Falling For The Nanny: The Billionaire's Baby SOS / The Nanny Bombshell / The Nanny Who Kissed Her Boss

“Now step away from the sink.”

“You really get into this role playing, don’t you?”

“Charlotte and I rarely lost a water battle.”

“Sounds like your childhood was fun.”

He said, “It was. But I’m still watching you. Put both hands up and step away from the sink.”

This time she let the gale of laughter roll out of her. She walked far enough away from the sink to appease him. “That was fun. That was really fun.”

Watching her warily, he set his cup on the sink. “Yeah, it was.”

She glanced down at herself. “Except I’m soaked.”

Following the line of her vision, he saw that her sodden T-shirt had molded to her, outlining her perfect breasts. The wonderful feeling of joy enveloping them suddenly shifted. It was clear she’d never had an ounce of fun as a kid and something inside him wanted to show her all of that. Show her how to have fun.

Him. The Iceman. He wanted to show somebody how to have fun.

He hadn’t thought about fun in twenty years.

Yet she made him want to have fun again.

And if that wasn’t confusing enough, looking at her, dripping wet and incredibly sexy, his definition of fun had morphed from water battles to adult games in his amazing shower. He wanted to make love but not in a serious, purely physical way. In a fun, joyful way.

He stepped back, cleared his throat. “You are wet. Why don’t you go upstairs first and get a shower? I’ll be up in a minute.”

She smiled like a happy child. “Yeah. Guess I should.”

She turned without another thought for the dishes or cleaning up the water they’d tossed at each other. But as Matt grabbed a mop—from a closet he found after searching around awhile—he told himself he didn’t mind cleaning up after their water battle.

He needed to be away from her for a few minutes. Not only had she awakened urges in him he hadn’t felt…well, ever. But also, water fighting with her reminded him of happier times. Magnificently simple times when he’d thought his sisters were his sisters. When there were no half anythings. And everybody loved a good water battle in the pool, the ocean or the bathroom.

He grinned stupidly. They were bad kids, but he’d loved that part of his childhood.

His grin faded. He missed his sisters. Not the adult versions, but the kids he used to play with.

A great ache filled his chest.

He missed being happy.

But when he finished cleaning the kitchen he went to his room and absently ambled into the bathroom; he forgot he had a guest. He found Claire brushing her teeth in front of one of the bowls of his double-bowl sinks and his thoughts swung back in the other direction.

In her pretty pink pajamas, with her little pink toes sticking out and her big brown eyes still shining with laughter, she was the epitome of that perfect mom he’d suspected she’d be. Happy. Filled with joy. Waiting for her husband to come to bed. So they could—

He jumped back. Not out of embarrassment that he’d walked in on her in the bathroom. But because that vision scared him. After Ginny, he always pictured himself alone—believed he deserved to be alone. Now in a few days one little slip of a woman had him thinking about family, kids, fun…and sex filled with emotion. Not just physical pleasure, but physical pleasure wrapped in a blanket of happiness.

This woman scared him.

“I’ll just go back out and wait until you’re finished.”

She spit in the sink. That alone should have had him running. Instead, it felt very natural, very normal.

“No. No. I’m just about done. You can come in.”

He hesitated, then walked in. This was ridiculous. How could one person change what you felt about everything? In four days? From Monday to Thursday? And could he really count Monday, since he hadn’t gotten to Dysart Adoptions until after four? It was ridiculous.

He ambled to the sink, got his toothbrush and rolled some paste on it.

Towel-drying her hair, she said, “So tomorrow, we interview nannies.”

He nodded.

“That should be easy. Especially after the water battle.”

She caught his gaze in the mirror and smiled at him. “Now, we both know you’re looking for someone fun. Someone who can play with Bella.”

Yeah, her. He was looking for her. She might not have played games as a child, but she knew how to play with Bella and she’d happily played with him. She longed to play. And he longed to teach her to play. To be happy. To be part of a family.