Page 54 of Nanny for the SEAL

“Hey, Xaden. What’s up?”

Ivy’s voice sounds light and relaxed, the sunshine within her coming out through her words. I completely clam up, deer in the headlights.

“Xaden?”

Shaking myself, I attempt to refocus and clear my throat. “Umm, sorry. Hi. Yeah, umm…”

Fucking hell, what am I saying?“How are you?”How are you?! No!

Ivy laughs, that lilting sound that penetrates my chest. It’s so easy-going and genuine.

“Haha, I’m fine. How are you?”

“Great. I’m amazing. Fantastic.”Enough adjectives, Xaden. “So, umm, what would you think about going somewhere…with me.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then I hear Ivy hum gently. “Like…on a date?”

My stomach clenches, and I have to force myself to keep talking and not just hang up. “Yes.”

“Huh, well, how ‘bout that. You actually asked.” She chuckles, and the tension bleeds from me. “If you think you can behave, young man, I will allow you to take me out.”

The joke, the way she teases me like I’m one of the kids she watched over, zaps away any remaining nerves. I instantly think of just how naughty we can be, last night as evidence.

“Ivy,” I drag out, letting my tone darken to something wicked, “being around you makes itveryhard to behave. And I’d hate to give you false promises.”

“Oh,” she whispers, and I know my words have hit their mark. “Well, maybe being naughty isn’t the worst thing.”

SEVENTEEN

Ivy

“Okay, okay, okay. You’re doing fine. You look great.”

It’s the fourth or fifth time I’ve said it to myself, and yet, I’m still pacing back and forth through the living room. Waiting for Xaden might actually kill me.

And what’s taking him so long anyway? He lives next door, for Christ’s sake.

I know it’s the nerves getting to me, but understanding isn’t making them go away. In fact, with each hour that’s passed since he called—which adds up to sixty-four hours, twelve minutes, and forty seconds—I’ve just gotten more and more anxious.

As evidenced by my obsessive time-keeping.

It’s still such a surprise that Xaden even called. We said exactly nothing to each other when he left to go get Daisy the following morning. I was convinced that we’d go right back to avoiding each other as much as we could while still working together.

I mean, I just wanted to give him space. There are a lot of complicated emotions to work through after…everything, and I didn’t want Xaden to feel like I was pushing him into anything.

Hell, he could have thought I regretted it. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Because the actual truth is that it had been the best night of my life. Sex aside, Xaden was kind and attentive, and sexnotaside, it was…mind-blowing, best of my life.

The fact that he called? Well, let’s just say that I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.

Still, I’ll admit that we had the two days and change to think about everything before our fateful date. A lot is going on for both of us and frankly, I needed to be sure I still wanted to say yes.

I did. Ido, but I also know that there is quite a bit we’ll need to talk about if this gets serious. Namely, my position and my father.

Yeah, I’m looking real forward tothatconversation.

It does seem like Xaden used the two days well too. He’s been chatty, way more than usual, and I’ve answered everything I can without revealing the nastiest of skeletons hanging in my closet.

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