Page 16 of Possessive Bodyguard Summer

“Does that mean you’ll take the nanny job?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m in.”

Clay seemed to visibly relax. “Good.”

He sipped his coffee. I drank some of my water. Both of us let the silence linger for a beat then Clay cleared his throat.

“So…what made you decide to move to Florida?”

I froze.Shit.I should have known he’d eventually ask. It was a simple enough question. Harmless even, but it set me on edge. An all too familiar feeling of fear and anxiety made my stomach turn. I couldnotthrow up right now.

I took another drink of water and blew out a breath. “Needed a fresh start.”

Maybe it was just my imagination but the way Clay was studying me, told me he didn’t completely buy that that was the full story. Thankfully, he didn’t push further. But, I had a feeling that at some point he would.

CHAPTER

SEVEN

CLAY

Three days.

That’s how long it had been since Monroe started working for me and I was already driving myself crazy inside. The first two days, we spent all of our time together going through Kaleigh’s routine and making sure that Monroe knew where everything was.

When Sloane called before the sun was up on the third day and said he needed all hands on deck, I had no choice but to leave Monroe on her own.

All day my thoughts kept drifting back to Kaleigh, and the woman with blonde hair that seemed to drop into our lives like an angel in disguise. I checked in via text as often as I could and every single time, Monroe replied almost immediately with a photo and brief update on what they’d been up to.

I still felt crazy for leaving Kaleigh with a relative stranger. But, I don’t think Monroe had a single clue how much her humoring every text meant to me. Otherwise, I don’t think I would havemade it the whole day without needing to rush home and see for myself that things were okay.

Pulling into the garage, I took a few deep breaths and gave Maverick a few scratches behind the ears. “We did it. Made it the whole day at work together. Felt good, didn’t it?”

Mav let out a singlewooflike he agreed with me.

“What do you say we go see what our girl is up to?” I asked.

His tail thumped against the seat.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I smiled and opened the truck door.

Maverick followed me in the house then beelined right past me before I could even kick off my boots.

“I’m home!” I called out.

A round of giggles echoed from the kitchen as a timer buzzed.

Both busy with their current mission, they barely even noticed me when I walked in.

Kaleigh was on a stool at the kitchen island; flour in her hair, all over her shirt and smeared on her cheeks. Monroe wasn’t fairing much better. But they were both smiling and laughing in a way that made them both look carefree and innocent.

Cookie cutters, rolled out dough and piles of fresh baked cookies covered the countertop.

Maverick sat with his ears perked back, waiting for the moment Kaleigh dropped even a crumb of the half eaten cookie in her hand.

“I see you two have been busy.”

“You’re home! How was work?” Monroe looked up and grinned like she’d been waiting for me. Maybe even looking forward to it all day.