Page 44 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

Iris groaned again. She didn’t want a different hot person and maybe that should alarm her more than anything, but now she was on a mission to convince Hazel this was a good idea. As though Hazel was the one in charge, and with her permission, Iris could have sex with the hot chef guilt-free.

‘It’s not just that!’ He was also dedicated and persistent and sexy and those forearms haunted her dreams, and … she was getting off track. He’d come back for his daughter. He was honorable and sweet, when he wanted to be—and talented, so freaking talented. Hadn’t Hazel ever heard of competence porn? Watching this man chop veggies had made Iris hornier than anything in a long time.

‘There’s this tension between us,’ she said, instead of listing all of Archer’s best attributes. ‘Maybe we need to just get it out of our systems?’ And no one needed to know. Except apparently, Hazel.

Hazel looked at her over the rim of her mug like Iris was the dumbest person to ever live. It was very possible that she was.

‘Do you really think that has worked for anyone in the history of the world?’ Hazel asked. ‘When has sex ever made things easier to walk away from?’

‘When it’s really bad?’ Iris suggested.

‘So, you want to have sex with Archer because you think it will be really bad and you’ll be able to move on and work for him with no problem after that?’

Damn, Hazel and her damn reasoning. Iris should have tried this with someone else. What was Kira up to today? She made questionable choices all the time.

‘No,’ Iris confessed. ‘I don’t think it would be bad at all.’ The feel of Archer’s tongue on her finger, lapping up the batter, echoed through her body, the memory of it nearly as strong as the real thing. No, it wouldn’t be bad at all. If that tongue could make her feel like that from just licking her finger, just imagine what he could do if he licked?—

‘Okay, so I think you need to take sex off the table.’

Or do it on the table…

Iris shook her head. ‘Right. Of course. You’re one hundred percent right.’ She wasn’t stupid. She knew what she was doing every time she snuck out of her room to talk to him in the dim light of the kitchen, to ogle his arms, to flirt with him, letting her shirt slip down her arm, flaunting her shorts that were barely shorts. She’d broken down his defenses.

And all he was trying to do was to prove to himself, his daughter and the entire town that he was dad material. Being seduced by the nanny probably wasn’t going to help his case.

God, she was the worst.

Noah and the girls raced back into the house.

‘Is it safe?’ he asked, shaking water from his hair. ‘It started to rain.’ He grabbed a towel from the hall closet and tossed it onto Olive’s head. She giggled from underneath it.

‘It’s safe,’ Iris said, and Hazel raised a brow. ‘It is! You’re right. I will be keeping things strictly professional from here on out.’

Hazel still looked skeptical, and Iris was stillfeelingskeptical, but she was determined now. No more flirting with the boss. No more sexy eyes and suggestive smiles. Nope. She was all business.

Ha! ‘All business’ was never something Iris had been called, but she could do it. She got up and went over to help Olive dry off. She rubbed the towel over her head, savoring the giggles still coming from underneath. If she screwed things up with Archer, she would definitely have to leave. And oddly enough, she didn’t want to leave this kid. She didn’t want to think about how Olive would feel if she did leave.

Not that she thought Olive liked her all that much, but she tolerated her. She talked to her and even occasionally ate the food Iris gave her, and frankly, that seemed like a lot at the moment. She didn’t want to think about Olive having to get readjusted to a new grown-up in her life. Not yet.

‘All dry?’ she asked, pulling the towel off. Olive’s hair was a wild mess around her head. Cece and Ivy were walking around with towels still over them pretending to be ghosts or zombies. It was unclear. Olive laughed at them before turning back to Iris.

‘Can we have ice cream for dinner?’ she asked.

‘Don’t push it, kid. We still have to break the news to your dad that we’re repainting that pink nightmare of a room.’

Olive frowned.

‘Oh, stop. Your dad is a good cook. Maybe he’ll let you help again tonight.’

That got Olive to brighten slightly.

‘Here, take an umbrella,’ Hazel said, joining them at the door. ‘It’s really pouring now.’

‘Thanks. And thanks for the pep talk.’

‘Anytime.’

‘And thanks for the checkers game, Noah.’