little boy who’d moved on to the chicken nuggets after he’d crunched the remaining french fries into mush. “Hey, Stewie. Would you like me to be your babysitter?”
In my peripheral vision I saw her eyebrows fly up. “Boone, I don’t know—”
“BooneBooneBooneBoone.” Stewie’s latest chant was delivered in a musical sing-song tone while he pounded his little fists against the table, further crushing the fries into oblivion.
I grinned. “I think the master has spoken.”
She shook her head. “I really don’t think—”
That was definitely her problem—she did way too much thinking.
“Sarah. Come on. What are you worried about? I mean, I did just save his life after you locked him in the car.”
It was a low blow. I was definitely playing dirty throwing that in her face. But hell, life is short. Sometimes you had to play dirty.
She narrowed her eyes at me as Stewie’s chant continued. Finally she laid one hand on the kid’s chubby little arm.
“Stewie. Okay. Boone can watch you. Sometimes.” She shot me a sideways glance.
“Or all the time.” I shrugged. “I mean the house is huge. There are tons of bedrooms. I could move in.”
Sarah leveled an emerald glare at me. “No. You definitely don’t need to move in. You can just get here first thing in the morning before I leave for work.”
“Which is when?” I asked.
“Seven.” She scrunched up her face. “Or maybe earlier. I don’t know about traffic. But I’ll be just fine with him alone nights. I just need you for when I’m at work.” She’d turned her back on the kid to face me head-on as she proclaimed her confidence at being able to take care of the Stewie alone.
Looking past her luscious curves, I could see Stewie had slid off the chair and was currently chasing a big bumble bee across the yard. His serpentine pursuit was leading him straight toward the steep bank of the river at the edge of the property.
“You sure about that?” I lobbed that at her with as much sarcasm as I could muster as I pushed out of my chair and sprinted after the kid.
He was surprisingly fast considering his legs were so short.
But with me being six-foot tall, I had the height advantage. I caught up with him easily, swinging him up onto my shoulders and turning back toward Sarah once I did.
“You were saying?” I asked, knowing I was annoying her by being right while she was so very obviously wrong. “Something about how you’ll be just fine with him alone.”
“You distracted me.” She scowled.
“So, you find me distracting.” That thought brought on a wide smile I didn’t even try to control.
She let out a loud huff. Funny, it was the same kind of sigh I’d heard many of my teachers deliver in response to me while I’d still been in school.
But I noticed she didn’t confirm or deny my accusation. That raised my confidence considerably.
The sigh visibly deflated her as she slumped, looking defeated. “Fine. Can you move in tomorrow night and start work Monday morning?”
“Yes, ma’am. I can definitely do that.”
Sure. It might be a bit tricky trying to get all my chores done at the farm and watch the kid, all while living under the same roof with such a tempting goddess, but I’d figure it out.
Never let it be said that Boone Morgan didn’t rise to a challenge, especially when a beautiful woman was involved.
FIVE
Sarah
Yesterday had started with me at the office on a Saturday morning trying to get a jump on the next week’s work because I knew I was supposed to pick up my nephew for my babysitting duties Monday night.
Yesterday ended with my having both an entire house and a three-year old boy, in addition to the ton of stuff that came with said boy, all in my possession.
Then there was my new live-in nanny. Or rather my hot as hell “manny”.
I tried not to think about Boone. He was right, though I’d never admit it. He was a heck of a distraction.
The emergency phone call from Liza that her unit’s travel had been moved up and I needed to pick up Stewie immediately had started the chain of events that blew my original plans to shreds yesterday.
That I’d forgotten to fill up and needed gas just as Stewie proclaimed he was starving, all when I happened to be passing an exit with signs for both fuel and food, had been what sealed my fate in Mudville, where, apparently, I’d be living for the foreseeable future.
With