Chapter 9
“Came up with a plan to fix Sloane’s situation. What could possibly go wrong?”
Zane
“Hey, baby girl,” I murmur as I lift Adele from her crib. She gurgles at me and I nearly forget about the sleepless night I just endured.
I finally got to sleep around four a.m. after Sloane burped the baby. She came out of her bedroom, looking adoringly rumpled with her hair in a rat’s nest. And took less than a minute to calm Adele.
Too bad Sloane isn’t here every night.
Hold on. Why can’t she be here every night? Guessing by how she was sleeping in her car, she has nowhere else to be.
Hmm… maybe Sloane is the solution I’m searching for.
By the time she stumbles into the kitchen thirty minutes later, my plan is formed.
“Morning,” she mumbles as she opens the sliding door to let her dog out. Boozer rushes outside. “Don’t chase any rabbits!”
She shuts the door and whirls around to face me.
Holy shit. My heart gallops, and my tongue gets tied.
She must have changed after Adele spit up on her because she’s now wearing a tank top showing off her perky breasts and a pair of tiny shorts.
Damn. I want those long, smooth legs wrapped around my waist while I pound into her.
My cock twitches in agreement. It’s a good thing I’m holding Adele in my arms, or I’d have her pinned to the wall by now.
“Coffee.” Her eyes are half-closed and her jaw is adorably grumpy.
Adorably grumpy? I shake my head. This is Sloane. The woman who doesn’t like me.
I motion to the pot. “Help yourself.”
I sip on my own coffee as she moves around my kitchen. I expected to be annoyed with a woman in my domain, but Sloane being here doesn’t bother me a bit. This is a good sign that my plan will work.
Sloane sits down at the kitchen table across from me.
“We need to talk.”
She holds up a finger before sipping on her coffee. She finishes half the cup before sighing and setting it down.
“There. I’m ready to speak now.”
“Not a morning person?”
“I’m a bartender. Morning isn’t in my vocabulary.”
Hopefully, I can get her to change her mind.
“I have an idea how to solve your homeless situation.”
She scowls. “I’m not homeless. I’m merely temporarily without a home.”
I scratch my beard to stop myself from explaining how being ‘without a home’ is the definition of homeless. I want her on my side.
“I stand corrected. I have an idea on how to solve your temporary without a home situation.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re not going to tell everyone, are you?” She huffs. “Damn it. I knew I should have parked somewhere outside of Smuggler’s Rest. But I was too tired after my shift to go driving around the island.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“But…”
“Why do you assume there’s a condition to my promise?”
She snorts. “Because I’ve known you most of my life, Zane Raider. You Raider brothers gossip worse than the ladies who work at city hall.”
“We don’t gossip.”
She rolls her eyes. “What do you call telling everyone on the island about your brother accidentally wiping his ass with poison ivy?”
“Hilarious.”
She giggles. “It was pretty funny watching Kai walk around with his jeans hanging off his ass.”
I pause a moment to enjoy how beautiful she is when she smiles. Sloane is always beautiful, but when she smiles, the entire room feels lighter.
“About this idea…”
She holds up her hand. “I don’t need handouts.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t planning on giving you any.” There goes my Plan B. I straighten my back and stick with Plan A. “How about you move in here?”
She barks out a laugh but sobers when she notices I’m not laughing. “You’re not joking?”
“No.”
Her brow furrows. “You want me to live with you? Mr. I Don’t Let Women Sleep After Sex Because It Gives Them The Wrong Idea?”
I bristle. I’m not ashamed of being a player, but she makes me feel as if I should be. “I don’t lead women on.”
“I never said you did.”
I open my mouth to argue – she implied otherwise – but arguing with Sloane won’t get me what I want.
“Let me clarify. You wouldn’t live here for free.”
Her eyes flare. “What exactly are you proposing?”
Her dark brown eyes sparkle with interest and I fist my hands before I reach for her. Off limits, I remind myself. Sloane Wilder is off limits.
She deserves flowers and chocolates and cuddles in the morning. Not a man who impregnated a woman he doesn’t even remember.
“You become my nanny.”
“I thought you were giving Adele back to her mom.”
That’s my plan. Or it was. I don’t know. Things are getting confusing. I don’t try to explain to Sloane, though. She already thinks I’m a jerk.
“I’ll have Adele with me for the foreseeable future.” There. It’s not a lie.
“I can’t be your full-time nanny. I already have a job.”
“You work in the evenings. I work during the day. You can watch Adele during the day while I’m at work.”
“I have to be at work before most offices close for the day to help with the after work crowd at Rumrunner.”
“I’ll make sure I’m home before you need to leave.”
Her brow wrinkles. “Don’t you need to work until the distillery closes?”
“I can work from home.”
“In your office filled with boxes of baby stuff?”
“I’ll unpack those.” Or send them back to my family when Adele returns to her mother. Eli must have found Daisy by now.
Her dog barks and Sloane stands to open the door for him. He runs inside and skids to a halt in the kitchen. He plops down on his ass and whines at Sloane.
“Sorry. I forgot about your breakfast.”
I stand. “Not a problem. I have some dog food left from the last time I watched Rhett and Dakota’s dog, Delphine.”
She finds two bowls and pours water into one while I fill the other with dog food. Once Boozer is settled, we return to our discussion.
“What do you think? Will you be Adele’s nanny?”
She points to her dog. “What about him? We’re a package deal.”
I love dogs. But I’ve never adopted one because I don’t want to be tied down. I want to be able to jump on a plane for the other side of the world without notice. But the spontaneity ship has sailed.
“As long as you clean up any accidents in the house, he can stay.”
“Deal.”
“Does this mean you’ll stay and be my nanny?”
“Until I figure out somewhere else to live.”
Works for me. I won’t have Adele forever anyway. “Deal.”
“And you let Boozer out at night when I’m working.”
“I can’t leave Adele alone in the house.”
She motions to the backyard. “The backyard’s fine.”
“Any more conditions you want to discuss?”
She drums her fingers on the table and I hold my breath. I need Sloane’s help. This is the perfect solution.
And you want her in your house.
I ignore the voice in the back of my mind. It doesn’t matter what I want when it comes to Sloane. She’s off limits.
She holds out her hand. “You have a deal.”
I clasp her hand and a spark ignites at the touch. Will sparks ignite if we touch elsewhere? What if I trail my finger down her long leg? Or plump her breast? And how would it feel to sink into her? My cock twitches.
This is a bad idea. I’m inviting temptation into my house, and I’ve never been any good at resisting temptation.
I grit my teeth and pull my hand away. I can’t give in. I need a nanny for Adele.
“Wah!”
Speaking of my baby girl, I hurry to my feet. “I’ll help you move your things in later,” I say as I run away.
Correction. It’s not running away. I’m making a tactical retreat.
I have too much going on with finding out I’m a father – assuming I actually am Adele’s biological father – to get involved with a woman. Besides, I don’t get involved with women. Never have. Never will. Getting involved leads to complications.
I pick Adele up from her crib. And I have enough complications in my life.