“You are?” Declan asked.
“I am. Do you think you could climb down and show me something else? Maybe how you can do a chin-up? Or a push-up?”
“Sure!” he shouted. Kellan saw what his son was going to do. He was going to jump. He’d be fine, even if he landed on his face. Dragon-shifter bones just didn’t break easily, and he wasn’t nearly high enough to cause an internal injury.
But she’d probably try to catch him, which would crush her skull.
“Declan!” Kellan shouted.
His head whipped around to look at his father. Kellan knew Declan could see him shaking his head left and right.
Declan’s little shoulders sagged, but he caught the message. In a smooth motion that most five-year-olds couldn’t pull off, he twisted around and grabbed the bar with his hands, lowering himself until he was hanging from the swingset bar. After hanging for a second, he dropped to land on his feet in the dirt.
The woman had turned to look at Kellan too. She took a step backward, away from his son, but she didn’t leave. “You’re great at that,” the woman said to Declan. “Do you take gymnastics?”
Kellan stayed by his car, wanting to watch this exchange. Declan didn’t usually react well to strangers, especially ones who tried to tell him what to do. It wasn’t a great trait to have as a kid in a classroom, but it could come in useful later in life. Still, he wasn’t ignoring this woman, which was a first.
“Yep,” Declan said. “And martial arts.” He peered up at her. “Wanna see my flip?”
Kellan had enrolled him in private Jiu-Jitsu lessons, because there was no way he could participate in a class with kids until he had better control. But gymnastics had seemed safe enough. So far he hadn’t shoved any of the kids off the bars.
“I’d love to,” she said.
Kellan was drawn to her voice. It was low, without being deep. He wanted to hear her speak again. He leaned against his car, watching as his son walked on his hands, and then did a cartwheel. After a few minutes, Declan showed no sign of slowing down. Kellan would have to intervene or this poor woman would be held captive all night, watching one of his tricks after another.
As he got closer, the most enticing scent he’d ever smelled hit his nose. A mixture of vanilla and honey had his blood rushing. He paused on the way to the swingset. Is that scent coming from this woman talking to my kid?
She was slender, with wavy red hair. She wore navy capri pants and a flowing white top. Kellan had never seen her before in his life. He scanned the park, but he didn’t see any other cars, or any other people. Because of the heat, most of the young kids and their moms had already been to play and left, and wouldn’t be back out here until late afternoon.
“Hello,” he said.
She jumped, seemingly startled at how close he was.
Kellan stopped walking, making sure not to get too close. He’d been told more than once that his size was intimidating.
When she turned to face him, Kellan had to stifle his reaction. She was stunning. Her red hair framed her delicate face. Her big brown eyes were bright but wary. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but she was as gorgeous as any model he’d ever seen, with her creamy skin, high cheekbones and full lips.
“Are you his father?” she asked, stepping in front of Declan as she asked.
Warmth rushed through his chest. She was trying to protect his son.
“Yep,” Declan said from behind her. “That’s my dad.”
“He likes to roam,” Kellan told her.
She took a step to the side, and turned to look back at his son. “I can see that.”
“Are you new in town?” Kellan asked. Liam, Brennan, Quinn and Kellan made sure they kept up with all the new people in town. They made sure to run a background check on every single one. It might not have been morally right, but for them it was a matter of survival.
“I’m not sure I’m staying,” she said. “I just got here, and it seemed like a nice place.”
“Yeah? Did you buy a house? Did you move here for a job?”
Her mouth flattened out, and her heart rate picked up. Shit. He was way too nosy. And whatever she was, this woman wasn’t a witch. She wasn’t his enemy. But he was making her nervous.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve lived here for a long time, and I get excited to meet new people. My friends and I make a point of making people feel welcome.”
“That’s nice. I don’t really have any plans. I got a case of wanderlust and decided to stop at the first place that seemed nice.”
Kellan seriously doubted that. Cedar Lake was fine, but it was hardly a tourist attraction. Her heart was still pounding, so it was time for him to back off. “It was nice meeting you. I’m Kellan, by the way,” he said. He didn’t hold out his hand.
“I’m Clara.”
Clara.
Kellan had to get away from her soon. He was standing there in the suit he wore for work, and his body was reacting to Clara’s sweet scent, to her face, to her slender body.
He pulled one of his business cards from his pocket. “If you need anything, call me. Or text.”
She reached out and took his card. “Thank you,” she responded.
“You should stay,” Declan said. He was hanging upside down on a set of rings now. “Lady, you should live in Cedar Lake.”
“Her name is Clara,” Kellan told him.
“Okay. Miss-Clara-Lady, you should stay,” Declan said with a flourish.
Clara laughed. When she laughed, her whole demeanor transformed. She went from watchful, to relaxed, and the sound of her delighted laugh sent Kellan’s pulse into a frenzy.
“I think I might,” she said.
Not wanting to overstay his welcome, Kellan scooped Declan up from the rings where he was still dangling, and plopped him onto his shoulders.
“Welcome to Cedar Lake.” Kellan turned around to wave bye to her. She stood there, looking a little lost. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her close.
What the fuck?
Kellan never dated. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth. There were no female dragon shifters here, and human women were small and fragile.
He’d made an exception for Declan’s mother. She was human, and he’d learned his lesson about hopping into bed with human females. After a while, she’d found his kind of affection suffocating, and when Declan was six months old, she’d found Kellan’s demands overpowering.
Dragon shifters didn’t abandon their hatchlings, or their mates. So it came as a shock to him that she could abandon her baby. Humans were a lot more fickle than dragon shifters.
Kellan had to get the hell away from this woman before he got sucked into her spell.
4
Clara
The sight of Kellan walking away spurred something inside of Clara. Not only was he the hottest man she’d ever seen, he was also the only person she knew in Cedar Lake. “Wait!” she called out.
She’d told herself that being completely alone in a new area would be the best thing she could do to stay off her ex’s radar. But now that Kellan had welcomed her to town, she didn’t want to be alone, even if it was just for a few more minutes.
He stopped in his tracks and turned around.
He was gorgeous. She’d never seen a man so hot. She couldn’t believe she was even thinking this way. When Clara left her ex, she’d promised herself she would never fall for another man again.
But Kellan was unlike any other man. He was tall, at least six-two, with broad shoulders. He was wearing a tailored suit that was clearly expensive. His blue eyes sparkled and he didn’t hesitate to smile. A warm heat pooled low in her stomach.
He was good with his kid too. When he’d shown up, yelling Declan’s name, she was afraid Declan had run away to get away from his father. She knew all too well why a child would run away, both from personal experience and from her time teaching Kindergarteners.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Um.” This is so awkward, but I migh
t as well ask. After paying cash for the bus tickets, Clara had exactly eighty-three dollars left to her name. She pressed her hands to her sides, smoothing them down over the fabric of her pants. “I was wondering if you knew where I could look for a job.”
Kellan clearly had a good job, based just on his clothes, and the car he’d gotten out of was a sleek-looking Mercedes. He pulled Declan down from his shoulders and sat him on the ground, where he promptly ran back to the playground and scaled the slide.
A grin lifted one corner of Kellan’s mouth. “What kind of work do you do?”
His cologne, a subtle hint of pine, made its way to her nose. She had to keep herself from leaning closer to his masculine scent. That shouldn’t be possible. I should never want to touch a man ever again, and yet this one is affecting me in a way no one ever has, not even my ex.
“Well, I was a Kindergarten teacher, but it’s summer right now.”
“We have a childcare center that hires teachers in the summer,” he said.
Any childcare facility would need to do a background check. She did not want her ex to find out she was job-hunting. “I was thinking of doing something different for the summer months.”
“I don’t blame you,” he said. “I’d need a break too.”
“I could wait tables or work in a hotel.”
“You could work for me. Have you worked in an office before?” He smiled. “Scratch that. If you can teach five and six-year-olds, then you can do any type of administrative work.”
Clara looked up at him as her eyes stung at his generosity. Is he really offering me a job in his office? That has to be too good to be true.
Wait a minute. She took a deep breath. Clearly his good looks had caused her to lose her mind. There was no way she should be considering working for a man she knew nothing about. What if it was just the two of them in an office? His kind demeanor could be a facade.
You knew your ex well, and look how that turned out.
That was true enough.
“What kind of positions do you have open?” she asked.
“My office here is pretty small, but we can always use more support staff. Let me check with my office manager, and I can let you know what you can interview for.”
“Wow. I appreciate that.” Even as Clara said it, she was well aware that working for Kellan was a really bad idea. She did not need to be this close to him, day in and day out, even if she was just the one making copies or answering the phone. The smartest thing for her to do would be to get her butt right back on the bus, and ride to a place where there were no hot men. Or maybe no men at all.
But she didn’t do that.
Instead, she grinned, ear to ear. It felt nice to smile. It had been months since she’d had a reason to smile outside her classroom.
“You want a tour of the town?” Kellan asked.
“Don’t you need to get back to work?”
“I own the company,” he replied.
Ah. No wonder he looked so fancy and drove a fancy car. “I’d like that,” she said. Fancy or not, she wasn’t getting into a car with him. “Can we walk?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind the heat. Come on, Declan. Let’s show Miss Clara around town.”
He stopped by his car and tugged his suit jacket off. She watched with her mouth open while he rolled up his sleeves. In his white button-down shirt, she could see more of his well-built body. She longed to reach up and touch his firm chest and his strong biceps.
Have you hit your freaking head?
Maybe she had. She didn’t usually drool over men like this. She licked her lips, managing to drag her eyes away as Declan came flying toward them.
“Yay!” Declan grabbed her hand. “Miss Clara, I’ll show you everything!”
His little hand fit right into hers.
Next to Clara, Kellan was beaming down at them.
5
Kellan
“This is the school I used to go to,” Declan told Clara, pointing at the small red brick building.
Oh God. Kellan was so busy looking at Clara’s cute butt that he hadn’t thought to steer them away from the daycare.
“It looks nice,” she said.
“No,” Declan said. “I got the boot.”
“The boot?”
Kellan covered his face with his hand. Declan had obviously been listening to his father tell Brennan the details of how Declan was not allowed back at the daycare facility.
“I got kicked out,” he said.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Clara murmured. “What happened?”
Kellan liked how she didn’t ask what Declan did wrong.
Declan raised his arms high in the air. “I threw a boy.”
She looked at Kellan to confirm, and he nodded. “We’re working on it,” he said. “You don’t look particularly disturbed.”
“I taught Kindergarten. And while I don’t want anyone to get hurt, we can learn from our mistakes,” she said.
Kellan noticed Declan listening to her. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m not going to throw anyone else.”
She stopped and knelt down right in front of him. “That’s great news, Declan. I’m proud of you.”
Kellan’s kid grinned from ear to ear. Shit. He’d never grinned at anyone like that outside Kellan or his three uncles. He’d certainly never looked at a teacher like that.
Then he took off in front of them, running to the fire department.
“Would you be willing to work as a nanny for the rest of the summer? For us?” The words were out of Kellan’s mouth before he’d fully thought them through. But hell. He could have Brennan run a background check on her, and dragons were usually a good judge of whether someone was dangerous or not.
Kellan couldn't tell if someone was going to be flaky, like Declan’s mom, but he could usually pinpoint if someone was a threat.
And Clara was perfect for Declan.
Are you really thinking clearly about this? You want to bring a stranger into your home?
Yes. Yes, he did want to bring her into his home.
Or do you just want into her pants?
There was no doubt that Kellan wanted her. But if she agreed to be his son’s nanny, then she’d have to be off-limits.
Clara stopped walking. A line creased her forehead. “You want me to work as your nanny?”
“Is that insulting?” he asked. “I know I mentioned office work, and if you’d prefer that, I understand.”
Please don’t be insulted. I need someone to watch this little hellion.
“I’m not insulted. I consider working with children to be my profession, and my calling.” The line in her forehead smoothed out. “I’m just surprised you’d offer me such an important job when you’ve just met me.”
“I know it seems crazy, but Declan has really responded to you in a way he never has with anyone else.”
“He’s adorable,” she said.
“Yeah.” Kellan dropped his voice very low to make sure Declan couldn’t hear. “No one else ever says that.” Declan was adorable. But his antics meant most parents in town avoided them now.
“Well, I say it.”Clara lifted her chin. “I’ll do it. I’ll be his nanny.”
Kellan breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to grab her and spin her around, but he could tell that wouldn’t be welcome. “I’ll owe you forever,” he said. “You have no idea.”
“It’s going to be fun.”
They both looked ahead to where Declan was crawling over the wrought-iron fence to the fire station.
Kellan grabbed him by the back of the shirt and lifted him down. “Let’s keep going. Miss Clara might want to see the restaurants we have to offer.”
“We have a café, with coffee,” Declan informed her, waving his arms. “And a restaurant with meat!”
“That’s about it,” Kellan said. “Are you hungry?”
As they reached the café, he noticed Liam walking out with one of the county prosecutors. When Liam saw Kellan with Clara, his eyes
went wide. It was true that Kellan had loudly sworn off women, many times over, so Liam would be shocked to see him dating.
“Are you on a date?” Liam asked him under his breath.
“No!” Kellan answered.
“You want me to take the kid?”
It would be nice to get to know Clara a little better without Declan here. “If you don’t mind,” Kellan said.
“Liam, this is Clara, and Clara, this is Liam. He’s my brother, for lack of a better word.” Liam was always polite, unlike Quinn and Brennan, so he acted like a perfect gentleman and introduced the prosecutor too, which made Clara’s face go pale, although she tried to cover it.
Shit. Has she had a run-in with the law? He’d have to find out. The prosecutor said “hello” and left to get back to court, and Clara visibly relaxed.
“Hey, little monster,” Liam said to Declan once they’d all gotten into the café. “You wanna come to my office and hang out with me?”
“And get candy,” Declan yelled. And then they were gone in a flash, leaving Clara and Kellan to choose a seat at one of the tables.
“I love this look.” She ran her hands over the wicker chairs. “So, tell me what the job will be like,” she said as she settled in across from Kellan.
“Well, ideally, you’ll live with us. How do you feel about that?” Kellan held up his hands. “Before you answer, I’ll give references. Liam, that you just met, is the town’s lawyer. My other friend Quinn is the doctor, and Brennan, the fourth of us, is the sheriff. We all grew up together, and they’re my only family.”
She didn’t look as pleased as he’d expected. She looked away and blinked a few times.
“Not good?” Kellan asked.
“No, it’s great,” she said, but her voice was quiet.
“We can do whatever you need to feel comfortable. If you don’t want to live with us, that’s fine too.”
“I don’t actually have a place to live,” she said. “So I do want to live with you.”
It looked as if it pained her to say it, but he wasn’t going to push her. “You’ll have your own area of the house, separate from us.” Kellan didn’t want to sound too obnoxious, but his house was big. He could afford it, and Declan needed the space.
Billionaire Dragon's Nanny (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 1) Page 2