Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
My brain struggles to process this news. “So then you’re not—”
“I’m a widower,” he says quickly, pushing a hand through his rapidly drying hair. It sticks up at all different angles and I want to smooth it back. “You thought I’d take you to a hotel room if I had a wife?”
“You thought I was a stalker,” I remind him.
He laughs then. It’s a big booming sound that warms me all over. For some reason, I want to be the reason he laughs every day. I want to be the bright spot in his world, his special sunshine. “Damn. Let’s start the morning over.” He holds out a hand. “I’m Lincoln, single dad of two rambunctious troublemakers.”
Lincoln
My heart nearly thumped out of my chest this morning when I got out of the shower and realized the house was too quiet.
The twins were supposed to be playing video games for a few minutes while I took a quick shower. They’re usually good at listening to me but Lyla is my little free spirit. She’s an adventurer who follows the wind wherever it blows. Thankfully, it only blew out into the front yard.
Still, it scared me to death to come outside and see my kids talking to a strange woman. This is Courage County, a sleepy little town that’s the perfect place to raise your family.
But despite our quiet lives and laidback lifestyle, horror stories from the big cities still make the rounds here. Yeah, we’re safe. We’re insulated. Isn’t that what everyone thinks before a major crime or catastrophe?
I study Scarlett. Dammit, Lucy. Her name is Lucy and if I’m being honest, I like it better. It’s softer and fits the curvy woman standing in front of me. She’s not dressed like she was last night.
Now she’s in a blue sundress that shows off her toned arms and flares at her hips. I remember putting my face between those pretty thighs of hers last night. I woke up with her taste on my tongue this morning, horny and angry with myself for not getting her name.
I hold out my hand to the dark-haired beauty. “I’m Lincoln, single dad of two rambunctious troublemakers.”
“I’m Lucy, former daycare worker turned nanny. Maybe.” She chews on her bottom lip and I have an overwhelming urge to lean over and free it. I want my hands all over her body. I want to drag her into my bedroom and listen to her make those throaty moans all over again.
When she doesn’t take my hand, I push my fingers through my wet hair. I’m sure I look like the typical overwhelmed, disheveled dad right about now. Not the sexy guy who seduced her last night. But hell, he was just a fantasy. The real man is standing in front of her now. “Look, Lucy, I’m sorry for how things ended last night. The thing about it is my kids are still young, and they come first.”
It’s why I haven’t dated or brought a woman into their lives. Until my decision to hire a nanny. Pops, known to most as Old Man Teller, used to watch them while I was on shift. But since he busted his hip in a fall, I need someone to help me out.
It’s not easy for any single parent to run a household but when you throw in the unpredictable schedule of being a firefighter, things get complicated fast. That’s before you add in special health needs. Even with my dad’s help, I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. Still, this can’t work. I can’t have this beautiful firecracker staying in my house, sleeping under my roof. I have self-control but I’m no damn saint.
“I’m sorry,” I find myself saying. “I’ll call the agency and tell them that it’s my fault this didn’t work out. I won’t let them think it was you.”
She scowls at me. “I’m capable of separating the personal and professional.”
I don’t want to separate a damn thing and that’s the real problem. But if she’s willing to do this, then maybe it could work. Provided I keep my hands to myself. “You’d still want to stay here?”
She squares her shoulders and nods to the house. “This is my new beginning.”
We both signed a two-year contract, but the first six weeks are probationary. After that, one of us can call it off with no hard feelings. Maybe that’s what I’ll do, let her stay just long enough to give her a trial period. Then I’ll send her on her way with a nice severance bonus and go back to the way things were. Because this woman right here? She’s going to wreck me.
I knew it last night in the hotel, felt it in the way we touched. She made me long for something I’ll never have again—a relationship with a woman I care about. Someone to share my life with, laugh with, dream with.