1. Will
CHAPTER ONE
Will
My phone rings with Miles’s name flashing across the screen. I’m currently rushing toward the airport, so I press the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel to answer the call.
“Hey,” I say, looking over my shoulder to change lanes.
“Hey. Did you get the hot nanny yet?” he asks.
I swear to all things holy.
I want to throttle him sometimes. He might be twenty-nine now, but he’s still my little brother.
I’m not about to tell him that the new nanny is indeed gorgeous. That isn’t why I hired her. She was available on short notice, and willing to take the job for just the summer unlike the other people I interviewed.
I also thought she’d do a great job taking care of Lyla for the next few months so she isn’t stuck with us at our hardware store all summer.
“No, there was traffic on I-70, so I’m running a little late,” I say.
He sucks in a sharp breath. “The ever-meticulous Will Kingston is running late for once in his life. This must be eating you up inside.”
I just growl because it very much is. Disorder and tardiness are the bane of my existence.
“Get rid of the grumpiness now,” Miles says. “Don’t want to scare off hot nanny before she even gets in the truck.”
He doesn’t even know what she looks like, so I don’t know where he got the notion she’s hot. I was the only one on the video call when I interviewed her a week ago.
“Fuck off, Miles. Go do something productive.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get right on that.”
I slow the truck, looking for the door she said she was waiting at. Seeing the sign with a big number seven on it, I pull over.
At first, I don’t see her. Leaning over the middle console, I search up and down the sidewalk.
Finally, she steps out from the shadow of the building.
She’s wearing a pair of cut-off shorts with a black T-shirt that hugs curves I’m desperately trying not to stare at. Her right arm is covered in almost a full sleeve of tattoos. There are more peeking out from her high-top Converse that she’s marching toward me in.
I must make some kind of noise because Miles starts laughing over the line. I honestly forgot I was even on the phone with him.
“I take it you spotted the hot nanny and she is actually hot,” he says through bursts of laughter.
“Bye, Miles.”
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he gets out before I hang up on him.
She taps on the passenger window.
Oh shit. My fumbling fingers press the button to roll down the window.
“Will?” she asks, sliding her aviators up to the top of her head.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The video call did not do her justice. She’s stunning.
I thought she was beautiful then, even if she was completely off limits. Now with her only a few feet away, I’ve apparently lost the ability to formulate a sentence.
She rests her forearms on the window frame, leaning into the truck a little. “Please tell me you’re the right guy or this is going to be really embarrassing,” she says with a quirk to her lips.
I blink a few times, shaking my head. “Yeah, sorry. I’m Will.”
Snapping back to reality, I get out of the truck and make my way over to where she’s standing on the sidewalk. I hold my hand out toward her.
“Hi, Avery.”
She slides her hand into mine, giving it a firm shake. Her skin is soft against mine.
“Hi, Will,” she says.
She reaches for her suitcase, but I grab it from her. Ignoring her protests, I slide it into the back seat before circling the hood and hopping behind the wheel.
“Ready?” I ask, peeking at her as she clicks her seatbelt into place.
She gives me a smile that’s a little sweet and a whole lot of trouble. “Ready.”
Goddammit. I feel like I’m going to get far more than I bargained for this summer.