Page 26 of Give & Take

“I was kidding!” I say just to try to keep talking to her. “Great soundtracks, though.”

I try not to stare too hard as she maneuvers her body to slip on her backpack. The way her elasticized tank top presses into her soft skin…

Then I frown. Why’s she putting on that big backpack now? “I thought you were going for a run before work?”

“I’m runningtowork.” Lana strides to the closet, pulling out a pair of bright orange sneakers.

“With that big backpack on?”

“It’s not heavy.”

Over by the doorway, the girls laugh riotously as something honks in the bag.

“Can we drive you?” I ask. I walked here this morning. But the Bloor Bible said I’d have access to the family minivan.

“No.” Lana’s tone brooks no argument. “I run to work to minimize my time away from the girls. Plus there’s a shower there.”

I lift my eyebrows. “Is that right?”

She snaps her gaze at me.

I have a good read on people. If I knew she despised me—or if I in any way made her feel uncomfortable, I’d back down. But I saw the way her pupils flared when I stood next to her in the kitchen. I watch the way her hands tremble slightly as she holds her laces now. Maybe it’s cocky of me, but whether Lana likes it or not, she likes me. She’s affected by me.

She’sattractedto me.

I’d back down if I got any signal to, or if she said one word suggesting it. But I also get the sense if Lana Bloor doesn’t like something or someone, they’d be the first to know. And she hasn’t told me to fuck off yet. In fact, she hired me knowing exactly what I’m like. All those rules and regulations, but she doesn’t stop me when I flirt with her. At least some part of her must enjoy this. And I suspect she hasn’t been told nearly enough how beautiful she is.

With this in mind, I can’t help pressing her buttons just a little bit more. I get up, leaning against the wall next to where she squats. “So,” I say, my voice low so the kids can’t hear me. “I guess in about…half an hour, I’ll know exactly where you are.”

Lana stands up, her cheeks flaring red. “Excuse me?”

But this has brought her close to me again, and her eyelids flutter slightly, her pulse quickening.

Is she picturing me, picturing her in the shower? I’m picturing her, as much as I shouldn’t. Water dripping from the end of that luscious hair, streaming over her pink skin.

My fingers itch to touch her right now, to brush that little strand of hair dancing across her cheek behind her ear.

I keep my hands tightly planted where they are, resisting. I like resisting around her. It makes everything so fucking delicious.

“You’ll be at work, Lana.” I shake my head, a smirk on my lips. “Maybe you should get your mind out of the gutter.”

Her jaw pulses. I grin, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.

Her eyes follow, her cheeks staining pink, before her eyes snap back up to me. I don’t think she realized where she was looking until it was too late.

I hold back the words I want to say. Something like, it’s okay to look, Sunshine. It’s okay to think about me that way…

Instead I mosey over to the couch, leaving her be. For now. I don’t want to get fired on my first day.

She composes herself, walking briskly to the door. There, Lana seems to notice my duffel for the first time. “We agreed to a one-week trial period,” she says, her voice threaded with alarm.

I frown. “Those aren’t my things.”

Does she really think I’d bulldoze past her instructions about waiting to move in? I really should tone it down a notch. Or at least prove to her I’m the best fucking nanny she’s ever had.

“I’m still at Mac and Shelby’s,” I assure her. “That’s just a bunch of cool stuff for us to play with this week.”

“Like what?”

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