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Cash doesn’t move toward me or away, just watches me. “The room okay?”
I nod slowly, as if my body is trapped in molasses. “Yeah. It’s beautiful. Cozy. Nice.” Too close to yours.
“The only other room in the house with a bed,” Cash says regretfully, glancing at the bed.
I look at it too, the heat building in my throat. This is even worse than how I felt when we were teens with the hormonal pining.
“The master bedroom doesn’t have—?”
“Cash!” Jesse, Cash’s brother, saunters into the room then stops dead. He’s shorter than Cash, but just as well-built. The Taylor brothers were the heartbreakers of Heatstroke for a good reason. “Well, smack my ass and call me daddy. June Jackson.”
“Smack your ass and call you what?” A pretty woman walks in behind him, her dark hair in glossy curls, her skin tanned like she just stepped off the beach. She’s wearing a sweeping skirt and a crop top, and she looks like she could be a model. Hannah Taylor is an effortless beauty and always has been. She’s five years younger than us, but she’s always been more mature than her brothers. “June! Oh my God, are you kidding me?”
“Jayjay’s back in action,” Jesse says, grinning.
“Oh, my God, Jesse, you’re so fucking cringe.” Hannah pulls a face. “Ignore him, June. He’s spent the better part of his boomer years trying to act like he fits in with the younger crowd at the bar. Sad.”
“Hey. I’m a millennial,” Jesse replies. “Get your facts straight.”
“That’s got to be the most boomer thing I’ve ever heard.”
I laugh and sweep Hannah into a hug.
Hannah holds my hands for a second afterward. “Wow. Can you say glow up? You look amazing, June.”
“No, you,” I say.
She laughs. “This is perfect. You’re back. You’re back in Heatstroke to save me from a fate worse than death.” Hannah presses the back of her hand to her head. “Boredom.”
“My turn,” Jesse announces.
He’s wearing a uniform, and I spot a deputy badge on his shirt before he sweeps me into a bear hug. “Jayjay!”
“That’s enough,” Cash snaps.
Jesse releases me but loops an easy arm around my shoulder. “Lighten up, brother. We’re just saying hello to an old friend.”
“What are you doing back in town?” Hannah asks. “Not that I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but I heard you were living the high society life in Dallas.”
I haven’t stopped smiling since the two of them entered the room. Until now .
“She’s going to be Alex’s nanny,” Cash says, saving me from further questioning.
“For real?” Hannah asks. “That’s awesome, June.”
“Yeah,” Jesse says, his tone deepening as he makes eye contact with his brother. “Awesome.”
Cash glares back at him.
“I heard about Mrs. Crouchbottom,” Hannah says, brushing a stray lock of hair back from her face. She reminds me of a modern Cindy Crawford with darker hair. “The doctor says it’s going to be months. We should take her some flowers sometime.”
“Cash already has,” Jesse says.
Another grimace from the grump, directed at his brother.
I hadn’t made a decision until now, but the warmth in this house is such a juxtaposition to how I feel living at home, that it’s almost instinctual to say yes. Especially when I have such history with the Taylor family. It won’t be that difficult to resist Cash. He’s just an old high school crush. I can put that behind me if it will help the Taylor family. They’ve lost so much, struggled so much. And then there’s Alex. She’s such a sweet girl, and I’m kind of worried about her after yesterday in the diner.
“So, you’re going to be the nanny?” Jesse prompts. “Like, a live-in nanny?”
