Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
She’d made it even more clear that she wasn’t fond of me at Thanksgiving when she’d avoided me like the plague.
I sighed and pushed my fingers though my hair. Clearly I’d messed things up with Palmer, though I wasn’t sure what I’d done. Sure, I was attracted to her, but I thought I’d been professional and had kept my feelings hidden.
The night of Addie’s wedding, she told me that she couldn’t be Charlie’s nanny. When I’d asked why, she’d stared at me like I should have known the answer. Then she’d looked down at my mouth…and that’s when it happened. Something sparked, and I knew we’d both felt it.
She’d leaned in, and before I knew it, we were kissing.
The shock of how her kiss made me feel had me pulling back and staring at her. It wasn’t because I hadn’t enjoyed the kiss. It was the opposite. It had stirred something inside of me that I’d buried a long time ago.
I’d softly said Palmer’s name, and that seemed to pull her out of her daze. She’d quickly slid off the barstool and had taken a few steps away from me. Her cheeks went red, and I knew she had misunderstood why I’d pulled away from the kiss.
My mind drifted back to the moment.
Shocked by the kiss, I drew back. Palmer looked around as if she was searching for a way to escape. When she finally looked back at me, she said, “I didn’t mean to do that. I drank too much, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, I wasn’t…I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”
Her eyes went wide with horror. “I don’t normally kiss men like that, I…” She frantically shook her head. Before I had time to explain how I felt when she’d kissed me, Palmer turned and started to walk away. She stopped and looked back at me.
“Thank you for thinking of me, but I really can’t be Charlie’s nanny. I’m sorry.”
Then she practically ran out of the bar.
A light knock sounded on my office door, pulling me from the memory. Clearing my throat, I said, “Come on in.”
Adelaide poked her head in and smiled. “How did the interview go?”
I closed my eyes and ran my hand down my face.
“That good, huh?” she asked as she sat in the opposite chair.
Dropping my hand, I slowly shook my head. “It started out fine. She told me about herself, how she taught second grade for the last four years and before that, she taught kindergarten. I thought for sure she was the right person for the job.”
“What happened?” Adelaide asked.
It was a dick thing to do, but I replied, “She kept talking. The more she talked, the more I wanted to push her out the door.”
Adelaide brought a hand up to her mouth to keep from laughing. I liked Adelaide. She was an incredibly talented nurse who ran the office like a pro. I had hired her as the office manager, and boy, did she manage it. Everything ran smoothly. And the fact that she was a nurse and could help when things got busy was a bonus.
“She focused on Charlie at first, but then she said if I hired her, she would also be more than willing to provide other services.”
Adelaide’s face went white. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes,” I replied. “She told me I was hot, that she knew how to be quiet during sex, and that she wouldn’t expect anything in return.”
Adelaide closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. After opening them again, her gaze met mine. “I’m so sorry, Dr.— er, Mason.”
I smiled. I had told Adelaide a dozen or so times to call me Mason. “Why are you apologizing?” I asked.
She gave me a small shrug. “You wouldn’t have asked her to interview if you hadn’t met her at my parents’ house.”
“She seemed like a nice person.”
Adelaide raised one brow but didn’t elaborate on what she was thinking.
“Does your brother know she’s, um, willing to cheat on him?” I asked.
Adelaide let out a bubble of laughter. “Trust me, my brother could care less what she does. They’re not dating. They’re just…” Her voice trailed off, and from the blush on her cheeks, I quickly figured out what their relationship consisted of.
I brought my hand to the back of my neck. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m running out of time. I have to find someone soon.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “Let me talk to Palmer again.”
“I don’t think Palmer likes me, Adelaide.”
Her eyes went wide and something moved across her face, but I couldn’t read it. “She likes you, Mason. She’s just not good with…change.”
Shaking my head, I said, “She made it clear she wasn’t interested.”
Adelaide tapped her finger on her chin, obviously in thought.
I stood and closed my laptop. “I’ll figure it out. I may have to look outside of Seaside, maybe find someone who can be a live-in nanny. The house I’m interested in buying has a smaller guesthouse in the back. It was originally the carriage house.”