Page 13 of Cedarwood Manny

Adrien opened his mouth, then stopped. He tipped his head before finally speaking. “I—I’m interested in you, but I don’t want things to be strange. I don’t let every man I meet walk right into my life and meet my son. I haven’t had much of a relationship with anyone since Gerry left and only dated a few times since my divorce.”

Now everything made perfect sense. Adrien wanted to mix work and play, but feared that the ugliness if they split would destroy everything. “I work for you as your manny, first and foremost. I’m not here for a date. Yes, I like you, but I won’t push.” Not that he’d put up walls, but he could keep his hands off Adrien.

Adrien nodded, but his half-smile returned. He leaned forward and offered his hand. “I’d like for you to be my son’s manny. Are you interested?”

“I am.” He shook hands with Adrien. The sparks from the day before returned and intensified. The heat in Adrien’s eyes combined with hunger. Nathan bit back a groan.Holy hell.Keeping his hands to himself would be impossible. “If you’re offering the job, then I’m accepting and can start right now.”

Adrien continued to shake Nathan’s hand. “I am. Thank you. I’ll let Kelsi know she’s off the hook for the rest of the afternoon. You’ll have Kelsi’s room up on the second floor. You’ll share the bathroom with Kyle. My room is down here. When will you be able to move your things in?”

“I can bring a bag over today and get the rest of my stuff tomorrow,” Nathan said. “Will that be fast enough?”

“That’s fine. I don’t have any appointments tomorrow, so Kyle and I can give you a hand.” He stopped shaking Nathan’s hand, but didn’t let go as he stood. “Welcome to the family. We’re lucky to have you.”

“You don’t have any questions about my experience? Education? References?” Nathan asked. He wanted to address all Adrien’s concerns, but also didn’t want to stop the moment between them.

“No need. I learned plenty from your files the center sent over. I read your background check and Kelsi’s told me lots of other bits and pieces.” Adrien shrugged and finally let go of Nathan’s palm. “The meeting yesterday helped. We felt each other out without knowing it and the spontaneity worked. We were ourselves.”

“I’m glad we met. This is going to be a good situation for everyone.” Nathan stuffed one hand into his pants pocket. He couldn’t wait to get the next chapter in his life going and to find out where things might lead with Adrien. Keep his hands to himself? According to the rules, he should, but…rules were meant to be broken.

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