wrong for me was most definitely for the best since the last thing I should be doing was fantasizing about sleeping with my new male nanny. As I watched the muscles in his back flex beneath the cotton of his shirt when he set Stewie down on the ground, I realized I would do well to remind myself of that.
Even so, I wasn’t thrilled to be looking like hell in front of Boone, which I currently was.
Maybe I’d get to take a shower now that he had Stewie. I’d do that before I went food shopping so the rest of the town wouldn’t be subjected to my oatmeal hair.
“So, I figured you guys can come inside and pick which bedrooms you want. I’ll carry your stuff in, then we can have dinner.”
“I was going to ask if you’d watch Stewie while I ran to the store to get some food.”
“No need. I mean if there was something specific you needed, you can and I’ll watch the little bugger. But I brought over everything we need for dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning.”
“You went shopping for us?” I asked, stopping mid-step in my path from the car to the house.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it shopping really. I just filled up a couple of bags at my family’s place.”
“Your family’s place?” I frowned as he made his way into the house and toward the kitchen and I followed. “Your family owns a grocery store?”
That question went unanswered as I saw that Stewie had found a dog in the house and was currently rolling around on the floor with him.
“Um, who’s that?” I asked.
“That's Romeo. My secret weapon.” Boone grinned. “I figured they’d be friends and while they play together it would free me up to get the stuff out of the car and start the grill for the steaks. You okay with steak for dinner? There’s plenty of vegetables too. I mean, we do own a farm stand filled with fruit and vegetables.”
My gaze moved from the boy and dog, to a basket on the counter filled with what looked like garden-fresh vegetables.
I shook my head. We’d discussed Boone’s salary for taking care of Stewie, but it hadn’t included him cooking or even shopping for me. “I’ll reimburse you for the food.”
He waved away the offer. “It’s fine. Welcome gift from my family at Morgan Farm to you.”
I frowned again as I realized I knew nothing about this guy or his family. Yet I had hired him to watch my nephew and invited him to live in my house.
And if my lady parts had their way, they’d be getting to know him a whole lot better too.
I felt like I should take a step back. Maybe consider other accommodations for us. Other childcare for Stewie.
“Aunt Sarah! Look at Boone’s doggie.” Stewie beamed as the furry bundle of energy leapt on him.
Boone grinned wide, making him even more gorgeous and I knew . . . it was too late to switch gears now.
There was no turning back.
SIX
Boone
“Buddy. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can get up in the morning. I’ve got a great adventure planned for us tomorrow. You don’t want to be tired for it. Right?”
“Can Romeo come on our ’venture tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yes. Of course he can. But for tonight I have to bring him back to his own home to sleep.”
Truth was, I would have talked Sarah into letting the pup stay here for the night if his real owner, my new foster brother Bart, wasn’t home waiting for him.
Romeo was kind of on loan from Bart. I’d bribed him actually. And the kid drove a hard bargain. It had cost me twenty bucks and the promise I’d have Romeo home before Bart’s bedtime.
I wasn’t going to take a foster kid’s dog away from him, even if the animal had kept Stewie entertained for hours and freed me up to devote my attention elsewhere. Namely, on Sarah.
The pout on Stewie’s face looked a little too close to tears and I hoped I hadn’t screwed up bringing the dog over in the first place if taking him home again was going to cause a tantrum.
“But,” I continued. “You get to see him again as soon as you get up in the morning.”
“Really?”
“Swear to God. As soon as you’re awake and Aunt Sarah leaves for work, you and I are going to have a guy’s day together.”
“With Romeo?” he asked, cautiously.
“With Romeo.” I nodded as I pulled the sheets higher up over Stewie’s dinosaur pajamas. “But you have to go to sleep right now. Okay?”
“Can’t sleep.” He pouted.
With his belly filled with a shockingly bi
g amount of the cheese fries I’d made because I figured steak wasn’t his thing, he should be plenty tired, if he’d just let himself fall to sleep.
“Then just close your eyes and pretend,” I suggested, remembering that was one of Mom’s favorite tricks when I was little.
He considered that for a moment then finally squeezed his little eyes shut. Smiling, I crept out of the room, hitting the light switch on my way by, but leaving the door ajar so a sliver of the light from the hallway would act as a nightlight for him.
Six months ago my life was both kid and dog free. Now, there was a pre-teen foster kid living at the farm, a preschooler under my care here, and a dog that both kids wanted around them all the time.
Boy, had my life changed. But definitely for the better. I couldn’t deny that as I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Sarah standing in the kitchen, a glass of wine in her hand.
“He’s tucked in bed, though not quite asleep. Shouldn’t be long though,” I told her.
She shook her head.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m just a little overcome. And confused.” She put the glass down on the counter and leaned back with a sigh.
“By what?” I asked as I picked up the bottle and refilled her glass before splashing some in a glass for myself.
She let out an adorable snort. “By everything.”
I handed the glass to her. “Elaborate.”
Her auburn brow rose but she took the glass and finally said, “Okay. First, tell me how this house happened to be furnished, right down to the clean sheets on the bed, just when I needed a place to live?”
“That’s easy. A rich guy blew into town a few months ago and bought this house, furnished. He kept most of the original furniture, the antiques, but he bought a lot of new stuff too. Like the sheets. And the wine glasses.” I raised my glass to her in a toast.
“Then why isn’t he living here?”
“Because he’s owns Mudville House. He’s got an office and a suite to use there. He’s also got an apartment in Manhattan. And he’s got a girlfriend in town with a whole house of her own.”
Her brow furrowed. “Then why did he buy it?”
“That's a long story.” I wasn’t going to get into Brandon’s long and sordid relationship to the Van de Berg family, who’d owned this house for well over a century.
But Brandon had been interested in the house even before he discovered the family connection and that part was easier to explain.
“He loves old architecture and he’s got a butt load of money so he’s kind of a property hoarder.” I shrugged as I summed it up in a nutshell.
She laughed. “All righty. Well it worked out well for me anyway.”
“Yes, it did.” For both of us. I kept that part to myself and asked, “So the house confusion is solved. What else in bothering you?”
“You actually think you can play therapist and solve all my problems by just talking them out over a glass of wine?”
“Yup.” I nodded. “I intend to have you completely stress free.”
Yes, that sounded a bit flirty. Hell yes, I’d intended it that way.
“Oh, really? And how will you do that?” she asked, brow cocked high.
“I have my ways.”
Of course, she’d have to agree to be naked for most of them. Not all of them, but the most effective stress relieving techniques—yup. At least partial nudity was a requirement.
She drew in a breath. “Okay. Here’s something you can clear up. How are you so good with Stewie?”
“I have little cousins I take care of a lot. Next,” I prompted.
She didn’t go on, but I could see something was on her mind. Another question she was holding back.
“Anything else?”
She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “Nothing. That’s it. All the mysteries are solved.”
I didn’t believe her one bit. But I was willing to let it go. We had time. Months under the same roof. Hopefully, shortly in the same bed too.
“All right.” I nodded.
I was nothing if not patient when it came to a woman I wanted this badly.
My cell buzzed with a text. I pulled it out of my pocket. Cash and Bart were on their way over to get Romeo. Apparently, I’d taken too long returning him to the farm.
Good. That meant I wouldn’t have to leave and risk missing saying goodnight to Sarah before she went to bed. It also meant I could finish this glass of wine since I wasn’t driving.
Things were working out well all around.
“My brother’s coming over to pick up the dog.”
“Does Stewie know that?” She glanced at the staircase behind me.
I smiled. “Yes. We discussed it.”
“And he’s all right with it?” she asked, looking doubtful.
“Yes, but I had to promise he could see him tomorrow. If that’s all right with you.”
“I’ll be an hour and a half away in my office, so tomorrow is up to you. But yes, it’s fine.”
“That’s your commute? Ninety minutes on the road?” I cringed.
“Give or take, depending on traffic. Yeah.”
“Jesus. I didn’t realize.” I didn’t express the fact that I thought that was crazy. That the two-mile drive to the farm in the morning was about as far as I wanted to commute for any job.
None of that would do me any good. The last thing I wanted to do was convince her to move closer to her job. I wanted this woman in this town, day and night.
Still, I hated she had to drive so far to make it happen.
The sound of a truck on the drive told me Cash and Bart would be knocking on the door any moment, but I had something to say before then.
“You should ask about telecommuting. Brandon hooked up kick ass wi-fi in this place. You could work from home.”
She lifted a brow. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
“Good. You should.” I set my glass down and pushed off the counter. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dog to round up.”
I found Romeo curled up, asleep on the carpet in front of the glass double french doors to the back yard.
No surprise, he was out like a light. Stewie had run him around pretty good. I had no doubt if I snuck upstairs, I’d find the kid sleeping just as soundly as the dog. And I wanted to keep it that way.
Nothing ruined the potential for romance between two adults enjoying an evening together more than a kid.
But as I sprinted for the door and yanked it open before Cash rang the bell and woke the kid, I realized one other thing might ruin the evening, other than Stewie waking up. That was my nosy brother Cash. And his sidekick, the newest member of my family, Bart.
“Well, well, well. Look at you, playing lord of the manor.” Cash cocked a brow high and glanced past me. “So, where is she?”
“Who?” I could play dumb as well as the next guy.
“Your girl.” Bart grinned, jumping right on board with Cash’s teasing. Though I had to admit, I didn’t hate the idea of them calling Sarah my girl.
She might object though. I glanced back to make sure she was still out of ear shot.
“Brandon’s renter is in the kitchen. I’ll go get your dog so you two can get home. He’s asleep by the back door.”
“You should have just kept him here for the night,” Cash suggested.
Bart’s head looked like it was on a swivel as he spun to frown at Cash. “No. He sleeps with me.”
Cash held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. We’ll get him.”
“No, I’ll get—” Before I could tell him I’d get Romeo, Cash had pushed past me and was strutting toward the kitchen.
Fuck.
I tore after them but dammit if they weren’t fast.
By the time I reached the kitchen, Bart and Cash had Sarah surrounded.
Judging by her wide-eyed glance at me, she was as shocked by the sudden appearance of my family as I was.
I took another step forward
, hoping and failing to get between them as Cash extended his hand to Sarah.
“I’m Cashel Morgan. This kid’s older brother.” Cash hooked a thumb toward me before tipping his head toward Bart. “And this is Bart.”
As much as I loved Bart being part of our family now, whether that turned out to be temporary or permanent, I did not love these two butting into my business—or my pleasure—here with Sarah.
And I really hated Cash calling me a kid. Especially in front of Sarah.
Bart went right over to sit on the doormat next to the now awake Romeo, his tail thumping happily against the floor. That left only Cash for me to deal with.
“So, how long has Boone been hiding you away here?” Cash asked.
Sarah opened her mouth and then closed it again, rendered speechless by Cash’s inappropriate question.
I didn’t blame her for being overwhelmed. Cash was a lot to handle. Especially for those not related to him.
“Ignore my brother. It’s none of his business.”
“No, but she’s your business, isn’t she?” He smirked.
Sarah didn’t have a chance to respond to that, thank God, because her cell phone, charging on the counter, started to ring.
“Um, excuse me.” She looked grateful for the excuse to escape. She strode to the cell and grabbed it, leaving the charging cord dangling as she hightailed it out of the kitchen.
I was on Cash the minute she disappeared. “You need to shut the fuck up.”
He grinned. “I’m thinking we need to rename the dog and start calling you Romeo instead. Jesus, bro. How long has she been in town? And you’re already all up in her business? What else are you up in? Huh?”
I could get mad at him, though it wasn’t something I did often. I could also knock him on his ass with one well-placed punch since between my work at the farm and my odd jobs around town, I’d been doing much more physical labor than Cash, who lately preferred to lounge around with his girlfriend Red whenever possible.
I didn’t do either—get angry or slug him.
The best way to handle Cash’s bad behavior was to not encourage him. Not give him the satisfaction of thinking he’d gotten to me.