Page 8 of The Dragon’s Accidental Manny

Bea held it between them before Isla gave a nod and the older sister took a bite. She made a face as she chewed, and we all stared at her.

“You can do it,” Jack shouted and clapped.

Bea finally swallowed the bacon and washed it down with a glass of water.

“So you guys have a dog or dogs?”

“No.” Jack had finished his food and was now pretending to fly around the kitchen. He grinned. “But we have hot dogs.”

“Just one dog, perhaps? A big one?”

“No.” Isla was picking out the blueberries from the pancake. “Dad’s beast isn’t fond of dogs.”

Bea swung around and glared at her sister. Isla gulped and laughed, saying they called their dad a beast ‘cause he was cranky in the mornings.

“Is he?” Jack asked. “No, he is my daddy who gives me cuddles.”

“Morning.” Price sauntered into the kitchen, and for a man with three kids, a job, and a large estate to oversee, he looked pretty damn good. He was wearing suit pants with the jacket slung over his shoulder. There was neither a salt nor a pepper hair out of place, and he was sporting the biggest grin.

I froze under his gaze and didn’t know where to look. That smile that lit up his face, those broad shoulders, and his distinctive cologne that reminded me of the rugged outdoors left me lost for words. I gulped and studied the pile of pancakes.

“Something smells amazing.”

“Dead bacon.” Bea offered her father the plate. Their eyes met before he took a piece and ate it. He didn’t appear to suffer as Bea had, though I could have sworn he was faking that grin.

“I just got off the phone with Meara.”

I gripped the island, preparing myself for not only not having this job but being banned from the agency because I had no sense of direction and couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag, as my dad used to say. But if I couldn’t stay here, it wouldn’t just be the loss of a possible income that upset me. Leaving this man, who I’d only met yesterday, wouldn’t be a thanks and goodbye. Whatever this pull was that had me gravitating toward him, would sever, and it’d be painful.

“Meara sends her regards and she'll email the contract.” He poured me a coffee, and I took note of his slender fingers wrapped around the mug. “You’re ours now.”

My head shot up at him calling me “ours.” He was talking about the job, not that I was theirs or his. I tried not to think about what it would be like being this man’s partner and sweated more than I had been.

“You weren’t placed with anyone yet, and you were just supposed to chat to Ledger and shadow him. And the candidate she’d lined up for us, she’s sending to another family up the road.”

“I’m hired?” It sounded too easy, and I was worried that saying it out loud would break the spell.

“Yes. There’s a trial period to start, much like other placements.” Price paused and added, “Assuming you survive us.”

I had room and board coupled with a salary. Oh my gods, I wanted to kiss the guy, but that would be inappropriate, much worse than telling my former boss his logo sucked. Yesterday I’d been rationing gas and ironing a shirt on the back seat, and now I had a home and a job.

I put my hands behind me and clenched them, tamping down the desire to plant my lips on someone, anyone.

Price ran over the details of the job, and I tried to look like a professional and not a man who’d nearly kissed his new boss. Most mornings he’d run the kids to school on the way to work, but on the days he worked from home or was on a business trip, that would fall to me.

“Can you drive?” Isla asked the question, but all three children put their faces on the window and studied my car. If I could match words to their expressions, they’d have read, That’s debatable.

“I can. Berty and I have been everywhere together.”

They glanced over their shoulders at me with blank expressions.

“My car. His name’s Berty.”

They responded with a collective, “Oh.”

The rest of the day would mostly be mine. The pending contract stated I couldn’t have a second job with someone else during the day, but there was nothing to stop me from picking up online freelance jobs from home.

“I can fly.” Jack was standing on a stool, readying to climb on the island, but I whisked him off.