The Biker Needs A Nanny (Thirteen Bikers for Christmas)

CHAPTER THREE

Lucky—

I haven’t had a woman riding shotgun in this truck since Melanie last sat there. Grace is young, in her early twenties, if I had to guess. Hell, I’ve probably got a good ten years on her. She’s also beautiful, and not in the bleached-blonde, mini-skirt-wearing, slutty way the last applicant was. Grace has natural beauty and a body no man can gaze upon and not get hard just thinking about.

My eyes shift toward her for a brief second. Her scooped-neck shirt gives just a tease of the top of her cleavage, but goddamn, she’s got the softest looking skin, and I long to touch it.

My gaze is on the road, but in my mind, all I’m imagining is the back of my finger trailing over that cleavage.

My traitorous body has my dick growing hard just at the thought. I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and adjust in my seat, which draws her attention.

Great. Last thing I want is her thinking I want to jump her bones. Even if it is the truth.

I don’t know why this girl is affecting me so much. It’s not like I’m a monk. It’s not like there haven’t been women since Melanie. Albeit all of them are just quick fucks, none of them meaning a damn thing to me. Some of the club girls have tried to take Melanie’s place, dying to become an Evil Dead ol’ lady, but none of them appeal to me that way.

To tell the truth, I can’t imagine a woman ever wearing my property patch again.

“Is the school far?” Grace asks, and I turn to see her big chocolate brown eyes.

“No,” I reply shortly. She’s sexy as hell, but I can’t go there. I can’t risk my heart again.

I would love to fuck her, but there’s no way we could bring sex into this. It would screw up the nanny situation, and I’ve got to think of my girls. They need someone sweet and kind, and when Grace turned that mega-watt smile on me, I knew she was both those things. I can’t fuck that up. Besides, I’m not ready or looking for a relationship.

Why couldn’t she be a gray-haired old lady?

The last thing I need is a nanny who’s hot as hell living in my house, but I need Grace too much, and I’ve already run off every candidate. Even the ones who took the job didn’t last long. Every damn one of them blamed me, calling me an asshole or an overbearing jerk.

I can’t afford to blow it this time.

All I have to do is put up with her sexy body strutting around my house until my aunt Val can come in a few months and take over.

That’s the plan. I’ve just got to manage until February.

“I take it from how you got dropped off you don’t have a car?” I ask Grace.

“Nope.”

“You a good driver?”

“Yes.”

“Any tickets?”

“No.”

“I guess you’ll have to use my truck for pick-up and drop-off, then. Ever driven a truck?”

“Nothing this big. How do you find a parking spot for it?”

I grin and turn in to the car line and stop behind the vehicle in front of me, then pop down the visor displaying the girls’ names. I glance at Grace. “You have to ensure they see the sign so they know who to load into each car.”

“Got it. What time does this line form?”

I lift my chin to the front. “The ones in the front get here about a half hour or more before pick-up. They read or play on their phones.”

“Wow.”

“If you aren’t here at least fifteen minutes early, you’ll be out on the road, sitting on the shoulder.”

“Doesn’t anyone take a bus?”

“Bus riders go out the door on the other side of the building.”

“Oh.”

I pull out my phone to punch in her information. “I’ll need your phone number.”

“I, um, don’t have a cell phone.”

I stare at her blankly for a moment; I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have one. “Are you serious?”

“Yep.”

“How do you live without one?”

“I like to eat and have a roof over my head. A cell phone is a luxury for me right now.”

“Well, you’ve got to have one to do this job. We’ll stop on the way home. I’ll add you to my plan, but I’m taking it out of your pay.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Only way this is gonna work, Grace.”

She folds her arms and stares out the window.

I cock a brow. “I’m paying you two hundred a day. That’s fourteen hundred a week. Plus, you’re getting that food and roof over your head you talked about. You’re not getting a free phone on top of it. Besides, I think you’ll have enough to cover it.”

She blows out a breath, like she’s trying to remain calm, and I grin. It’s fun to get her riled up. I’ll have to remember that.

Finally, the school doors open, and the teachers come out. The line moves, and I shift into gear.

Grace rubs her palms on her thighs and starts humming a tune under her breath. It takes me a minute to realize the tune is It’s a Small World.

“Nervous?” I ask.

“What if they don’t like me?”

“They’re going to love you. Believe me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re pretty and have a sweet smile. They’re going to be following you around like two little puppies before you know it.”

“Any advice? What do they like?”

“Ella loves anything girly. She’s my fairy princess. Poppy likes puzzles and to have stories read to her. Poppy can amuse herself. Ella, not so much, but she plays well with her sister.”

“Do they fight?”

“Rarely. Mostly because Poppy is so easygoing and goes along with everything Ella wants to do.”

She sucks in a deep breath.

I frown. “You told me you were good with kids.”

“I am. It’s just… first impressions are important.”

It’s our turn, and I roll up to the front.

A teacher pulls open the back door, and the girls scramble in.

“How are my pretty girls today? How was school?”

They both shrug out of their backpacks and buckle into their seats, but their wide-eyes are fixed on Grace. Neither says a word.

The teacher waves and closes the door, and I pull away.

I glance in the rearview mirror. “Ella, Poppy, this is Grace. She’s going to be your new nanny.”

“Is this one staying?” Ella asks.

“I hope so, kid.”

Grace turns and smiles. “I’d like us to become good friends, Ella. My favorite color is blue. What’s yours?”

“Pink,” she says.

“Mine’s rainbow,” Poppy chimes in.

“Who’s your favorite princess?” Grace asks.

“Cinderella. She has the prettiest dress,” Ella replies. “Besides, her name has my name in it.”

Grace gives her a wide-eyed look. “It does, doesn’t it?”

Ella nods with a big grin.

Grace twists to look at Poppy. “And who is your favorite?”

“Rapunzel. I love when they put all the flowers in her hair.”

“Who is yours?” Ella asks.

“Mine is Jasmine. Do you want to know why?”

Both of them nod vigorously.

“She rides a magic carpet, and she has a pet tiger.”

Their eyes get big, and I grin to myself.

Grace lifts a brow at me. “And who is your favorite princess?”

“I can’t say anyone’s ever asked me that. I guess it would have to be Belle.”

“Why, Daddy?” Poppy asks. “Is it because she loves books, like me?”

“Sure. And because she falls in love with a beast.”

“That’s silly, Daddy,” Ella says.

“I love the Beast,” Poppy says. “He gives Belle a whole lie-berry.”

“That is an awesome gift, isn’t it?” Grace asks.

I watch in the rearview as my girls fall completely under her spell. And I have to admit, I think I’m falling under it, too.