Zero Forks - Cat Johnson Page 0,12

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