Page 101 of Nanny for the Cowboy

“You got Ben, didn’t you?”

His eyes go wide, and he nods. “I did! I think I’m invited to the next football game.”

“By all means, go keep Ben company. Lord knows he probably needs it.” I pat Brooks’s shoulders, and he groans. “Come on. Let’s get the boxes loaded up. I want to get over to the farmhouse.”

“Alright.” He leans over, giving me another quick kiss, and gestures for me to go first. “After you, gorgeous.”

I grin. “Why, thank you.”

As soon as I’m in front of him, though, Brooks pinches my ass, and I yelp loudly. “Hey!”

All he does is laugh, and I roll my eyes as I head into the apartment to gather the last few boxes. When I open the door, there’s already a neat stack of them up against the wall near the door.

“Did you put these here?” I ask Brooks.

“Nope. It was definitely Leo. You know your dad hates to be a ‘burden.’ I’m sure he was trying to help as much as he could.”

I smile, chuckling with an exhale as I try to lift one and fail miserably. “Oof, fuck. Then he should’ve made these a bit lighter.”

Brooks just grins at me. “Leave the boxes to me. You can help with the clean-up since the landlord wanted the place, and I quote, ‘spotless.’”

I scoff. “Jesus. Demanding much? Well, I’m on it.”

Taking the first box, Brooks starts the arduous task of walking back and forth from the apartment to his truck, and I begin sweeping and wiping down the counters.

My dad is in no way a messy guy, and there’s hardly anything to clean. But at this rate, I’m afraid to leave a single dust bunny. I want Dad to get his deposit back.

The scent of Pinesol and disinfectant fills the air, and I even take care to use a little microfiber towel my dad left behind to clean the windows.No streaks in here.

Brooks comes up behind me as I’m swiping the glass cleaner across the sliding door at the back of the apartment. It shines in the bright sunlight, and I smile over my shoulder at Brooks as he wraps his arms around my waist.

“Looks damn good, doesn’t it?”

He squints, appraising the glass. As he leans over my shoulder, his longer reach makes it easy for him to swipe his fingers over the glass and leave fingerprints.

Spinning around, I throw my wadded-up paper towel in his face. “You fucker!”

He laughs, his entire face lighting up, and if he wasn’t so damn handsome—among his numerous other positive qualities—I’d make him payhardfor that little prank.

Dipping away from me as I try to smack him with the paper towel roll, Brooks laughs hysterically, running across the apartment to the small kitchen. He turns on the sink when he gets there, flinging water at me.

“How old are you? Five?!” But I’m laughing just as hard.

The spray bottle of water and soap I’ve been using to hit the corners of the apartment is on the counter, so I grab it, squirting a solid stream right into the crotch of Brooks’s pants.

Glaring down at it for a moment, Brooks gasps. Then his eyes flick to mine, and I know I’m in trouble—of the best kind, of course.

I take off running, but there’s hardly anything I can do to get away from him. The apartment is small.

Brooks snags me around the waist, and he pulls me against him, crashing his lips down on mine as he brings us down to the floor. Arousal flares through me, and I melt into the feeling of him claiming my mouth so thoroughly.

“You little brat.” He grins down at me, and I smile back, chewing on my bottom lip. “I should bend you over my knee and spank you.”

My eyes flare, but the truth is that it sounds fantastic. But it’ll have to wait until after dinner because we have plans.

Sucking in a breath, I stand back up and pull Brooks up with me. “Later. We have an apartment to clean and a dinner to have.”

“Fair enough.” Brooks’s hand comes up to my cheek, his thumb brushing back and forth over the skin. “But then that ass is mine.”

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