Page 119 of The Nanny and the Hothead
“What’s this funny business? It sounds like a giggle factory in here.”
Charlotte.
He turned to find her standing in the doorway—like she’d always been there. Like she should always be there. She’d twisted her hair into a bun, and a few auburn tendrils framed her face. Barefoot, but still in the skirt and T-shirt she’d worn today, she’d never looked lovelier. His expression softened as he took her in.
“Dad smooshed his face up and looked like he ate a hundred million sour lemons. Show her, Dad,” the boy prompted.
“It was something like this,” he said, giving her the not-so-goofy version.
“That is a funny face,” she replied, entering the room, then cringed. “I’m sorry you had to get Oscar ready for bed. I could have helped you.”
He shared a look with his son. “We’ve got it under control. I didn’t want to bother you. You were focused on your work. You didn’t even notice when we left the kitchen to go outside and eat dessert.”
She gasped. “I missed dessert?”
He hadn’t wanted to break her concentration because he’d understood it. He got that she was in the zone, fixated on her photography.
“Yeah, Charlotte, we had popsicles! We ate them outside on the deck.”
“How did I miss that?” she exclaimed.
“Easy!” Oscar supplied. “You were staring at your computer so hard I thought your eyes would get stuck like this,” Oscar said, then reared his head back as he forced his eyelids to retract. “Your eyes were bigger than that owl’s eyes. Remember, the one that snatched the skunk right off the ground and made you run real fast and scream and scream and scream,” his son finished, pointing to the Polaroid proof on the bedside table.
“I remember that night,” she said, then stilled. “I mean, I remember the animal adventures in the clearing, of course,” she finished, her cheeks growing pink as she twisted a lock of auburn hair between her fingers. And he would have bet everything he had that she wasn’t thinking about the skunk abduction.
He would never forget that night either. When he closed his eyes, he was there with her in his arms. The passion had flowed through him. A hunger so inescapable, it stirred every emotion he’d suppressed.
She sat down on the edge of the bed near Oscar’s feet, smoothed her skirt, then patted his leg. “Did you brush your teeth?”
“Yep!”
She leaned in toward the boy. “Really, really, well? Like even got the ones way in the back?”
“Ahh,” Oscar opened his mouth, presenting his pearly whites.
“Looks like you are ready for sweet dreams, and I have some news for you, Oscar.”
“For me?” the boy chimed.
“Do you remember my friend Penny?” Charlotte began. “She’s the lady who’s engaged to Phoebe’s uncle.”
The boy nodded.
“She texted me about Phoebe. She said that Phoebe wants you to know that she’ll be back at school tomorrow. And she’s glad she didn’t vomit on you.”
“Yeah, she vomited on Grover instead,” Oscar replied as Charlotte sucked in a tight breath.
“Grover?” she repeated.
“Yeah, he’s some big kid at my school. He knocked a little kid off the swing next to Phoebe and then took it. And then Phoebe puked on his shoes.”
Something quite mischievous glinted in the woman’s eyes. “What did Grover look like?”
Oscar scratched his little chin. “Big and frowny,” the boy answered as the whisper of a menacing grin pulled at the corners of Charlotte’s mouth.
“That’s too bad for Grover,” she purred, sounding not at all concerned for the kid. And that’s when it hit him. She’d mentioned a Grover at the bar. Grover Cleveland something! It had almost gotten her booted because she’d sounded like such a lunatic.
He studied the alluring redhead, who was doing a damned good job at tamping down her fiery, devilish side when Oscar roared another spectacular yawn.
