Military Daddies’ Nanny (Lucky Women’s Daddies Reverse Harem #1)

Chapter 13

Drew

I lean against the door frame, arms crossed over my chest as I watch Nancy and the kids engaged in some elaborate board game sprawled across the living room floor. Their laughter echoes through the house, a sound I'd almost forgotten existed within these walls before Nancy breezed into our lives like a breath of fresh air.

It's been just over a month since she started working for us, and already the change in Bella and Jason is remarkable. Gone are the somber, withdrawn shells of children I'd grown accustomed to tiptoeing around. In their place are two bright-eyed, smiling kids who actually seem excited about life again.

I have Nancy to thank for that miracle. She's brought light and laughter back into this house in a way I never could on my own, no matter how hard I tried.

As I observe her now, her hazel eyes sparkling as she playfully trash-talks Jason over some game move, chestnut curls tumbling around her heart-shaped face. An all-too-familiar ache blooms in my chest. She's stunningly beautiful, inside and out. She’s the kind of woman any man would be lucky to call his own.

Including me.

The thought lodges itself deep in my mind before I can quash it, as persistent and inevitable as the tide. I've been fighting a losing battle against my growing attraction to Nancy from day one.

But lately, it's become harder and harder to ignore the molten heat that floods my veins whenever she's near. The way my eyes are irresistibly drawn to the generous curves of her body, or how my fingers itch to run through those wild mahogany locks.

I want her. Fiercely. Possessively. Desperately. In a way I haven't wanted anyone since…

"Dad!" Bella's exuberant voice snaps me from my brooding reverie. "Come play with us! Nancy says we need a fourth player."

Nancy glances up at me then, those mesmerizing jade eyes holding mine as a soft smile plays at the corners of her lush mouth. "C'mon, Drew. I promise we'll go easy on you."

How can I possibly refuse? With a mock grumble of protest, I push off from the doorway and lower myself to the carpet beside her. "All right, all right. But don't expect me to throw the game just 'cause you batted those pretty eyes at me."

The words slip out before I can catch them—far too flirtatious for appropriate employer-employee boundaries. But Nancy just laughs, the sound sending pleasant tingles racing along my nerve endings.

"Wouldn't dream of it, boss man," she teases back with a saucy wink that sets my pulse thundering. "Now pick up those dice and prepare to get creamed."

We play for the better part of an hour, the friendly competition and casual banter weaving a cozy cocoon of warmth around the four of us.

In moments like these, it's so easy to imagine Nancy as a permanent fixture in our lives, not just as the nanny, but as a true part of the family. She’d be a loving maternal presence for the kids…and maybe something more for me.

The rosy glow of that domestic fantasy shatters abruptly when Carlos and Nathan burst through the front door coming home early from the shop. My brother's eyes immediately seek out Nancy, his entire demeanor brightening when he spots her.

"There's our girl!" he exclaims, striding over to ruffle her hair affectionately. "Holding down the fort without us, huh?"

Nancy beams up at him, and the intimacy of that exchanged look alone is enough to set my teeth on edge. "Always. Though I think your noteworthy absence might have something to do with how soundly I'm currently kicking everyone's ass at Catan."

Carlos barks out a laugh, dark eyes twinkling. "That's my Nancy. Beautiful and cutthroat. What more could a guy ask for?"

My Nancy . The casually possessive endearment slices through me like the jagged edge of a knife. When the hell did she become his Nancy?

Fists clenched at my sides, I watch with simmering resentment as Carlos settles himself on the floor behind Nancy, thick arms encircling her waist as he props his chin on her shoulder to survey the game board. The casual territorialism of the gesture—and Nancy's easy acceptance of it—has bile rising in the back of my throat.

Not to be left out, Nathan drops down on Nancy's other side, immediately engaging her in some inside joke that has them both dissolving into peals of laughter.

Their heads are bent close together, an air of secretive intimacy surrounding them that screams of shared experiences I'm not privy to.

Jealousy, irrational and all-consuming, surges through my veins like molten lead. I'm overcome by the sudden, violent urge to rip Nancy away from them both, to crush her soft curves against my own body and stake my claim in no uncertain terms.

Mine , some primal part of me snarls. She should be mine.

But she's not. And that realization is a serrated blade twisting in my gut. I must make some small sound of distress, because Nancy's gaze snaps to mine, brow furrowing in concern.

"Drew? You okay?"

No. No I'm fucking not okay .

I struggle to rein in the maelstrom of emotions roiling just beneath the surface of my skin, acutely aware of the kids still in the room. "Fine," I grind out, though it's clear from her skeptical frown that she doesn't buy it for a second. "Just remembered there's some…work stuff I need to take care of. You guys keep playing."

Before anyone can protest, I'm on my feet and striding from the room, throat tight with an ache I refuse to name. I need air. Space. Distance from the cancer of want eating away at my insides.

I end up in my office, pacing restlessly as I drag agitated hands through my hair. What the hell is wrong with me? Nancy isn't mine to be possessive over. She's free to spend time with whoever she wants, to be intimate with…

The mental image of her wrapped around Nathan or Carlos, crying out in ecstasy, slams into me with the force of a gut punch. A pained groan scrapes up my throat as I double over, hands braced on my knees while I struggle to breathe through the lance of pure agony spearing my chest.

I don't know how long I stay like that, trembling and gasping as waves of hurt and anger wash over me. But eventually, a soft knock at the door has me jerking upright to find Nancy watching me with worried eyes.

"Drew, talk to me," she pleads softly as she steps into the room, shutting the door behind her. "What's going on? And don't say nothing, because we both know that's bullshit."

I bark out a humorless laugh, running a hand down my face. "You really wanna know? Fine. I can't fucking stand seeing you with them, okay? Nathan, Carlos—it's driving me insane, Nancy."

Her brow furrows, a flicker of annoyance flashing in those jade eyes. "What are you talking about? They're my friends, Drew. Am I not allowed to have those now?"

“Not when I seem to be exempt from whatever friendship you all share. It feels like I’m being ostracized in my own home,” I snap, frustration bubbling over. Her chin juts out as a response to my anger, but then her eyes lose the fire of annoyance almost immediately.

“We did not mean to exempt you from anything. They just happen to…make me feel more comfortable than…” she trails off when my frown deepens.

More comfortable than I do, considering how brutish I’ve been since the very first day she stepped into my home.

“You’re here to do your job, not to spend time chatting with my brother and friend because they make you comfortable.”

I refrain from facepalming when the words come out of my mouth.

This is exactly what she means. Why can’t I say exactly what I mean?

She folds her hand in front of her chest, losing the softness in her gaze as a result of my words. “Doing my job doesn’t stop me from having a personal life, and what I do in that time, and who I do it with, is not for you to judge or approve.

"It is when it's in my own damn house!" The words tear out of me in a snarl, hands fisting at my sides. "You're here to take care of my kids, Nancy. You’re not here to spend time with my brother and best friend under my own roof."

She recoils like I've slapped her, eyes blazing. "How dare you? I have never, not once, let my personal life interfere with my job here. Those kids are my top priority, and you know it."

"Really?" I growl, stepping closer. "Because from where I'm standing, it seems like you've been awfully preoccupied lately. Always running off with Nathan and Carlos the second they get home, leaving the kids to fend for themselves—"

"That is not true, and you know it!" Nancy's voice rises to match mine, jabbing an accusatory finger at my chest. "I am constantly with those kids. Morning, noon, and night. The only time I'm not is when they're at school or asleep. So don't you dare accuse me of neglecting them just because you're…what, jealous?"

The word slams into me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs. Because she's right. As much as I want to deny it, to hide behind righteous anger and feigned concern for my children's welfare, the ugly truth is that I'm eaten alive with jealousy.

"You're right." The fight drains out of me in a rush, leaving me suddenly exhausted. I sink down onto the leather sofa, scrubbing a hand over my face. "God, Nancy, you're right. I am jealous . I'm so fucking jealous I can barely think straight."

The silence stretches between us, fraught with tension. Then the cushions dip as Nancy settles beside me, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating off her body.

"Why?" she asks softly. When I glance over, her eyes are fixed on me—searching, curious. "Drew, why does it bother you so much? Nathan and Carlos are your family. Don't you want us all to get along?"

I let out a ragged sigh, dropping my head into my hands. "Of course I do. It's not…I don't begrudge any of you happiness, Nancy. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?"

My throat works as I struggle to form the words, to give voice to the ache that's been steadily consuming me from the inside out. "It's about…wanting what they have. With you."

I finally lift my gaze to meet hers, letting her see the raw longing I know must be written all over my face. "I want you, Nancy. So goddamn much it hurts. And watching you with them, knowing that I can never be as close to you as they are. Fucking hell, it's tearing me apart."

I laugh, shocking her. “Scratch that. I want more than what they have with you. I don’t want to be your friend. I want to be able to kiss you and touch you. I’ve held myself back because I don’t want to take advantage of our situation, but I can’t help it anymore, Nancy.”

For a suspended heartbeat, she just stares at me, eyes wide and lips parted on a soft inhale. Then she's leaning in, one hand coming up to cradle my jaw as she presses her forehead to mine.

"Drew," she breathes, and I can feel the puff of air against my lips. "Why didn't you just say something?"

Before I can form a response, she closes the hair’s breadth of distance between us and captures my mouth in a searing kiss. I react on pure instinct, one arm banding around her waist to haul her closer while my other hand tangles in her hair.

Our lips move together with frantic hunger, months of pent-up desire finally given voice in a symphony of ragged breaths and needy whimpers.

She tastes like sunshine and sin, sweet and intoxicating on my tongue as I lick into the warm cavern of her mouth. My whole body feels aflame, nerves singing everywhere her soft curves press against my harder planes.

When we finally part, both panting for air, I rest my forehead against hers once more. "Nancy," I rasp, voice low and gravelly with want. "What are we doing? What will the others think if they find out about this?"

She pulls back just far enough to meet my questioning gaze, a small smile playing at the corners of her kiss-swollen lips. "We'll figure it out. Together. All of us."

I want to ask her what she means by “all of us”, but she's leaning in again, and for now at least, I let myself stop thinking. Stop worrying. I just lose myself in the slide of Nancy's lips against mine and allow myself to hope.