Page 137 of The Nanny and the Beefcake
“This day’s got great energy,” she chimed, ignoring the fierce vibe coming off her beefcake.
With Raz and Beefcake on one side and Doug and his burro on the other, she and Plum were stuck smack-dab between her benchmark guys.
“And the energy will be even stronger after the Ass-in-Nine race, thanks to the full moon that night,” Doug continued.
“Oh yeah?” she replied, stealing another look at Raz and Beefcake. Both the donkey and the man were throwing eye daggers at Doug and Ace.
Hello, powder keg of psychic energy.
She could only hope it didn’t blow.
She couldn’t concentrate on the karma kinetics. She and Plum had to slow down. Besides the incline that came after crossing the creek, leading straight into Rickety Rock’s town square, this was the second trickiest stretch of the loop. This section of the trail included a steep incline that, in the blink of an eye, dipped into quite a downhill run. It leveled out for the creek crossing, but it would be easy to lose control with the dramatic changes in grade and terrain.
“I have a question for you, Libby,” Doug continued, his breaths coming hard and fast as the three racers ran side by side.
“What’s that?”
“Do you have plans after the Ass-in-Nine? I wanted to see if we could hang out, just the two of us.”
Really? Doug had to pick right now to hit on her?
She liked the guy. He was harmless—and clueless when it came to the whole benchmark situation. But she needed to focus on her footing, not play verbal footsie with the man.
Raz growled—the beast. But what did he have to growl about?
If anyone should be growly, it was her.
Erasmus Cress was the architect of the like cures like final benchmark. He was the one who’d suggested Doug. Sure, he looked like he’d swallowed a lemon when he’d done it, but it was his idea. And what was she supposed to say when he reversed course and threw out the twist of putting the defining benchmark into the universe’s hands? She appreciated the sentiment. She allowed the universe to guide her path every day. That was how she lived her life, but this Zen-Dougie-or-bust situation was like something out of a medieval romance.
If Doug wins the race, he wins her for the night.
If Erasmus wins…to be decided.
Ugh.
And nothing had been decided. Raz hadn’t weighed in on the TBAOlimbo situation. It had been easy to put this crazy proposition out of her mind when the race was weeks away. But here they were, seven days out, and neither had breached the topic…until now, thanks to Doug’s invitation.
She caught Plum’s eye and would have sworn the donkey cringed.
Could donkeys cringe?
If there was a time to wince, it was now.
“I haven’t made any concrete plans for after the race,” she bit out, her thighs burning from the exertion. They should be going slower, but Raz and Beefcake had picked up the pace, and Plum had followed suit.
Raz growled again.
The Lion needed to cool it.
She hadn’t lied to Doug. And what did he want her to say?
Hey, Zen Dougie, if you win, I’m going to use all my womanly charms to sleep with you to see if you can rock my world and bring on the Os. And by the way, the growling beast running with Beefcake was the one who offered you up.
Yes, she wanted to make sure her O was back without the assist of Erasmus Cress and his magical cock.
Wait…
Or did she?
