Page 98 of Nanny for the Cowboy

This is way too nice. And I knowexactlywho planned it.

“Thank you.” I grin at them, nodding slowly. “Darby, why don’t you get set up? Clover, can I talk to you for a second?”

They both offer me a worried look, and I can see Darby’s expression drop. “No one is in trouble.”

Grins fall back into place, and Clover stands up. “Sure, Brooks. We’ll be right back, kiddo.”

“Okay!” Darby is back to being enthusiastic, and he starts pulling way too much food from the basket for just the three of us.

When Clover reaches me, I take her hand, guiding us back toward the window, and make sure that she gets inside alright.

As we stand in Darby’s bedroom—memorabilia of his childhood surrounding us, balls, awards, and posters of his favorite movies—I look down at Clover, utterly blown away by what she did.

For me.

“What’s this about, Clover? Why did you do all this?” I shake my head, my brain unable to understand why she would do this after we just argued last night—as quiet as it might have been.

Clover sucks in a deep breath as if she’s been thinking about what she’s about to say to me all day. I can see her gathering the courage, and then she opens up, letting it all out.

“There was a miscommunication, Brooks.” Clover sighs, reaching out and taking my hands. “It’s just as much on me as it is on you, too. I should have been more clear. Kyle, the horrid boss that’s presently threatening me? Well, he threatened Darby, too. He had a picture. I…I didn’t want to worry you, but you need to know. That’s why I was considering going back. To keep Darby safe.”

“Floored” is a gentle way to put it. Still, what Clover’s saying makes her mood yesterday make so much more sense. She wasn’t conflicted because of her overwhelming love of work.

She was scared—for my son.

“You—” I shake my head again, trying to find the right words. “Kyle threatened Darby. He had a picture of him?”

Clover pulls out her phone, swiping open the screen to an image in her text threads. It’s the two of them, Darby and Clover, playing in the park.

“Oh my God.” My heart is beating furiously, but I also realize something else. “Wait. You were…you were protecting him? You were going to go back and do what Kyle wanted to keep Darby safe?”

“I was going to try, yeah.” Clover nods, her smile sad and honest. “But I don’t think that’s the best move. If I went there and ‘failed’ with Kyle again, there would be nothing stopping him from coming after Darby anyway. No one would know what he was trying to do if I got hurt or…dead. Kyle would get away with that and then come after you guys. I think…I think we need to stick together.”

“Clover, I…” It takes me a minute to find the words, but I pull her closer, my hands going to her face. “You were protecting him, protecting me. I…goddamn, Lucky, I’m so sorry for what I said yesterday.”

She smiles as a tear breaks free, and I swipe it away with my thumb before crashing my lips against hers. Our tongues dance together as we fall into the kiss.

But then I slip back because there’s still something on my mind. I keep my hands on Clover’s face, meeting her eyes with everything I have.

“Stick together? So…you’renotleaving?”

Grinning through the tears, Clover shakes her head. “No. At least not right now. I might have to go back to deal with all that stuff, my work, but it’s not safe to go back. And…I don’t want to. I want to…be here.”

My cheeks ache from smiling so hard, and I kiss her again, pulling Clover to my lips as I give my all to the kiss. She feels so right against me, and I see so much more truth than I did before.

I was stupid. I was letting myself fall into bad habits. And as much as Clover should have told me right away, I can hardly blame her for being hesitant.

She was trying to protect us, after all—from Kyle.Kyle.

I lift Clover’s chin, getting her to look at me as we finish our kiss. “I won’t let him hurt you. You hear me? I will do everything I can to protect you and Darby from Kyle. He won’t touch you.”

Clover’s composure cracks all the more, and she lets out a little sob that’s equal parts gratitude and fear.

“Thank you.Really.” She drops her head to my chest, and I hold her there as she collects herself. “I don’t know what we’re going to do about him, but I’m glad that you’re here with me.”

Looking back up at me, Clover slides her hand from my chest to my cheek. “I don’t want to do this alone, and I don’t really want to do it with anyone else.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Lucky. You can count on that.”

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