Chapter 9

Gabriel

I realize I’m staring at Skye Hendry. As I’ve just found out, moments before printing her resume. I don’t even have time to have a reaction because she’s here early; always a good sign. Now here she sits in front of me, looking and smelling like strawberry shortcake.

She’s a very attractive woman with strong features. Her skin is on the paler side, her hair a dark shade of red that looks natural, and then there are those green eyes. They’re fucking beautiful. I also try not to notice the cute freckles dotting her nose and cheeks, her lips full and perky as my eyes drop further. I try not to notice how well-groomed she is. Even her nails — painted a pretty shade of coral — are neat and tidy.

I’m fucking checking out my future nanny — get a goddamn grip, man!

This isn’t what I had in mind for someone new coming into my employ.

I don’t want to be attracted to my new nanny, but I know that looking at her now as she sits across from me, that’s exactly what I am. She’s hot.

But now I have the memory of humiliating her in the cafe.

My mind is supposed to be on Trinity and finding the best person to watch her while I’m at work, not crushing over the woman with amazing credentials and a degree in early childhood education.

I try to keep my focus on her eyes, and not let them dip down to her lips as she speaks.

I’m still trying to get over the fact that she”s Trav’s sister, and my vague memory of me being a nine-year-old barely remembers a little sister running around when Trav and I were trying to play video games. That was her?

I had no idea who she was the other day, and now I feel like a complete douchebag.

“Well then, welcome back to Stoney Creek.” Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Her eyes flick up and I see surprise behind them. I don’t know what she’s been led to believe by Georgia before I interrupted, but I could tell by their sheepish faces they were talking about me.

Not that there’s that much to tell. But I’m sure my sister left no stone untouched, telling her what a grumpy asshole I am.

I’ll need to pick a bone with her later if she knew about Skye’s identity all along — which I’m suspecting she did.

I was just a kid back then, so it’s not even like I remember her name; I haven’t even had a second to catch up with Travis.

“Thank you. It’s wonderful being back here. I’m staying with my grandparents for the summer.”

“Yes, I remember me and Trav going to their house back in the day.” I chuckle at the memory, then right myself. It’s not like I can’t relax a little — this isn’t supposed to be a hard-headed interview — but I don’t even know what’s happening right now. All kinds of weird shit are flying out of my mouth. Such as laughter.

“I’d love to say I remember it all back then, but I don’t,” she says. “But I’ve been back and forth on weekends over the years. I love the town, and the people.”

Pity we never met officially before now.

Getting back to her email, I say, “So you said you’re here just for the next six to eight weeks?”

“Yes, I’ll be heading back to North Carolina after that.”

“How are your folks?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest. It’s obviously been years since I’ve seen either of them.

“They’re good, thank you. I hope they’ll both come over to visit before I have to leave again.”

“I think Trav is going to be great for this town. You know Hank is my current nanny’s husband. They’re both retiring.”

“Quite a coincidence.”

“Isn’t it?” I shuffle the papers and look down at her resume. “So it says here you graduated from Chapel Hill University with your undergraduate in nursing?”

“Yes,” she says. “I worked as a nurse before I decided I wanted to go into teaching.”

“And then you studied at Pembroke as a teacher’s aide and completed an internship in the field?”

“That’s right. I wanted to work with kids more than anything, something I didn’t realize until I’d been nursing for a couple of years. I think being a teacher’s aide is a great place to start. I’ve done plenty of nanny jobs over the years to put myself through college. I have references on the back.”

“I saw that.” I flatten my hands out over the printout. It’s one of the best resumes I’ve seen in terms of the layout, as was her accompanying cover letter. “But the thing is, Skye…”

She blinks a couple of times as she looks up at me. I saw her eyes looking over the photos I have of Trinity on my desk. I wonder what she makes of this space I spend most of my time in.

“At the end of the day, I want what’s best for my daughter. I want the best person who I know I can trust. As you can imagine, being a single dad, my little girl means everything to me, and her happiness is paramount.”

“I totally understand.” She straightens her back, meaning business. “I met Trinity at the bake’ n’ shake on Saturday. She’s a beautiful little girl.”

My eyes shoot up. “Oh. Now you mention it, GB did say you stopped by. I was going to come over and say hello and see Travis. I thought he was there with your Gramps, but I got busy and then by the time I was free, he’d already left.” Why am I explaining myself?

“Yeah, they set up the gazebo and stayed to sample some treats, then left until it was time to pack up again,” she laughs.

“George said it raised even more than last year, over five thousand dollars.” That makes me proud of this community. We all pitch in when times get tough.

“That’s amazing. It was a real community feel. And I totally understand what you’re saying about your daughter. It can’t be an easy thing putting your trust into a stranger. I mean, I suppose you sort of know me…” She presses her lips together as she appears to get a little tongue-tied. What I don’t expect is my body’s reaction to her as my eyes drop to her perfect pout. I clear my throat as I feel my dick come to life. I’m hard as a rock. It’s a sad state of affairs that I’ve had a dry spell lately; the only fun I’ve had is between me and my palm. But now isn’t exactly the time to be thinking about that.

One thing I definitely do not need right now is getting a hard on during the interview for my daughter’s new nanny! I want to slap myself.

This is not going the way I expected it. Skye Hendry wasn’t meant to waltz in here and turn things upside down. I can’t say it isn’t a very welcome surprise, but still.

I think she’s going to be perfect, especially since she has already met Trinity. The fact I’m attracted to her will have to be between me, myself, and I.

“I’m pretty sure with your brother as the new sheriff and being friends with him pretty much my whole life, I’d say you’re trustworthy.” Why does everything I say sound like I have a stick up my ass?

I know how to talk to a woman. I just don’t know how to talk to this woman.

She smiles. She has such a pretty smile and a pretty face. I could look at it all day.

“I certainly hope so.”

“You’ll have to forgive me. I haven’t even offered you a drink.” I run my hand through my hair. I’m not used to a woman being in my office, other than GB and Celeste, and they don’t exactly count. I’m certainly not used to a beautiful woman like her that has my cock springing to attention uncomfortably in my boxer briefs.

I need to focus on something else and not how good she looks, or the skirt she wears, or her long legs in the heels. Or that she smells like peonies.

None of that matters… Her college degree in nursing and early childhood education is what I’m here for, and the fact my daughter made an impression.

“I’m fine. In fact, Georgia invited me to have a coffee after the interview,” she says.

I can only bet. GB will have her nose in no matter what, she can’t help herself.

I’m surprised I even got her to leave.

“She seems very sweet.”

“Well, you obviously don’t know Georgia.” I smile to myself. “She means well, and yes, she can be sweet. But she has a tendency to poke her dainty little nose into people’s business around here. You oughta be careful. You won’t know who she’s paired you up with until it’s too late.”

What the fuck am I even saying? What do I care who my sister is pairing her up with?

Her musical laugh has my eyes back on her again. “Indeed.”

“I mean, she loves all that woo-woo shit..” Clearing my throat, I ask, “Are you here with a partner or anything?”

Her eyes go wide. “Uh.”

“I only ask because I don’t allow people I don’t know around my daughter.”

“Understandable. But no, it’s just me. I’m single. No crazy exes or serial stalkers.” She laughs and then bites her lip. “Sorry… probably not the right thing to say.”

I try not to chuckle. She’s nervous. And why I feel relief in my chest about her saying she’s single is ridiculous.

My nanny is allowed to have a partner… but I’d prefer it if she didn’t. And I meant what I said about any strangers being around my child.

“That’s good to hear…” I think I should have slapped myself long ago. “And don’t be sorry. Listen…” We should address the elephant in the room. “About the cafe.”

She waves it off. “Really, it’s fine. I’m bad at serving, and I’m really just helping Aunt May until she can get someone more suitable.”

“So if I give you the job, it means you’ll be hanging up your apron strings?” This woman is bringing out a playful side in me I didn’t think I had anymore. The truth is, I don’t want her to hate her new boss. Because that’s technically what I am.

I can’t tell if she really means it; forgiving me for being my usual self that day in the cafe. But she’s perfect for the job, I know that much.

“I guess it does.”

“Did you have any questions about the position?” I haven’t really said too much about it, but I think it goes hand in hand.

“Yes, just if you need both before and after school care?”

“Mainly after school, but could be a morning here and there. Trin goes to kindy now three full days a week and one half day. I’m fine for getting her there most days. If you can do the pickup and after school care until I’m home from work, and the full day here when she’s not at kindy. I’m fine for the weekends because she can come into the office with me on a Saturday.”

“It sounds perfect,” she says. I hope she means it.

“Maybe you’d like to come over to the house and check it out? Then you can see what you’d be doing when Geraldine is here on Wednesday?” I say. “She looks after Trin Monday to Friday at the moment, as I’ve been swamped at work. I’d be happy for you to start straight away.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, did I get the job then?” Her laugh is playful.

I tap my pen against the blank pad. I planned on writing notes, but there really was no point. She outlined everything perfectly on her three page resume. Including the work experience she undertook at an early learning center in Pembroke, and an internship she did at a nearby primary school.

She has everything I’ve been looking for in a nanny, and having already met my little girl, I think this is going to work out perfectly. It’ll get me through the next few months until I can find someone more permanent.

I reach my hand across the desk to shake on it. “Yes, you did. Welcome to the family, Skye. I’m sure this is going to work out well for the both of us. Geraldine runs a tight ship but she’ll walk you through the routine.”

Here I am, the hotshot CEO of BBB Distillery, and I can’t even string my sentences together properly to the hot nanny.

“I’m happy to be on board,” she says, reciprocating my handshake. “And I promise no more coffee making.”

My lips curl in response. She’s cute when she’s being funny. I appreciate the sentiment, even if it is aimed at me.

She really wants this job, so that’s a bonus. She hasn’t even asked me about the going rate yet, which means I need to clarify.

“I’ll put a package together and email it over.”

“Okay, sounds perfect,” she says.

“Just bring your bank details on Wednesday and we can get started with the paperwork. I’ll send you details on how to find my house on the farm.”

“That all sounds amazing. Thank you, Gabriel.”

Holy shit. Her saying my name like that sounds like a fucking angel.

No, Gabe. No.

I clear my throat. “No problem. Thank you for coming in. I’m still taken back you’re Trav’s little sister, and you’re both back in Stoney Creek.”

“I guess you can take the girl out of the country, right?”

“There’s something about Stoney Creek that always draws people back.”

“That’s true. As soon as Trav got the job offer, I jumped at the chance to come visit our grandparents for the summer. It’s not often that we’re both in the same place together.”

“Try working here.” I attempt a joke, and she laughs. “I never stop seeing my entire family. Every. Single. Day.”

“It’s nice that you’re all close.”

“Thank God we all have different roles in the company. We couldn’t be treading on each other’s toes all the time. It’s bad enough having Hurricane Georgia only a few meters away.”

“And living on the same property, too.”

“At least there’s a few hundred acres that separate us all.” I can’t say I’ve ever been this forthcoming and carefree in an interview before, but she’s somehow made this whole thing feel like a breeze.

“Thank goodness for that.” She smiles warmly. “I’m really happy I can help out, Gabriel. It means a lot to me to be here and spend some time with my grandparents.”

An unexplained lump forms in my throat. Probably because we lost our grandparents a few years ago. Our dad’s father and his father before him established the distillery and brought the vision to life. Obviously, it’s evolved over the years, but we wouldn’t be anywhere we are now without the years of my grandparents’ hard work and foresight. “That’s an amazing thing,” I say with sincerity. “Family is everything.”

I edge my seat out, and she does the same.

She’s probably five foot seven, maybe she seems taller because of the heels, but as I round the desk again and she stands, I find myself looking down into those pretty eyes.

I should not be noticing how beautiful they are.

“It sure is.” She tucks her manilla file back into her oversized purse.

“I’ll show you out.” I reach to open the door.

So this could be very, very good, or it could go very, very badly.

I don’t know which yet, but one thing is for sure; I need to keep my attraction to her in check. Nothing good can come of inappropriate thoughts about the hot new nanny.

I dread even thinking about what my brothers are going to say about this one.

Brooklyn is sure to be the ring-leader on giving me shit. All I know is he better keep his hands off, in fact, any man better, and that definitely includes me.