Page 46 of The Nanny and the Don
“Mr. Gray wants me to prepare some Ribeye steaks and chicken with all kinds of veggies and potatoes. It’s going to be a feast. We haven’t gone outside and used the grill in a long time. He wants everything set up so the kids can play outside. He claims that he’s going to do all the cooking. I’ll believe it when I see it. Even if he does come out there, I’m sure he’ll be working, but at least he’s trying to add a little adventure to the day.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Fun my ass. Miguel, you owe me twenty bucks,” Sicily told him.
We had a freaking blast outside. The best thing about the entire day was seeing Mr. Gray laugh and actually enjoy himself. Iloved to see how he interacted with Miguel and Sicily. You could tell that he really valued them as his employees. It was easy to see why they loved their jobs.
After spending the day out in the sun, everyone was down for the count. I’d let Sicily go home promising that I would do the dishes and finish cleaning up the kitchen once I put the kids down for the night. The kids were so exhausted that I gave both of them baths while they were asleep. They didn’t even need a bedtime story.
As I stood in front of the sink, I started to imagine this being my life for good. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to me. Aside from the lingering Brendan issue, everything was going well. It felt good to have Steel loosen up for a change. My heart swelled as I watched him play with King and Evie when Miguel inevitably took over the grill duties. Hands on my shoulders caused me to jump, but I quickly recovered once I felt Steel’s calming energy.
“When I came in and saw you cleaning up for that nigga that night, I wanted to kill him even more. My princess is nobody’s servant. You need to be sitting on your throne resting so you can take care of me and the kids. That’s why I hire people.”
“I don’t mind pulling my weight,” I said, turning to face him.
“Pulling your weight is taking care of me and the kids,” he countered.
“If you’re not careful people are going to think something is going on between us. They’re already suspicious.”
“Thereissomething going on between us. Let them suspect.”
“Is that why you kissed me in front of everyone?” I asked the question that had been nagging at me all day.
“What?” he asked, knitting his eyebrows.
“I’m just asking if you wanted them to know,” I stated.
“When did I kiss you?”
The puzzled look on his face made me laugh. “This morning when you came in the kitchen, Steel. You kissed me on the temple and made everybody’s jaw drop. Do you not remember doing that?”
He narrowed his eyes as if I was playing a joke on him or something. “I honestly don’t.” He chuckled.
“Do you even remember coming in the kitchen this morning?” I asked him.
“Yes, I came in and spoke to everybody and reminded Miguel to set up the grill.”
“And when you came in and spoke to everybody, you walked right up to me and kissed me on the side of my head before you went to the dining room and tickled Evie.”
“I remember tickling my sweet face. You’re telling me I kissed you good morning in front of everybody?”
“Yes!” I raised my voice.
“How did that make you feel?” he asked.
That wasn’t the response I expected from him. Well first of all I didn’t expect him not to remember kissing me.
Lifting my shoulders, I told him. “I don’t know.”
“Hm, what did they have to say?” He wondered.
“They were excited. Miguel lost twenty dollars. Apparently, he thought it would be three months before you gave in to your attraction to me and Sicily said it would be less.”
“So, everyone around here knew that I was attracted to you?”
“Everyone but me.” I grinned.
“I don’t think you were oblivious. I think you were in denial.”
