Page 45 of The Nanny and the Don
“Uncle Steel!” King chanted from his seat in the dining room.
“Good morning, buddy,” he called across the room as he made his way to the kitchen.
Each clack of his shoes against the marble floors made me more uneasy. I focused on cutting the last of the strawberries for the stuffed French toast Miguel was making as Steel’s intense energy filled the room until it overflowed with everything Steel.God, he smelled good. The sound of his footsteps didn’t stop until he stood next to me. Gently grabbing the side of my face, he pressed a soft kiss against my temple.
“Good morning, Devlan,” he said.
“Good morning.” I managed to mutter as I allowed my eyes to find his.
He winked before casually turning as if nothing had happened and greeting everyone else in the kitchen.
“Good morning, guys,” he stated, either oblivious or unfazed by their slack jawed gazes.
“Good morning, Mr. Gray,” Sicily and Miguel spoke in unison.
Keeping his stride, he walked over to the dining room to talk to the kids. He was impossibly sexy, dressed in a silk black shirt and matching slacks. Even his shoes were the hue of midnight, only allowing a peek of the red bottom with each step. I was under his spell as I watched him reach down and wiggle his fingers across Evie’s tummy. Her shrill giggles as he tickled her seemed to break the three of us left in the kitchen from his trance.
“Good morning, sweet face,” he said, joining in on her laughter.
I picked up the strawberries and tossed them in a bowl before walking over to the sink to wash my hands.
“Look what I made, Uncle Steel. That’s my name and that’s my last name. Ms. Devy said my last name shows who is in my family. That’s why it’s the same as yours. This says my name is King Gray. I am four years old. Then these are just numbers,” King explained.
“You’re doing a great job, buddy. We will have to do something special soon to celebrate how smart you are.”
“Yes!” King cheered.
As if he hadn’t turned the entire house upside down with one simple gesture, Steel walked back into the kitchen. “Miguel, have everything set up by noon. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he ordered before the clacking of his shoes carried him all the way out of the house.
“OK, what the hell was that?” Miguel said, turning to me with the biggest grin.
“What?” I asked, pressing my lips together to bite back my smile.
“Drop the act, heifer. Who the hell was that man? I’ve been working here five years, and I’ve never heard Mr. Gray laugh or seen him smile for over three seconds. If you would have picked up your guilty head, you would have seen that megawatt smile before he freaking kissed you like it was something he does every morning. What happened? Spill,” Sicily demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, in a weak attempt to feign innocence.
“No wonder he came to me as soon as I got here this morning telling me that he’s grilling today. I have never seen him use that grill,” Miguel observed.
“Maybe he wants to change things up a little.”
“He doesn’t change things up a little. We follow a simple routine around here. He works day and night even when he’s not here. We keep our heads down and do our jobs. He pays well and gives great bonuses. It doesn’t matter that he’s not much of a conversationalist, or he holds up in his office. Everybody has a job to do. Now he’s whistling and smiling and wanting to do things different. There is one thing that changed everything.”
“And what is that?” I asked, tilting my head and waiting for Sicily to answer.
“Your pretty ass.” Miguel chimed in.
“Wow.” I laughed and shook my head. “Y’all are tripping. I can imagine that it gets boring out here, but you two have madeup an entire storyline behind a man smiling for a change. When one of you writes the book, I would love to read it.”
Narrowing her eyes, Sicily moved closer to me before leaning in to ensure that the kids didn’t hear her.
“Did you have sex?” she asked.
“What?” I scoffed.
“Please tell me you did. He needed to get laid. I knew it! It’s been months since I’ve seen him taking a woman out of here. Now I come in and his bed is already made. He even changed his own linen. He never does that. I know something happened. You don’t have to say anything. Just nod your head yes or no to confirm.”
“Wow,” I said, shaking my head again. I had never been big on kissing and telling, not even with Kelsea. Part of me wanted to confirm their suspicions, but it was kind of fun letting them wonder too. “What are y’all grilling?” I asked Miguel in an attempt to change the subject.
