Page 26 of Worst Nanny Ever (Babes of Brewing #2)

I take possession of the cart, so I have something to do with my hands.

“I disagree. Besides, I don’t think Alice and her friends are dangerous.

Just misguided. She told me she’d found out about you from some recent post she’d seen in her superfan community.

I got her to show it to me on her phone. ”

He dips his head and stalks toward the doors, which open for him. I know they’re automatic doors that open for anyone, but the way they open makes him seem like royalty.

Focus, Hannah.

I follow him out to the car with the cart. “I’m going to figure out a way to verify my theory, but I think Rachel might be behind the post.”

He swears and raps his knuckles against the back of his car. Then he looks at me, his eyes a little wild. “If Lilah finds out about this before the sixty days are up…”

I swear too as the truth settles heavily on me.

He runs a hand through his hair carelessly, tousling it. Then, as if realizing what he did, he smooths out his hair to hide the birthmark. It makes me sad, seeing him hide who he is. But I understand, especially after what just happened in the toy store.

“We’re going to fix this,” I insist. “You said Lilah doesn’t have access to the internet, and at the moment the problem is contained. We have to keep it that way. I have an idea for how we can figure out if Rachel was behind this.”

He studies me. “We?”

“ We. I might have pissed Rachel off when I got her to take down that post about you and Ollie. We had Sophie’s lawyer friend reach out to her, and I guess she was pretty rattled. Anyway…Eugene’s son is some super-nerdy computer whiz. So maybe he can help us get to the bottom of it.”

He shakes his head. “Why does it matter? The damage is done.”

“It matters. Because if she did it, she’s going to answer for it. In the meantime, you’re going to get in touch with this fan group and tell them to take the post down because it’s a violation of your privacy. I’m guessing they’ll do anything for Ships Junior.”

He groans but stands up straighter, pinning his eyes on me. “I’m glad you’re on my side.”

“Remember that the next time you try to argue with me.” I squeeze his hand. “You need to go home and play the drums.”

Surprise registers in his eyes, but he nods. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Do you want me to call Rob?”

He gives me a ghost of a smile. “I can still operate a phone, if I choose to.”

“I think you should ask him to come over and jam with you. Maybe tell him what’s going on.”

I have two brothers and a single dad, and all three of them need help figuring out when they should lean on their friendships. Something tells me Travis is the same way. He’d offer help but never ask for it.

“I’m fine, Hannah,” he says, then circles around to open the passenger door for me.

“I can open my own door, if I choose to,” I say.

“Glad to hear it, but I got to it first.”

I climb in, brushing against his arm as I get into the seat. Then, to my bafflement, he reaches in and secures my belt.

“I can do that too,” I tell him.

“I figured. But I wasn’t confident you would.”

He gets around and climbs into the driver’s side before taking off. Of course, Travis being Travis, he goes the speed limit. But I don’t miss the way his eyes keep flitting to the mirrors, as if checking to see whether Alice is following us in some VW minibus full of Ships Ahoy fans.

He relaxes after a few minutes, so I say, “You can drop me off at my car, and I’ll meet you at your house to help hide all of this stuff for Ollie. That way you can be there for the big reveal later.”

“There’s no need for that,” he says gruffly. “I’ll leave it all out on the dining room table, and you can have fun checking it out with him this afternoon. I’d rather not make a huge deal out of it.”

I consider what he’s told me about his dad. “Your father liked showboating?”

He laughs. “He liked every kind of boating. It was his defining characteristic.

“Then he would have really liked Big Catch.”

He gives me a sidelong look. “Please don’t tell me you took that job at Big Catch because you love Ships Ahoy .”

I grin at him. “I won’t tell you, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

He groans theatrically. “I can’t believe there are still fan groups. I mean, those movies came out so long ago.”

“But the bad lines have enduring staying power.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I’m just glad you can joke about it. That tells me you’re doing better than you were twenty minutes ago.”

“It’s because of you,” he says softly.

A rush of warmth fills my chest.

“Oh,” I say, which is probably the least I’ve ever had to say about anything .

Travis smiles out the windshield, probably having that same thought. Then he says, “I shouldn’t have lost it on her. I just don’t like getting that kind of attention. You know, when people think they know you because they’ve seen your face online.”

“That happens to me with online dating sometimes.”

He darts a quick look at me, his expression serious again. “Are you dating anyone?”

“Not really an HR-friendly question, Mister Sir Thomas.”

He swears under his breath. “You’re right. It’s none of my business. I was just…curious. I should have asked before…you know…”

Before he kissed me against a wall.

“No, I shut down my profiles months ago. Too much trouble. Too many dick pics. Why haven’t you been dating anyone? I’m sure Alice would love to break your dry spell.”

“No offense to Alice, but I’m not interested in her, or anyone else who may have thought about getting a Ships Ahoy tattoo.”

“That counts me out.”

His shoulders shake a little with repressed laughter. “No, it doesn’t. I knew way more lines than you did when we watched the movie the other day.”

“Because I have a shit memory.” I steal a look at him. “Does it bother you when people are superfans of the band?”

“Sometimes,” he says, his eyes facing front.

Interesting…

I’ve suspected for a while now that he’s not as into the idea of going big with the band as Rob and Bixby are, and no wonder.

He knows what it’s like to get cornered in toy stores by women who know what he looked like in a sailor suit.

Sure, it’s probably the first time it’s happened to him for a while, but it’s obviously not his first run- in with fame.

“Just one more question. Does it bug you that Karen is still a superfan of the band?”

He shoots me a surprised glance. “What do you know about Karen?”

I shrug. “Just that you were in an on-again, off-again relationship forever , and she still likes to watch you sweat under the bright lights.”

“I’d prefer it if she’d stop coming, but I’m not going to tell her what to do.

I already feel like enough of a dick for leading her on.

” He rubs his cheekbone, making her wonder if Karen had slapped him there.

“She said I did, anyway. I didn’t mean to.

I was honest.” He hesitates. “I still have a hard time imagining you with Jonah. He’s so full of it, and you have a good BS detector. ”

“Will you think less of me if I admit that I knew he was full of shit, and I didn’t care?

” I lift a hand. “Now, obviously I didn’t know he was engaged.

He made a big deal about being single. But I wasn’t invested the way Sophie and Briar were.

I didn’t really want to be invested in anyone.

I was dealing with enough heavy stuff at the time with Liam.

Besides, I’ve made a lot of bad decisions.

Dated a lot of bad guys. Sometimes it’s easier when you go in knowing something’s not going to stick. ”

He smile looks self-deprecating. “No, I don’t think less of you.”

And I can tell, without him saying so, that he basically felt the same way about his ex. He was lonely, but he didn’t want to be broken down by anyone else, after what happened with Lilah, so he found someone who couldn’t break him. I shouldn’t care, but I do, and frankly, I’m glad.

He pulls up outside of the tea shop, then turns toward me. “I’ll see you later.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help unloading the car?”

He gives me a lingering look before saying, “I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to come back to the house with me right now. I don’t have the best handle on my self-control.”

His words shiver through me, because I can see the dark intent in his eyes. Now I’m imagining what he would do if I did go back there with him.

I’m thinking about those silky black sheets and wondering if we’d even make it to his room…

I remember the way his callused hands felt against me, pinning me to the wall, and the heat of his lips as they moved over mine, playing me like I was an instrument.

“I don’t want to…snap at you or anything,” he says, pulling me out of my fantasy.

But from the way his eyes are glued to me, I know that’s not what he’s worried about.

Desire jumpstarts my pulse, filling me with warmth and giving me a new awareness of my body and what it wants. What it hasn’t gotten in too long…

But I’ve made promises to myself, and I’m a woman who keeps my word.

I blow out a stiff breath. “Please. You don’t scare me.”

He smiles at me, then reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear. “That makes one of us, because you definitely scare me.”

I feel like I should make a joke, deflect, anything. But I can’t. Not at the moment, with my mind stuck on what-ifs.

He reaches into the back seat and pulls out the huge, fluffy dog he got for me. It’s ridiculous, and it makes my heart happy. “Don’t forget to bring Fido home with you. We’re playing with another rhythm guitarist today, but I’ll be home by eight thirty.”

I salute him and wrap my arms around the dog before getting out of the car. I stand there watching as his car pulls away and blends into traffic.