Page 45 of The Nanny and the Beefcake
“Alec, language,” Libby chided.
“We’re lucky to have your sister onboard,” Raz answered with a chuckle. The man sounded almost like he meant it. Then again, he was skilled at playing the part of the super athlete. She’d seen him turn up the wattage for the press.
“We can’t wait to watch the fight. The Snake seems like a real asshole,” Anders offered.
Unable to stop herself, she went into strict big sister mode. “Hey, what did I say? Watch the language.”
“Sorry, Libbs,” Anders replied just like he used to back when the twins were wily preteens, experimenting with colorful words. She sighed. They were men—men who were on track to become physicians. They didn’t need her censoring their language anymore. “Sorry, guys, sometimes I forget you’re not twelve anymore.”
“It’s what Mom would say if she were still here,” Alec said softly.
Libby swallowed past the lump in her throat. “It’s been a long day. I should get going, and I’m sure you need your rest. You’re still building the clinic, right?”
“We’ll be back at it, volunteering bright and early,” Alec answered, his tone lightening.
Libby tapped the darkened screen on her cell and smiled at the picture of her brothers. “I’m proud of you both.”
“We love you, Libbs,” her brothers called out in unison.
“And it was so great to meet you, Mr. Cress,” Anders added.
“You can call me Raz.”
“We get to call the British Beast, Raz,” Alec gushed, and Libby shook her head.
“Bye, boys! We’ll talk soon,” she said, then ended the call. She stared at the screen and studied the boys’ smiling faces until it switched back to power-saving mode and went dark.
“They sound like good lads,” Raz said, his voice floating in the darkened cab of the SUV.
“They are.”
The shift from despising this man, to finding him endearing, to hating him, to swinging back to sort of liking him was giving her emotional whiplash. And that didn’t even count the number of times she’d wanted to climb him like a tree and kiss the arrogant smirk right off his face. And don’t even ask about what her chakras wanted—especially the one that manifested sexual energy. That sacral chakra had quite a dirty little mind.
“Kind of funny how we each have twins for siblings,” Raz offered, glancing away, which gave her a second to pull herself together.
Was he trying to connect? One minute, he was a colossal jerk. The next, simply a guy who was an older brother.
Libby dropped her phone into her bag, then something caught her eye. She studied the darkened house. Had something moved in there?
“Should we go inside?” she asked, ignoring the shadows.
Raz stared ahead, avoiding eye contact. “Can I ask you something first?”
She fidgeted with her jade bracelet. “Sure.”
“What were your brothers talking about? Did you have a job interview today?”
“The other opportunity?” she answered, recalling the first gong episode in her gong-a-licious day.
“Yeah,” he said, leaning into the seat.
She closed her eyes and released a slow breath. Something was calming about sitting in the darkness that made her want to tell Raz everything. Or perhaps it wasn’t only the darkness.
“I had an interview with who I thought were venture capitalists looking to fund a fitness venture. I put together a business plan for a yoga center, but the whole thing turned out to be a sham.”
“A sham?” he repeated.
“Three rich douchebags named Derrick put an ad on social media pretending to be venture capitalists. They weren’t looking to invest in anything. They did it as a joke to meet women.”
