Page 175 of The Nanny and the Beefcake
“Where is it now?”
“We dropped him off at his girlfriend’s place on the other side of the creek.”
He’d been thwarted by a horny toad.
She looked him over. “Did you bump your head during the toad rescue?”
“No,” he said, gazing into her eyes, getting bloody misty like a preteen mooning over the heartthrob Landon Paige. “I know it sounds bizarre, but that’s what happened.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Doug. “What happens now, Raz?”
He wished he knew.
“I don’t know,” he answered, heartsick. He’d started this day so sure of how it would end. With his second-place tie with Zen Dougie, he couldn’t even begin to decipher what the universe was trying to tell him.
“Hey, Libby?” Doug called.
“Yes?”
“I’d love to take you to the lookout on Rickety Rock Mountain. We could grab a bottle of wine and watch the sunset,” the man offered. And as much as he wanted to throttle the guy, he couldn’t blame him for wanting to spend time with Libby.
“That sounds…nice,” she replied, glancing between him and the golden-haired yogi.
“Look this way, please,” a photographer called, interrupting the awkward moment. “We need one more shot for the Pack Burro Racing Association.”
Raz stared blankly into the camera as his thoughts raced. He should spill his guts to her now—tell her he needed her, tell her that when they were together, he forgot about the pain that weighed him down. Forget the universe and his stupid winner-gets-the-girl ultimatum. His stomach twisted into knots.
“Got it, thank you,” the photographer said with a nod as the press migrated toward the finish line to get shots of the other racers.
“Hey, Sebastian, tell Libby and your dad to look at me and say cheese,” Oscar chimed, holding up his Polaroid camera. “This can be the picture that goes in the frame I’m making you for your birthday,” the boy added.
“Dad, pick me up,” Sebastian called, grinning from ear to ear.
He scooped up his son with one arm, barely holding it together. What did his second-place finish mean for his son?
“Isn’t it great that Mibby and Plum won?” Sebastian asked.
He stared at the nanny, smiling at her friends as Charlotte snapped photos of his raven-haired beauty. “Yeah, it is, son.”
“Too bad you tied with that plonker, Dougie,” Sebastian added, lowering his voice.
Raz shot a glance at his counterpart in toad rescue. “Doug’s actually not that bad of a bloke.”
“You sure?” Sebastian asked, eyeing the man.
“Yeah, he and I saved a toad together.”
Sebastian frowned. “But he likes Mibby. He looks at her the same way Phoebe looks at hot dogs and cookies.”
Raz tried to smile. “It’s hard not to like Mibby,” he answered, taking in the woman. That lovely light shimmered around her, sparkling like diamonds in a sea of blue-violet.
“Smile!” Oscar instructed, but he couldn’t comply. He couldn’t look away from Libby.
“Did you get it, Oscar?” Sebastian asked, wiggling out of his embrace, then skipped over to his friends. Phoebe joined the boys, and the trio stared at the photo, waiting for it to develop, when a few donkey rescue volunteers came up to them. The people congratulated them, then took Plum, Beefcake, and Ace’s leads and led the donkeys to an enclosed area of the square. Brimming with fresh hay, cut-up vegetables, and water, the helpers removed the packs from the animals’ backs, then allowed them to indulge in a donkey feast. Beefcake saddled up on one side of Plum, getting his fill of carrots, as Ace moved in on Plum’s other side, starting in on the hay.
“What do you say, Libby?” Doug asked. “I’d love to spend some time with you before I leave for Tibet.”
Libby looked between the second-place finishers. “Can you give me a second, Doug? I need to chat with Raz.”
