Page 17

I t’s been three days since everything went down. Midnight has been on edge ever since. He still makes it home for dinner every night, but I can tell he isn’t himself. The girls can too, but they don’t say anything. It’s almost as if they are scared that if they point out his mood, they will be in trouble. It breaks my heart.

I want to text him and ask him how I can help, but I know it’s not my place. I’m his nanny and receptionist. There’s nothing I could do to ease his load any more than I already do.

It’s those thoughts in my head that lead me out of my room as soon as I hear his bike pull up. I hear the telltale sign of the sliding glass door opening and closing. I know he probably wants to be alone, but he needs to know about the girls. He needs to be better for them.

With that thought in my head, I find myself heading out the door. He’s sitting on the couch, a bottle of whiskey in his hands.

He takes a swig, looking over at me.

“You should be sleeping,” he mumbles to me, looking back out over the yard.

I move to his side, sitting on the patio couch. The police did their best to destroy the cushions, but I sewed each one back together. It’s not pretty, but it’s still comfortable. That’s all that matters.

“Yeah, I should be, but we need to talk.”

He sighs. “I have enough shit going on.”

“I’m sure you do, but this can’t wait. Those girls are walking on eggshells around you. They sense this mood in you, and I think they are afraid that you might snap. I think you need to talk to them.”

“I’m fucking this all up. It was never this hard before,” he groans.

“What’s going on, Midnight? Talk to me,” I plead.

His head rolls my way. “The world is going to hell. I’ve been spending all my time helping the club try to eliminate the threat to us and our families, but it’s not getting us far. Miranda fucked up my kids so much that they think Dad being a little stressed means they can’t be themselves. I didn’t even fucking notice and had to be told by the nanny.”

I want to be angry at his snippy tone, but I decide to be the bigger person and let it go. I am the nanny. No reason to get offended by it now.

“You have had a lot on your mind. The whole reason I’m here is to fill in the places you can’t. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

He reaches out, brushing a piece of hair out of my face. “You are way too sweet, Flower. I’m fucking this all up. You don’t have to save my feelings.”

“I won’t lie to you. You could be here a bit more, but you are running a business and obviously have shit going on with the club, so I get it. The girls do too. All I’m saying is that when you are here, maybe be a little more present.”

“Such a fierce protector.” He sits up suddenly, moving his face close to mine as he cups my cheek.

“What?” I whisper, unsure what he means.

“You would die for them, wouldn’t you?” he asks, caressing my cheek.

He’s drunk. He has to be. I can smell the whiskey on his breath. How much did he drink before I came out here?

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“If a threat showed up, would you lay down your life for my girls? Would you protect them as fiercely as you protect them now?” he asks, his thumb pulling on my bottom lip.

“Of course I would,” I tell him.

“I know you would, Flower. So delicate, but you can weather the storm, can’t you? You’ve already done it so many times. Now you’re doing it for them,” he says, making my heart race.

He’s not wrong, though. I would do anything for them.

“You’re not making much sense.”

“There’s a war brewing.” He sighs, his forehead resting on mine. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. I’ve waited so long to have the girls here with me, and the second I get them, all hell is about to break loose.”

His eyes fall closed. I have no idea what to say, so I don’t say anything.

After a moment, his eyes open. “You’ll stay right? You won’t leave? They need you. I need you.”

My heart is in my throat. I know it’s probably the liquor talking. He’s not making any sense at all as he rambles. Yet I want him to mean the words. I want to stay with him and the girls. I’ve become attached to them. I want to be here to help them learn the things they need to learn. Like how to use a pad for the first time. How to nurse your first broken heart. I want to be here for all their successes and all their disappointments.

“I’ll stay for as long as you will have me.” I let my cheek rest against his hand.

“What are you doing to me?” he whispers.

I don’t have an answer for that, but I don’t think he was asking me for one.

We sit there, forehead to forehead, his hand still on my cheek as we stare into one another’s eyes.

Then I hear a curse under his breath. The next moment, his lips are on mine. They are tentative at first. Almost as if he is planning to pull back.

I don’t want him to pull back.

I should stop this. It’s obvious he has been drinking. I don’t want to take advantage of him.

One kiss won’t hurt, though, will it?

I press my lips back into his. That’s all the invitation he needed.

His hand slides from my cheek into my hair as he tilts his head, deepening the kiss. Then his tongue teases the seam of my lips. I open for him, letting him take my mouth in a way that’s much better than I dreamed.

The taste of whiskey on his tongue only adds a layer to the kiss I didn’t anticipate. I’ve kissed plenty of boys in the past, but they were just that. Boys.

Midnight is no boy. He is all man.

The more he kisses me, the more my body warms. The urge to climb into his lap is strong.

If this is a one-time thing, why am I holding back?

That thought has me moving to straddle his lap. I can feel how hard he is beneath me.

This is a terrible idea.

So why does it feel so right?

God, she’s driving me insane.

I did not expect this when I came home tonight, but fuck if it’s not what I need.

We are going in fucking circles with the mayoral candidate. The asshole has a security team now that his face is all over the TV. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to get rid of this asshole. Not with him targeting us the way he is.

He even got the fucking sheriff in his pocket. The old man has been serving our needs for twenty fucking years, and he’s now rolled over.

We are stuck, and no matter how much surveillance I do, there doesn’t seem to be a way out.

My frustrations boiled over today, making me need a stiff drink. I don’t usually drink with the kids here, but knowing Lainey is also here made me feel like I could make an exception.

She was supposed to be tucked into my bed. The same bed I used to sleep in until I invited her to live here. The exact same bed I’ve fantasized about fucking her ten ways till Sunday on.

Instead, she came out here and called me on my shit. I’m not drunk, but fuck if I don’t want to be drunk on her.

The way she slid onto my lap, taking what she wanted. How her hips are rocking gently against my rock-hard cock. How she seems to not be able to get enough of me.

I don’t blame her. She tastes fucking fantastic. If I could, I would kiss her until she was blue in the face. Then I’d use my breath to bring her back to me so that she would always have a piece of me with her.

Lainey is like kryptonite. She’s going to bring all of this down, but fuck if I care right now.

I let my hands roam her body, squeezing her firm ass as I rock her into me harder. She moans against my lips. I swallow the sound, needing it to be just for me.

For once, I want something that is just mine.

“Midnight,” she gasps against me.

“Michael,” I respond, not sure why I want her to call me by my name.

“What?” she asks against my lips.

“My name is Michael, and it’s what you will cry out as you come,” I demand of her.

“Yes, sir.” She leans back in, pressing her lips to mine.

I like when she calls me sir. It always gets my cock twitching. I have no clue when that kink started, but I have a feeling it has everything to do with when I met this bombshell.

I let my hands fall to her hips, helping her grind against me. Her breaths are coming faster. She must be close.

What I wouldn’t give to feel her wet heat around my cock. To be able to taste her essence.

I can’t, though. Not right now. She has my head all fucked up.

We need to stop. This isn’t right.

It feels right, though. It feels so good and right.

Her body contorts as she screams out my name. I continue to grind her hips until I come in my pants.

It feels so fucking good. She feels good.

Yet as we both come down, I realize what I just did. I dry-humped my twenty-one-year-old nanny. The same woman who works for me at my very legitimate shop.

One word of what we did, and she could bring the whole house of cards down. Not to mention the fact that the police are looking for a reason to bust us.

Lainey wouldn’t do that, but I once thought the same thing about Miranda. It’s that thought that has my blood turning to ice.

“You need to go to bed,” I tell her, my tone void of any emotion.

She is still catching her breath as she looks down at me dazed. “What?”

“I said you need to go to bed. It’s late, and this shouldn’t have happened. Go to sleep, Lainey.”

She jerks her head back as if I slapped her. She scrambles to get off my lap, slapping my hand when I go to help her up.

“Are you being serious right now? I never took you for a coward, Michael, ” she hisses.

I wince at the way she says my name. Miranda often said it the same way. It’s how I knew I truly pissed her off.

“I’m not a child. You don’t get to order me to bed.” She places her hands on her hips.

“You might as well be with how young you are, and you work for me. This was a bad idea. I wasn’t thinking right,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “It’s fine if you have regrets, but don’t you act like I’m the immature one here. You’re the one who is running scared because we kissed a little bit. Don’t blame my age or my employment for your shitty attitude. I deserve better than that. You’re only nine years older than me. You act like that makes you ancient and me a baby. Grow up. Oh, and don’t treat me like a child. Especially since I’m the one raising yours.”

She whirls around, heading into the house. I wince at how hard she shuts the sliding glass door. I half expect it to shatter, but it stays in one piece.

She is right about one thing.

I need to get my head straight. None of this was her fault. I am such an asshole.

I know better than to treat women poorly, yet I just gave her an orgasm and sent her to bed. No wonder she was so pissed. She’s not a child. Trust me, I know that, but I keep trying to place her in that box because in my head, she’s too young for me.

Nine years.

It’s practically a decade.

She’s right, though. She’s old enough to go to war. She can vote and drink. Hell, she can own a gun in most states.

I need to take her out of that box. It’s obvious it’s not working to keep me away from her. My desires for her aren’t waning. They are only growing.

That’s obvious by the wet spot on my jeans.

I haven’t come in my pants since I was a teen. Yet, having her tight little body withering on top of me had me coming like I was a virgin.

Can I really get past her age, though? I can get over her working for me, but can I really relate to a twenty-one-year-old?

One thing I do know is that I owe her an apology.

I just hope she’s the forgiving type, because I can’t do any of this without her.