Page 52 of The Nanny and the Nerd
“Yesterday, Phoebe mentioned that her Uncle Rowen hasn’t been around much. Is everything okay at home?” the teacher pressed.
Penny stared at the woman and formulated a reply.
Not really. Besides being a crap uncle, he kissed me like I made up the entirety of his universe, then left after saying he’d made a terrible error in judgment and has been MIA for the last week.
Jesus! No, she couldn’t say that!
She pasted another grin to her face, but on the inside, she was fuming. “Rowen’s got a video game release coming up, and there’s quite a bit of work to be done,” she answered, going for professional instead of cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs crazy.
“I understand. Thanks for letting me know,” Mrs. Bergen answered.
“I’m sure things will get back to normal soon,” Penny added, hating herself for having to cover for the man.
The teacher nodded. “And I wanted to check on Phoebe’s incentive for her spelling test accomplishment. It’s important to follow through when you set an expectation and a reward for a child. Rowen told Phoebe that after she earned good grades on her last five spelling tests, she’d get the boat reward. Today is the fifth test. Phoebe’s doing so well, and after what she’s been through, I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
“We are totally on the same page. I’ll make sure to remind him of his obligations and responsibilities,” she replied, formulating how she would convey this message—with maximum impact.
Oh yes! But she’d be doing a hell of a lot more than gently reminding the hallway kissing highwayman. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but she was a writer. This is how her mind worked—creative licenses and all.
She waved goodbye to the teacher, then caught a glimpse of Phoebe playing hopscotch with a group of children. Her heart went out to the girl as a fresh wave of anger laced with indignation flooded her system.
Hell hath no fury like a woman kissed then dissed who only wants what’s best for a sweet little girl.
He didn’t know it, but Rowen Gale was about to get one epic wake-up call!
Eleven
Penny
Penny groanedas she looked for a parking spot in the Crystal Creek business district. It was a gorgeous spring day—not a cloud in the sky. And from the sea of cars circling the streets, it appeared that half of the city had decided to head to the trendy neighborhood, which turned out to be a significant pain in the ass. It was damned hard to give someone a piece of your mind when you couldn’t find a place to leave your Lamborghini.
She blew out a sharp breath, then circled around the small park across from Gale Gaming when a truck pulled away.
“Bingo!” she whispered, sliding the sleek car into the spot before cutting the ignition.
She scanned the back seat and focused on Phoebe’s booster seat. That’s why she was here. That’s why she needed to confront Rowen. It was for Phoebe. She was advocating for the child. It had absolutely nothing to do with that kiss. That mind-blowing, lip-zinging, whole-body-encapsulating kiss! She also couldn’t care less if he’d been banging a different woman in his fancy-pants office apartment each night since he left her. But the man had to honor his duty to his niece. Did he think he could get away with shirking his responsibilities when it came to the child because he had a Y chromosome?
That’s it! She was there one hundred percent for Phoebe.
Okay, she was ninety-nine percent there for Phoebe and one percent for herself.
Ugh!
She swung down the visor and checked her reflection in the mirror. Flushed cheeks and blazing eyes, she shook out her messy bun and allowed her blond hair to pool past her shoulders.
“I’m going to go kick some nerd ass,” she said to herself as she applied ChapStick. Not that she’d kicked much ass in her day, but it was safe to assume dry lips could hinder one’s attempt at head-to-head combat. Yep, combat! She’d use her powers of literary persuasion and knock him down a few pegs with some verbal zingers. Literary carnage didn’t have anything on Penny Fennimore!
She pulled her notebook and a pen from her bag and stared at the page.
And stared.
And stared, waiting for the words to come.
“Dammit!” she breathed, shoving the items back into her tote. “Stupid writer’s block!” she said, resting her head on the steering wheel when her phone pinged an incoming call.
Penny groaned at the caller’s identity, closed her eyes, and pressed the flip phone to her ear.
“I ran into Charlotte this morning, and she said that you weren’t working at the Crystal Cricket. She said you’d become a nanny. A nanny, Penelope!” the woman exclaimed without so much as a hello.
