Page 6 of Playing with Fire

“She was so much fun.” Alice smiled up at me. “She let us listen to all the Taylor Swift songs in the car.”

“Not the ones with bad words.” Nikki shook her head. “So don't worry, Daddy.”

“That's good.” I needed more than that, though. I would give my girls whatever they wanted if I knew at the end of the day it was good for them. And I needed to know that Izzy would be good for them.

“We played soccer,” Alice said, almost like she could read my mind.

“And she made spaghetti for dinner.” Nikki bounced on the bed. “Like you make it. Not out of a can.”

One of our many nannies we'd gone through in the last two years never cooked. The only meals she ever fed them was food she could warm up. Maggie and I had to pre-make meals and leave them for her to microwave.

“Was it good?” I asked, looking between them.

Their heads bobbed again. “So good.”

I relaxed a bit.

Alice lowered her gaze to her lap. “We tried to be good, too, so we don't scare her away.”

Tensing up all over again, I squeezed her shoulder. “Hey, that's not something you need to worry about, okay?”

“But if we're really good, she can be our nanny forever, right?” Nikki prodded next.

This was my fault. We'd gone through too many nannies over the last few years. But neither of them remembered the one who started with them and lasted almost three years. She was wonderful. But then she moved to Maryland to be closer to her grandkids. I couldn't blame her. Unfortunately, since then, it'd been one bad situation after another.

“Look, girls…” I hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Sometimes things don't last forever. You know, as you get older, you won't need nannies.” I took a breath before continuing. “And I know you both really like Izzy, but if for some reason she can't be your nanny any longer, it has nothing to do with you or your behavior.” They were fairly well behaved, so I could say that with confidence. But I wanted them to understand. “Okay?”

They shrugged like they were still convinced if they were really good, Izzy would stay. At that moment, I was determined to make this work. These girls deserved a reliable nanny who was good with them. Good for them. And if that was Izzy, then whatever issue I had would just need to shut the fuck up.

Because I wasn't messing this up.

Chapter Five

IZZY

Two hours had passedsince I’d left Logan's house, and I still couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe I made too quick of a decision when I jumped at Maggie's offer.

In my defense, I really didn't consider the fact that I would have to deal with how much Logan disliked me. Did I think Maggie hiring me would magically make him like me, when his actions proved over the last few months that he didn't? And why the heck did it bother me so much? I sat down on my bed and shot off a text to my sister, Angie.

Me: So I might have done something crazy today...

Angie: Is that supposed to surprise me?

I rolled my eyes. But I couldn't blame her for teasing me. Izzy doing crazy, impulsive things wasn't news.

Me: Crazy, but now I'm second guessing it.

Angie. Oh. That's different.

Her name flashed across my screen and I slid the answer button over to accept her call. “You didn't have to call.”

“Eh. Wyatt's in Boston for meetings until tomorrow so I'm just sitting on the balcony listening to the ocean.”

I smiled, knowing exactly what he was doing in Boston. I'd already gotten two pictures earlier today of engagement rings. I couldn't wait until he actually proposed. He made my sister so incredibly happy. The type of love they had—one for the fairy tale books—was what I hoped to have one day.

“Izzy, you there?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.”

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