Penelope
All I had was a phone number to text and an address.
He said I’d have to sign something once I reported to work. I assumed it was something legal that basically said I wouldn’t go to TMZ and tell them what kind of body wash he used.
What sort of person did that anyways?
And why would something like that even matter?
I pushed the doorbell.
Heard screaming.
Almost backed away when the screaming intensified and smiled when I heard heavy footsteps and then, “This is your last warning before a time out!”
The door opened.
Trevor had ketchup all over his deep V-neck T-shirt, some sort of food object stuck to his skinny jeans, and he was wearing one purple sock.
Nothing out of the ordinary per se.
Except he had a pink boa on and a tiara.
“Wow, had I known I was meeting royalty today, I would have dressed up,” I teased, shocking even myself. We didn’t know each other enough to tease, but he seemed relieved as he exhaled and then burst out laughing.
“Tea time.” He nodded. “All the Brits do it.”
“Ah, I see. Do you use an accent and everything?”
“I attempted one time, and my daughter cried because she thought I was making fun of hers, so no, I use my boring dad voice.” He winked.
Yeah, nothing about him was boring even covered in ketchup and mystery food, and he was still one of the best looking men I’d ever seen up close.
Period.
He could take a shower under a sewer, and women would still crane their necks to get a better look at him.
It was alarming.
And honestly, I needed to get a grip before my inner fangirl let loose an ear piercing scream that would match the rest of the noise coming from upstairs.
“Thank you so much.” Trevor took off his tiara. “For starting so soon. I’m swamped and since their mom left—” He cut himself off, but something indefinable flickered in his eyes. “It’s just…been a big adjustment for us.”
My chest cracked a bit. “Has she been gone long?”
“Gone,” he repeated and then smiled. “Gone makes it sound like she’s missing or that maybe she didn’t choose to leave. She’s called twice in the past year since she left, sends the kids presents on all their birthdays, and for the holidays flew in for twenty-four hours before jet setting back to Brazil or wherever the hell her current boy toy is. She left. And I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for doing that to our family.”
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted, feeling horrible. “It’s none of my business. I feel horrible, I’m—”
“Honestly, I thought you probably knew. The rest of the world does.” His eyes locked onto mine.
“Well, here’s a moment of truth—I don’t read celebrity gossip and have been living in Montana for the last few years of my life, where the local gossip is even dirtier than Hollywood.”
“Oh?” He crossed his bulky arms.
“Yeah, I mean we once had this horse escape…” I grinned and bit down on my bottom lip, trying like hell not to look at the complete package of perfection in front of me as he waited for me to continue. “Since you were honest, I guess it’s my turn. I came here for a fresh start. My cousin Dani’s married to Lincoln Greene.”
“Ahhhhhhh.” Trevor snapped his fingers. “I love Lincoln, he’s one of the good ones.”
“He’s the best, they both are. It was their idea, and here I am.”
“Huh.” Trevor seemed to mull that over a bit before another yell came from upstairs. A basketball was thrown over the railing; it bounced behind him while he looked up and bit back a curse. “I apologize in advance. Just remember, I’m paying you well.”
“I love kids so it won’t be a problem.” What was I saying? I loved kids, yes, but not ones who were hurting and who lashed out and yelled and cried, and crap I was in over my head, totally in over my head. Back when I was a teacher we had school counselors for this sort of thing, I knew how to teach them things, to engage, but the sadness factor or even the anger, I wasn’t so sure about.
“Well, just in case…” He grabbed a piece of paper from the kitchen table. “You have my personal cell number, and if you sign here we’ll be in business.”
“NDA?” I guessed.
He gave me a funny look. “Well, yeah, but it’s more or less a contract in writing that states you won’t sell pictures of my kids on the internet.”
I gaped. “People do that?”
“You’d be surprised what people would do for money,” was all he said as he handed me a pen.
I scribbled my name across the dotted line and handed the pen back to him, his fingers warm as they grazed my skin.
I felt that touch more than a nanny should.
This was going to be a problem.
The awareness I had of him.
The way I couldn’t stop looking at him.
And the way he seemed to be doing the same to me.
“So.” I rocked back on my heels. “I’m going to assume by the ketchup on your shirt that they’ve had lunch and that now we’re doing play time. Do they take naps?”
“They have quiet time at three, and a lot of times all three of them crash.”
“Great!” A sleeping kid was a healthy kid. And it would give me time to clean up the train wreck that had exploded around his house. “And you’ll be home at?”
“Six.” He blinked his gorgeous eyes at me. “Thank you for this. I don’t know what else to say.”
“No problem.” I grinned. “Maybe change your shirt before heading out, though? We don’t want people thinking you murdered someone just because they see a flash of red ketchup.”
“Good point.” He laughed and peeled the shirt over his head with record finesse and speed.
I shivered, gaped, and then didn’t know if I was supposed to be outraged or turn away.
I turned away.
“Damn it. Sorry, it’s just been us, I wasn’t thinking, plus the laundry is on the couch—”
“Don’t worry about it.” I felt my face flame as visions of his six pack taunted my mind. “I’ll make sure to fold it when you’re gone.”
“Great.” In a flurry of movements, he had a black band shirt on and was calling upstairs. “Kids, I’m going to the studio, Penelope’s here to hang out with you. Don’t burn the house down and listen to her, all right?”
Silence.
“KIDS!”
“Okay, Dad.”
“Sure.”
“You hid the matches!”
Trevor gave me a panicked look.
“We’ll be fine.” Matches? Burning the house down? What kind of kids burned the house down at age five? Or even thought that attempting it would be a solid life choice? I gave what I hoped was a reassuring smile, or even a non-reassuring one. “Promise!”
“You’re sure.” He eyed me like he wasn’t above chasing me out the door and pinning me to the ground just to make sure I’d stay.
“Yeah.” I waved him off. “Go before they catch the scent of freedom.”
He barked out a laugh. “You’re not wrong.”
“Dad!”
I gave him a wide-eyed look while he nearly tripped over a Lego and made a run for it out the front door.
I felt three sets of eyes watching my back.
Slowly I turned and crossed my arms. “Who wants to make a fort?”
Every set of eyes lit up.
Hours later, while the kids all crashed in their rooms, I realized I’d grossly misjudged my ability to be a good nanny.
They wanted me to play with them the entire time, which I loved, but it also meant breaking up a fight every few minutes over stupid things like skin touching skin, being scared of a monster face that one of the twins kept doing, and my personal favorite.
The book.
That was all Bella said. The book was angry.
And then she said her doll laughed at her under her bed.
I was pretty sure that any sort of paranormal Annabelle activity wasn’t part of the job description, but Malcom finally fessed up to pretending to be her doll.
All in all, it was a busy day.
I’d cleaned the entire kitchen, tossed out old takeout, and noticed that the freezer had a perfectly good beef roast in it.
I defrosted it and added it to a pan with some carrots, potatoes, onions, and some spices. It wasn’t gourmet, but at least the kids would have a nice home-cooked meal, right along with Trevor.
I started in on the laundry at around a quarter till five, after checking on the kids again and finding they were still out.
There was enough laundry on that couch waiting to get folded I was shocked that everyone wasn’t roaming the house naked.
I winced. Bad visual.
You’re the nanny.
I picked up something black.
Black boxer briefs.
Not toddler size.
Big boy size.
Had anyone told me a few months ago that my fresh start would include folding Trevor Wood’s underwear, I would have checked them for a head injury.
And yet there I was, clutching his boxer briefs to my chest like a stalker fan gone too far.
I folded and folded and folded until I heard the sleepy talk coming from upstairs as each kid made their way down to the main living room. I already had apples and juice boxes out for everyone and a Blippi streaming via Amazon.
Everyone just huddled on the main couch with their snacks while I finished folding.
Malcom yawned and struggled with the straw to his juice box while Bella grabbed what looked like a black T-shirt and tried wrapping it around her legs. It wasn’t fitting right, so I walked over to help when Eric’s tiny hand shot out and shoved me away.
I wasn’t sure what to do.
He didn’t exactly hit me but he did shove me.
I squinted down at him. He just shook his head and mouthed the word “Don’t.”
“Why?” I whispered back.
He looked down, not before I saw anger flashing across his features, and then he was on his feet and stomping back up the stairs.
Malcom let out a little sigh and then cupped his mouth with both hands. “That was one of Mom’s shirts, she can’t leave the house without it.”
My heartbeat stuttered, and then pain sliced through my chest as I tried to imagine knowing my mom left me by choice, at such a young age.
“Malcom? Why don’t we go into the kitchen real quick?”
Bella was enraptured with both the black T-shirt and the TV show. Obviously, she was still trying to wake up.
Malcom obediently followed me into the kitchen. I leaned down to his level. “Does she get upset if anyone touches the shirt?”
He nodded and then his lower lip started to wobble.
I was not prepared for this.
Not at all.
I reached for him just as he burst into tears.
Oh, God.
I didn’t know the woman, and I wanted to strangle her with my bare hands then run her over with my Jeep.
“It’s okay.” I hugged him close.
His tiny arms tried to fit around me, and then he stepped back and wiped his face.
“I’m not supposed to cry in front of Bella,” he said between sobs. “But I miss Mom. She left us, and she did it on purpose.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for some sort of wisdom to give the kid, but I had nothing, because I couldn’t imagine it, couldn’t justify it one bit. I’d always wanted kids and that old resentment came flaring to life at the thought of someone being blessed with three and walking away.
I’d already been told it would be hard to get pregnant.
She’d had everything.
Everything I’d always wanted.
How did a person just…leave?
“I’m so sorry.” I wiped the tears on his soft, puffy cheeks as he stared down at his feet. “When I get sad about things, sometimes I think about the things I should be happy about.”
“Yeah?” He swiped his nose with his sleeve. “Like what?”
“Well…” I smiled wide. “You have a pretty cool dad. I mean, who can say their dad is an actual rock star?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I like firefighters.”
I almost burst out laughing. “Well, I think that rock stars are cooler than firefighters. I bet most of the world knows who your dad is, plus he makes people happy with his music. How cool is that?”
He frowned and then squinted at me. “I like his music.”
“I bet that’s a relief for your dad.”
Malcom grinned. “I still wish my mom was here.”
“That’s okay, little man. I promise one day it won’t make you as sad, and for what it’s worth I think you’re pretty awesome.”
He grinned, put his arms around me again, and then paled. “You aren’t leaving, are you?”
That was it, I was officially stealing Trevor’s kid. He’d be fine, he had two more. Right? A smile tugged at my lips. “Only to go home and sleep in my own bed.”
“You can sleep here!” Malcom grinned and then clapped his hands. “Dad has lots of rooms. I know sometimes he has friends over that are girls, but they don’t stay long.”
“Ummm.” I felt myself blushing. “Well, I’m staying longer. That’s why I’m going back to my house, because all my things are there.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Yup! Now, why don’t you go back and sit with your sister while I check on dinner, okay?”
“’K!” He ran off, his little legs sprinting him into the next room while I turned around and nearly had a frigging heart attack.
“Trevor!” I stumbled back, colliding with the granite countertop. “How long have you been standing there?”
His face was unreadable. I wracked my brain trying to think of what I could have said that was wrong and came up empty.
“You.” He shook his head. “He hugged you.”
“Is that…” Oh no! He didn’t want me touching his kids! “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that was a rule. I swear I won’t hug him. He was just crying and he was—”
“He hasn’t hugged anyone but me since his mom left, and even then I have to basically beg him.” Sadness flashed across his face. “Thank you…for what you said, for taking the time to listen to him, to get down on his level. My kids are…everything.”
“I know,” I said softly. “I didn’t want to poison the well either, with their mom. As far as I’m concerned, that won’t help anything, so I hope that what I said was okay?”
“Agreed.” He sighed like he’d spent the last few hours under extreme stress, and then he perked up and sniffed the air. “Pot roast?”
I beamed. “Yeah, I figured you’d be starving and the kids slept late, probably because we played so hard, which also means that’s my cue to leave. I had a long day in the play room upstairs. It won by the way.”
He burst out laughing. “Yeah, it often does. It’s the Legos.”
“Totally.” I smiled back at him as we fell into silence. “All right then.” I took a step backwards. “The laundry’s folded, dinner’s ready, and—”
“Stay.” He took a step toward me.
What was happening?
“Um, no, really it’s fine. I don’t want to intrude.”
“It’s the least I can do.” His sexy smile was back. Ugh, pair that with the fact that he had three of the most adorable kids, not to mention that he used to be a poster on my wall. Torture. You grow up looking at boy bands and celebrities and dreaming about meeting them backstage and marrying them later and then you laugh with your friends.
And then the next day, you’re folding their underwear and making a pot roast.
Huh.
“Please stay!” Bella came stumbling into the kitchen, the black T-shirt still clutched in her right hand, her monkey in the other.
Trevor’s smile fell. “Hey, baby girl, you have a good nap?”
She nodded and then lifted the shirt to his face. “It doesn’t smell like her anymore.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He kissed her forehead. “Why don’t you run off and get your brothers while we get dinner ready?”
“Yay! She’s staying!” She did a little twirl and then whispered in a loud voice. “I like Penny.”
He frowned. “Penny?”
“Penelope was a mouthful,” I added with a smile of my own.
“Gotcha.” He winked at me, making my heart flutter and my stomach drop to my knees. The guy needed to be careful who he winked at. I knew I was blushing. I told my body to stop betraying me, but my face just got hotter. Perfect.
I quickly turned around and made myself busy grabbing plates.
Just focus on setting the table.
Not the image of his abs burned into your brain.
Or his wink.
Or the way he wore a shirt.
Lord, have mercy on us mere mortals.
Amen.