Misadventures with a Manny Read online

I pass the time playing on my phone until I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I stand up just as all three boys enter the kitchen. While Charlie favors Vera with his dark hair and darker eyes, the twins are lighter, which I assume is from their father. I haven’t met him, nor do I want to from what I’ve heard. How anyone could hurt or cheat on someone like Vera is beyond me.

  “Hey, Linc.”

  “Hey, guys,” I say, slapping my hands together. “Listen, it’s cereal today. I’ll go shopping after I drop you guys off.”

  Elliot makes a face. “French toast tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He sends me a grin as he goes to get the cereal he wants. I lay out three bowls and then the milk, getting acquainted with everything.

  “I’m glad Mom hired you,” Charlie says, and I glance over at him from the fridge. “The last nannies were awful.”

  I smile. “I heard you guys weren’t too nice to them, though.”

  “’Cause they sucked,” Charlie answers, and I hold his gaze.

  “Hey, watch your mouth, please.” I can see the challenge in his eyes; he wants to fight me on it, but he just looks away. “You don’t want to sound like a crappy kid. Especially when you’re not.”

  I see the twins glance at Charlie, probably waiting for him to say something, but he doesn’t. He goes back to eating. Looking back in the fridge, I write a few more things down before I ask, “How long is practice tonight?”

  “Two hours,” Elliot says.

  “Will you be there?” Louis asks with cocoa from his Cocoa Puffs on his face.

  I smile. “Yeah, I’ll stay the whole time.”

  “Our dad usually comes on Wednesdays.”

  “He does?”

  Looking toward the entryway of the kitchen, I feel like I’m being knocked to my ass. In a pair of black slacks and a white sheer top, Vera puts a pair of earrings in as she eyes the boys. Her hair is halfway up, her makeup done to the nines, but all I can look at is the dip of her blouse, which shows the curve of each of her beautiful breasts.

  She’s your boss. Boss. Employer. Look the other way.

  But I can’t.

  My mouth is dry as Charlie says, “Yeah.”

  “Oh,” she says, looking worried as she comes toward me, her red heels sky-high as she moves past me to the coffee pot. “I’ll need to call him today and let him know I hired a new nanny.”

  “Manny!” Elliot says.

  I wink over at him.

  “Yes, manny,” she says dryly. I can see the hesitation on her face. She doesn’t want to call her ex-husband. Can’t say I blame her. “Are you guys ready to go?”

  They each agree in their own ways, and I glance at Vera. She meets my gaze, and I smile. She doesn’t smile back. Instead she watches me; her eyes are a bit darker as I ask, “Is there anything you need?”

  “Need…” she says, her words a gasp.

  I nod. “From the store?”

  She blinks. “Oh, no. I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “Okay, you have my number, right?”

  “I don’t.” She reaches for her phone, and we exchange numbers. “Thank you.”

  “Of course. I’ll send you updates.”

  “Oh, thank you.” She seems a little surprised by that. I can’t ask why, because then her gaze meets mine, and her eyes are downright sinful. There is a little tilt to them, brought out by her eye makeup. Her lashes are long and full, but it’s the flakes of gold in her eyes that have me breathless. The fact that I am this attracted to her should have me running for the front door. I shouldn’t chance this. I should quit and then ask her out. Though, I’m pretty sure she’d never go out with me.

  She’s damaged.

  Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that.

  Running my tongue along my lips, I say, “Call me if you need anything.”

  I swear I see her take in a quick breath, and I also swear heat is radiating off her, but I’m sure it’s just wishful thinking.

  Nothing will ever happen between us.

  No matter how much I want it to.

  She looks away as she nods. “Okay.”

  “Cool,” I say, though I’m pretty sure she won’t be calling me for what I want.

  Only about the job I was hired for.

  VERA

  Richard’s office is right next to mine, so I don’t have to go far before shutting my door and heading toward my desk. I sit down and let my head fall to the desk, inhaling deeply and squeezing my eyes tightly. That meeting was awful. The look of pure disappointment in his eyes and my feelings of failure are not how I wanted to start my morning. Jesus, is he considering asking me to step down? Damn it. I work so hard for him, and yes, I’ve been dropping the ball. But I’ve been going through a lot.

  But I guess in this business, personal lives don’t matter.

  Swallowing back my tears, I sit up and look around my posh office. I used to have a desk outside Richard’s office, but now, this is all mine. The room is lined with windows, giving me an amazing view since we’re on the sixty-seventh floor. But I can’t even enjoy the view after the meeting. Not with the weight of the world on my chest.

  I have to call Simon.

  And I really don’t want to.

  So I won’t. Not yet at least. The boys don’t have to be at practice until four, so I have plenty of time before I have to call him. The anxiety of dealing with Simon is choking me at the moment. I haven’t talked to him since he told the boys that Kaia is pregnant. Ugh. The thought has my stomach in knots. How he’s moved on so drastically and is starting a new family just guts me. It is one thing when he was sleeping with women to get off, but this time, it isn’t some meaningless fuck; it is serious.

  He is starting a new family.

  Swallowing hard, I wake my computer from its sleep, but before I can even open my first of a billion emails, my assistant Ronda comes over my line. “Ms. Woods, your sister is on line one.”

  “Thank you.”

  I don’t have time to talk to her, but she is my sister. I would make time. Her voice rings over the line. “Hey, you.”

  “Hey, what are you up to?”

  “I just had my doctor appointment, and baby girl is doing great!”

  I smile as I click through my emails, jotting down the things I have to take care of as soon as possible. “That’s wonderful. Can I call you later? I’m swamped.”

  “Yeah, but how’d it go this morning? Was Lincoln on time?”

  “Yes, right on time,” I say, and then I’m flooded by thoughts of my new “manny’s” gray eyes. Lord, they are intoxicating. “He gets along with the boys well.”

  “Oh yeah, he’s great with kids.”

  “Well, I know that, but he told Charlie to watch his mouth this morning, and with how he’s been lately, I thought he’d pop off, but Charlie didn’t say anything.”

  “Told you. He’s gonna be great for you guys.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I say, though I’m not convinced. Or rather, I don’t want to accept that, since all I can do is picture the man naked and on top of me. All night long I thought of him and those eyes. I swear I could feel his beard along my skin and between my legs. His eyes meeting mine as he moved his tongue along my clit, squeezing my hips in his hands.

  It all seemed so real.

  But it was just a dream that had me tossing and turning all night.

  Shaking my head, I groan. “I just wish he wasn’t so good-looking.”

  Her laughter fills my office. “You’re insane.”

  “No really. Every time he looks at me, I think he’s undressing me with his eyes, and then when he says certain things, they’re all sexual and shit.”

  Her laughter continues. “They are not!”

  “They are! This morning, he goes ‘Do you need anything?’”

  “How is that sexual?” She laughs, and I smile.

  “It is as if he is saying, ‘Do you need me to go between your legs?’”

  “You’re insane!” she says a