Page 52 of Delayed Penalty

Lawson: I LOVE YOU, TOO, KELLER!

CHAPTER 11

QUINN

“Look, Just Quinn! Watch!”

“Wow! That’s awesome!” I say for the tenth time in as many minutes.

I don’t know how parents sit around and watch their kids jump off the same piece of playground equipment thirty times in a row and act amazed each time. Well, to be fair, I don’t know how parents do this at all. I’ve only been with Flora for two weeks and I am beat. I wake up exhausted and go to bed even more worn out. And she’s not even as rambunctious as other children her age. Compared to them, she’s a walk in the park.

As tired as I am, I wouldn’t trade it. I’ve been enjoying my time with her far more than I’ve ever enjoyed any other job, and it’s even had me looking into courses to see what it would take to do somethinglike this for a living. Then, of course, all my past failures come barreling into the forefront of my mind, and I click out of the browser before I let myself dream too much.

Flora jumps off the top again, then races to the stairs to do it again.

“How is she not tired yet?” I mutter.

“Because kids have an infinite amount of energy,” a woman says as she takes the empty spot next to me. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Not at all.” I scoot over to give her more room on the small bench I’ve been occupying for the last thirty minutes.

It’s Monday, and I promised Flora we could go to the park for an hour after school, then grab froyo on the way home to celebrate surviving preseason together. She was thrilled with the idea and told me on the walk here that she didn’t even learn anything in class today because she was too focused on watching the clock. I probably should have told her to pay attention in class, but her excitement was so contagious I didn’t even care.

“Is this your first time here? Haven’t seen you around before,” my new seatmate says, her gorgeous emerald and gold snake earrings jostling as she gets situated.

I nod. “That obvious?”

She pinches her thumb and forefinger together. “Maybe a little.”

I laugh, holding my hand out to her. “I’m Quinn. I just started nannying that one.” I nod to Flora, who isagainjumping off the platform by the slide.

“Gina, mom to that one over there.” She points to a little girl who is on the swings and kicking her legs like her little life depends on it.

“She’s adorable.”

“Rottenis what she is,” Gina says with a smile. “Is this your first nannying job?”

“It is.”

“And how’s that going for you? Ready to pull your hair out yet?”

Now I’m the one to pinch my thumb and forefinger together. “Maybe a little.”

She laughs. “I can’t say it gets any easier, but you do get used to it. Waverly is my fourth, youngest, andfinalbaby. She’s a breeze compared to my other children.”

“Four children? Gosh, I must sound like such a wimp complaining about one.”

“Not at all. No caretaker is exempt from how tough it can be. Unless, of course, you’re nannying for that man becausegood god.”

I peek over my shoulder in the direction Gina is looking, my eyes going right to the man I’vebarely seen for the last week while he was on the road.

Hayes.

His hands are tucked into his jean pockets, his hair is perfectly messy, and his beard is still in need of a trim. Even so, he looks like he just walked off the set of a photoshoot instead of leaving the rink where I know he’s been all day, the Seattle Serpents t-shirt he’s wearing proof.

Preseason was a success—as were my first overnights alone with Flora—and now Hayes is back for a few days before the regular season kicks off with a three-game homestand. While I’m sure Flora will be happy he’ll be around more, I’m honestly not sure how I feel about it, especially afterThe Kiss.

It’s been on a nonstop loop for the last two weeks every time I close my eyes, and I can’t shake it. Can’t stop thinking about how desperate I was for his touch. How he kissed me with such ferocity I swear my lips were still swollen the next day. The way his body felt against mine, heavy and warm like the perfect blanket on a cold winter night, like he was everything I didn’t know I was missing all these years.

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