Page 74 of Moonlit Temptation
I glance at the ceiling. “I figured as much when I took her home. Which by the way, I never got a chance to thank you for that intentional miscommunication. I thought you were setting me up.”
“I was.”
“With a woman, I mean.”
She nods, eyes still glued to her book. “I was.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “No, Ma. Like for me to take her out or something.”
She looks at me, her gaze sharp. “Do you want to take her out?”
I drop my hand to my side, annoyance swiftly rising to the surface and overshadowing my common sense. “What? No. Why on earth would I want to date her?”
Ma's expression doesn't change. “Because she's a beautiful woman.”
I shift my weight to my other foot. “She's my nanny.” It comes out sharper than I intended, but I'm not taking it back now. Then she'll really know something's up.
“She's still a beautiful woman who seemed to enjoy your company,” she says.
“She's mynanny,” I grumble through my clenched jaw.
She shrugs, a small smirk brightening her face. She looks back at her book. “Alright.”
I start to feel uncomfortable, like I walked into a trap or something.
“What, Ma?”
She slides a bookmark in the open page and closes it, all while giving methat look. “Nothing, Silas. I'm just pleased that we finally agreed on someone.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded for a second until I replay what I said to her. Twice. I knew she was setting me up.
“Why are you pushing so hard? I told you I can make it work while you recover.”
“Because I'm having surgery in less than two weeks, Silas. And you've said no to every other person I brought you to watch Hunter. And despite the fact that you can make it work, you don't need to. That's so much extra stress that you don't need.”
I fold my arms across my chest and try not to look like the sullen child who just got scolded by their mom. Then I try the one angle that never fails. “Didn’t you say she was new to Rosewood? How do you know Hunter is safe with her? You don't even know anything about her.”
She sighs and dips her chin once. It's the best concession I'll get from her on this. “Sure, but I've known of her for years. She's one of Josephine Carter's granddaughters. And Silas?” She pauses, waiting for me to swallow my immediate disagreement. “She's been here for two days now. She's good with him. And he adores her.”
I cut a glare to the screen door, like I can magically see inside to the kitchen. “He loves everyone,” I grunt out.
It's not entirely true. Hunter's a personable kid, and while he generally gets along with everyone, there have been a few people he never warmed up to.
She tsks. “Not like this, honey. Not like this. Evangeline brought over art supplies and they made a summer adventure mood board. I've never seen him sit still for that long before. Not unless he was watching one of my movies,” she adds the last party dryly.
I guess I don't hide my distaste for Disney movies and musicals that well.
My chest tightens, my anxiety sparking as I think about the possibility of some stranger coming into my house to watch my son.
“Fine. But I'm going to run a background check on her tomorrow.”
She smirks. “You insult me, son. Like I didn't run one the moment I offered her the job.”
My own lips tilt up in the corners. “Of course you did. Two-week trial-run, then we'll see about the rest of the summer.”
Ma chuckles. “Don't tell me that. Go tell her.”
I adjust the brim of my ball cap, spinning it around to face the back as I exhale. It's fine. I'm just going in to talk to my son and his new . . . nanny. Evangeline.
