Page 37 of Gabriel & Skye

“Thank you. It’s wonderful being back here. I’m staying with my grandparents for the summer.”

“Yes, I remember me and Trav going to their house back in the day.” I chuckle at the memory, then right myself. It’s not like I can’t relax a little — this isn’t supposed to be a hard-headed interview — but I don’t even know what’s happening right now. All kinds of weird shit are flying out of my mouth. Such as laughter.

“I’d love to say I remember it all back then, but I don’t,” she says. “But I’ve been back and forth on weekends over the years. I love the town, and the people.”

Pity we never met officially before now.

Getting back to her email, I say, “So you said you’re here just for the next six to eight weeks?”

“Yes, I’ll be heading back to North Carolina after that.”

“How are your folks?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest. It’s obviously been years since I’ve seen either of them.

“They’re good, thank you. I hope they’ll both come over to visit before I have to leave again.”

“I think Trav is going to be great for this town. You know Hank is my current nanny’s husband. They’re both retiring.”

“Quite a coincidence.”

“Isn’t it?” I shuffle the papers and look down at her resume. “So it says here you graduated from Chapel Hill University with your undergraduate in nursing?”

“Yes,” she says. “I worked as a nurse before I decided I wanted to go into teaching.”

“And then you studied at Pembroke as a teacher’s aide and completed an internship in the field?”

“That’s right. I wanted to work with kids more than anything, something I didn’t realize until I’d been nursing for a couple of years. I think being a teacher’s aide is a great place to start. I’ve done plenty of nanny jobs over the years to put myself through college. I have references on the back.”

“I saw that.” I flatten my hands out over the printout. It’s one of the best resumes I’ve seen in terms of the layout, as was her accompanying cover letter. “But the thing is, Skye…”

She blinks a couple of times as she looks up at me. I saw her eyes looking over the photos I have of Trinity on my desk. I wonder what she makes of this space I spend most of my time in.

“At the end of the day, I want what’s best for my daughter. I want the best person who I know I can trust. As you can imagine, being a single dad, my little girl means everything to me, and her happiness is paramount.”

“I totally understand.” She straightens her back, meaning business. “I met Trinity at the bake’ n’ shake on Saturday. She’s a beautiful little girl.”

My eyes shoot up. “Oh. Now you mention it, GB did say you stopped by. I was going to come over and say hello and see Travis. I thought he was there with your Gramps, but I got busy and then by the time I was free, he’d already left.” Why am I explaining myself?

“Yeah, they set up the gazebo and stayed to sample some treats, then left until it was time to pack up again,” she laughs.

“George said it raised even more than last year, over five thousand dollars.” That makes me proud of this community. We all pitch in when times get tough.

“That’s amazing. It was a real community feel. And I totally understand what you’re saying about your daughter. It can’t be an easy thing putting your trust into a stranger. I mean, I suppose you sort of know me…” She presses her lips together as she appears to get a little tongue-tied. What I don’t expect is my body’s reaction to her as my eyes drop to her perfect pout. I clear my throat as I feel my dick come to life. I’m hard as a rock. It’s a sad state of affairs that I’ve had a dry spell lately; the only fun I’ve had is between me and my palm. But now isn’t exactly the time to be thinking about that.

One thing I definitely do not need right now is getting a hard on during the interview for my daughter’s new nanny! I want to slap myself.

This is not going the way I expected it. Skye Hendry wasn’t meant to waltz in here and turn things upside down. I can’t say it isn’t a very welcome surprise, but still.

I think she’s going to be perfect, especially since she has already met Trinity. The fact I’m attracted to her will have to be between me, myself, and I.

“I’m pretty sure with your brother as the new sheriff and being friends with him pretty much my whole life, I’d say you’re trustworthy.” Why does everything I say sound like I have a stick up my ass?

I know how to talk to a woman. I just don’t know how to talk to this woman.

She smiles. She has such a pretty smile and a pretty face. I could look at it all day.

“I certainly hope so.”

“You’ll have to forgive me. I haven’t even offered you a drink.” I run my hand through my hair. I’m not used to a woman being in my office, other than GB and Celeste, and they don’t exactly count. I’m certainly not used to a beautiful woman like her that has my cock springing to attention uncomfortably in my boxer briefs.

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