Curvy Nanny for the Nerd

12. Toni

Chapter 12

Toni

T he alarm sounded, jarring and obnoxious as it pulled me from the most delicious dream imaginable. Brady was naked with his strong, lean body wrapped around mine. He kissed my sensitive skin and told me I was beautiful as his fingers, his mouth and his dick, did wickedly wonderful things to me. He yanked orgasm after orgasm from my body with just a flick of his wrist or his tongue.

I moaned and a set of masculine arms tensed around me. My eyes flew open, and for the fifth time in as many days, I came awake shocked by the fact that Brady was in my bed. Naked. Sleeping.

“You’re thinking too hard again.” His lips brushed a sensitive spot behind my ear and I shivered. Brady laughed. “Good morning, Antonia.”

“Morning,” I grumbled, secretly loving the way my full name sounded on his lips. My body instinctively relaxed against Brady’s hard chest with a sigh. My nipples beaded, and almost as if he could sense it, his big hands were there, grabbing my breasts and then pinching my nipples. “The morning is becoming better,” I moaned.

Brady laughed. “That’s better.”

I rolled my eyes, thankful he couldn’t see me. “It’s seven,” I told him the same way I had every morning this week.

“It’s Friday,” he shot back.

“Still a workday for some of us.” I wasn’t the boss here. Even though I didn’t say it and neither did Brady, we both knew it was true.

He groaned and rolled me onto my back before settling his body against mine. “I have work to do too,” he whispered, brushing a tantalizing kiss to my lips. “I just find you far more appealing than work.”

I wanted to ask him what his work was exactly, but it would start another argument or another distracting round of sex. I preferred the latter, but it only reminded me of the former. “Lucky me,” I purred sincerely. A man like Brady was a certified workaholic, I recognized it easily because I’d grown up with one, and the fact that I made him not want to work was flattering.

“Luckier me,” he growled and pushed his morning erection between my thighs. We came together hard and fast, both of us reached that peak in just a few minutes, leaving less than five before the alarm clock sounded again, bursting the bubble and reminding us that it was back to the real world. “I need a week with you on a remote island. And no clothes.”

I laughed and basked in his praise, and his post-coital kisses. “Sounds good to me.” It was too bad he didn’t trust me with the basic details of his life. Forget it, Toni. Enjoy this, whatever it is, while it lasts.

That’s what I’d vowed to do, and just like every morning this week, I spent the time in the shower strengthening my resolve, ignoring my soft heart that wanted to make excuses for the secrets. The shield he kept between us. By the time I made my way downstairs, I was dressed to kill in black leather leggings, and a plain white lace t-shirt, I felt like a new woman.

Mostly.

“Good morning,” I said to Layla in a sing-song voice.

She looked up from her tablet with a bright smile. “Good morning, Toni! What are we doing today?”

I froze because it was the first time in years I’d fallen down on the job. I hadn’t planned any activities for her today because I was too busy getting in her guardian’s—by boss’s—pants.

“Um, I’m not sure,” I said honestly. “I figured we could spend an hour or so drawing and then you can decide what you want to learn today. That will determine what our next activity will be.”

Her eyes, so much like her uncle’s, widened in surprise. “Me?”

I nodded as I poured a mug of coffee. “Yep. The best way to keep learning is having a desire to learn so today it’s dealer’s choice. You pick what you want to know about and together we’ll find a way to make it work.”

“Cool!”

Heavy footsteps sounded and then Brady appeared, looking as if he’d just walked off the runway in a three-piece suit that made his dark hair and light eyes pop. The phrase devastatingly handsome came to mind instantly. Lust surged through me and when it faded, I frowned.

“Going somewhere fancy?” It looked like a date night outfit, except it was early in the morning, and he worked at home so it was…unusual.

Brady seemed shocked at my question and he looked down at his designer, bespoke suit and shrugged. “No. I have meetings that require my presence at the office.”

The office.

It was such a bland statement, purposefully so, and everything in me wanted to push him, to ask who the meetings were with and if they were important to his business. But I didn’t. He would frown and then freeze up, and ultimately ignore the questions altogether.

“Cool,” I said in a chilly voice. “Have fun.”

His brows furrowed in confusion, but as expected, he shrugged off the uneasiness and smoothed his hands down the beautiful fabric. “I don’t know about fun,” he offered. “But let’s hope it will be productive and fruitful.”

“Good luck?” What the hell else was I meant to offer other than that? This wasn’t a normal relationship because it wasn’t a relationship, it was a situation-ship, one where we didn’t share personal details. Well, he didn’t. I was an open book.

“Thanks,” he murmured mostly to himself before he filled up a to go mug and left with hardly a goodbye to me or his niece.

“Uncle Brady is being weird,” Layla declared without looking up from her tablet.

“Adults are sometimes weird,” I offered diplomatically.

“You’re being weird too.” She frowned as she studied me a little too carefully.

“You’re weird,” I shot back with a teasing smile. “Drawing time starts in two minutes so we better get our supplies.” Distraction was a nanny’s best tool when it came to little girls who were far more perceptive than they should be.

We spent most of the day at a music shop where we practiced math skills and music with the guitar, piano, tambourine and the drums. It was a fund adventure, and by the end Layla had been absolutely enamored with the idea of playing an instrument.

“I’m going to learn to play three instruments,” she declared as we left the shop. “Is that a thing?”

I nodded. “Sure is. I play piano and violin very well, the drums and guitar not grea,t but well enough to impress.” My mother had insisted on the first two when I was about five years old and the other two came about as an act of teenage rebellion and self-discovery.

“I’ll ask Uncle Brady.” She beamed an excited smile and placed her hand in mine. “Look, Toni, ice cream!”

It was a gourmet ice cream shop where they made the flavors in house. “Let’s get some for dessert.”

She looked up with wide eyes. “And just a little for now? Please?” She pushed her bottom lip out and batted her eyelashes.

I laughed. “That might work on your uncle but I’m a professional.”

She giggled sweetly, smiling triumphantly when the middle-aged woman behind the counter offered up several samples without checking that it was all right. “I love this place!”

“I’ll bet,” I mumbled as we made our way to the car and back to the mansion that was starting to feel a lot like home. My feet froze as we stepped inside. The house smelled like food. Warm and delicious, and flavorful food.

“Who’s here?” Layla’s voice was shaky and her hand tightened in mine, which was the first sign that the little girl was uneasy.

“Only one way to find out.” I gave her a supportive squeeze and led the way towards the kitchen where Brady stood wearing an apron as he stood in front of the stove.

“Uncle Brady made dinner?” Layla’s confusion was palpable and the hurt on her face was perplexing. “What’s wrong?” She asked in a shrill, shaky voice.

Brady turned to his niece. “Nothing’s wrong. I finished work early and figured it was my turn to cook. I made lasagna and bought salad, fried ravioli with three dipping sauces and tiramisu.” He looked to me and then the little girl. “Layla what did I do?”

“Nothing,” she said barely above a whisper and dropped my hand before she fled the kitchen for the safety of her bedroom.

“What did I do?” His silver blue eyes were wide and stricken, worried he might’ve done something to hurt Layla. “Toni?”

I sighed and shook my head. “It’s not you, it’s the situation. She thought you were going to give her bad news.”

“What kind of bad news would I give her?”

I shrugged. “She lost her parents, Brady. That shakes a kid to their core and anything that comes close to that moment, it’s emotional.” The poor kid just needed a minute. “Her parents’ housekeeper had watched her make her favorite snack, and then told her that her parents were dead and not coming back.”

“I never cook,” he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Yeah. She might’ve assumed, you know…” I said vaguely, because I didn’t want to be the one to remind him of his behavior towards his niece.

“Assumed what?” he barked at me, his voice tight and angry.

“That you were gearing up to send her away,” I said in a flat tone.

“Dammit,” he growled and moved the sauce off the hot burner. “What more can I do?”

“This isn’t about you, Brady. It’s about Layla and her trauma. All you can do is be here and keep being here for her. Make her feel welcome and wanted and loved. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can.”

I smiled at his indignation. “Then do that, and she’ll come around.” Unable to help myself, I crossed the kitchen to offer him a supportive shoulder squeeze. “She’s emotional and she needs to process her feelings. Give her a few minutes.”

His gaze shifted and darkened as his arms wrapped around my waist. “A few minutes, you say?”

My face flamed with heat and an unstoppable smile as I nodded.

“Thank you, Toni.” His words came out on a low, and then his mouth was on mine, hungry and intense. He kissed me as if he missed me, as if we hadn’t spent all night—for the past week—wrapped up in one another. It was the kind of kiss that made your toes curl, that made your heart pound so loudly you can’t hear anything else.

Brady’s kisses made me feel drunk and I clung to him as my legs weakened and my core tightened, my whole body flushed with heat. I moaned and he swallowed it, pulling me closer so not even a gust of wind could fit between us.

“Wow,” I sighed when he pulled back. “You’re welcome.”

His laughter was deep and rich. It was such a welcome sound and the warmth it produced in me sounded the warning bells deep in my mind. “Anytime, Toni. Anytime.”

The bells got louder because when Brady smiled at me like that, I forgot all the reasons why this was a bad idea.