Page 7 of Nanny for the Cowboy

Dad pulls away, and I watch his back as he heads off to the car. He grabs my bag from the trunk and brings it to me before heading back. He hops into the driver’s seat, offering a little wave, and then the car is just cruising down the long drive like it’s nothing.

Like this entire situation was nothing much.

When my stare swivels back to Brooks, I’m met with a clenched jaw and that damned cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. I want to smack that damned look off his face, but that’s not exactly civil.

And I’m supposed to be his nanny, for Christ’s sake.Ugh.

“Let’s get you settled then.”

I’m pretty sure he could sound more excited about getting a fucking colonoscopy. This is going to be sonotfun.

As I follow the towering rancher, I force myself to take calming breaths. I still haven’t met his son, and maybe that’ll make all the difference.

Either that, or I’m heading back to NYC. Kyle be damned.

THREE

Brooks

That woman is trouble, and she’s going to drag me right down in it.

How in the hell I allowed Leo to convince me that this was a good idea is a damn mystery. I love the guy, and I know that she’s his daughter, but this is…

It’s a terrible idea, is what.

I’m not meant to be living with another woman, least of all my best friend’s daughter. Damn broken arm has gotten me into more trouble than anything else I’ve done.

I sigh to myself, walking back to the house with Clover right on my heels. I can hear her behind me, and I just know she’s grumbling about the heat or the bugs or the situation.

Yeah, well, darlin’, it ain’t nothing like the city out here.

The screen door screeches on its hinges as I push it open, and I can smell the laundry that’s just finished. The fact that loading the washer was a pain in my ass is just another thing I need to accept getting help with.

I hate it.

“My father really told you about me living here? And you were okay with it?”

Turning around, I suck in a breath, trying to keep the first thing that pops into my head from being what I actually say.

Because what I’m thinking is that, “Yes, unfortunately, I did agree to this, and I can see already that you’re not cut out for it.”

I can also tell that she’s Leo’s kid. Clover is straightforward with every word she says, liable to blurt them out if you ask me, and it’s just like her old man.

We play things a little closer to the vest around here, and I know the girl’s in for a rude awakening when she goes into town.

“As you said, you don’t have the means to find a place, and I know that Leo can’t put you up without sacrificing his bedroom. I won’t let him do that if I can help.”

Clover studies me, and I can’t say I’m altogether fond of the way I feel under her gaze. Oh, and there’s that other pesky little complication that’s driving me nuts.

She’s quite possibly the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Leo’s daughter is something else. Her strawberry-blonde hair is warmer than her dad’s, but those deep, gray-blue eyes are the same.

She arrived in a sleek ponytail, not a hair out of place, and I just know that’s going to change. Clover’s going to need a whole new set of clothes, too. I can’t imagine that she’ll be keen on the idea of shucking out the stables in her pantsuit.

Hell, would she even be willing to lower herself enough to throw on a pair of jeans?

Part of me really wants to see what that would look like, her curves stuffed into a tight pair of cut-off shorts. For as thin as she is—likely mandatory in the city—Clover is still quite endowed.

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