She bumped him with her hip and retrieved two glasses—well, bright pink plastic cups dotted with purple and yellow flowers from the dollar store, but close enough. Their fingers brushed when she handed him his cup, the contact sparking like static electricity.
He took a sip of the juice and made a face. Okay, fine. It was alittlepast its best-by date.
“Tell me the truth.” He took her cup and set them both back down on the counter. “You can’t read palms.”
A surprised laugh bubbled past her lips. “I’m not saying anything. That’s personal.”
He grasped her hip, her t-shirt bunching beneath his palm.His voice was warm and lush, like velvet slipping over heated skin. “I’ve been inside you multiple times in the last twelve hours, butthisis too personal?”
She pushed lightly at his chest and bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from smiling. “I’m very good at reading people. Whether that comes from their palms or—”
He cut her off with a kiss, so casual and chaste it caught her off guard. Like they did this all the time. But Jo had learned a long time ago not to wish for things she couldn’t keep, and a man as serious and put together as Derek definitely fell into that category. She turned away, flashing him a smile she didn’t entirely feel, and busied herself with pouring the orange juice down the drain.
The playfulness fell from Derek’s face and he shoved his hands into his pockets. “I should go. The band will be waiting for me, and I still need to find a nanny service.”
She carefully rinsed the cups. “I can’t imagine how much nannying in California must cost.”
“For three days plus nights? Four, at least.”
“Hundred?”
“Thousand.”
Jo dropped the cup she was holding, the cheap plastic clattering in the sink. She turned off the water and spun around to face him. “You’re going to pay someone four thousand dollars to watch your kid for three days?”
He cuffed the back of his neck, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. “Plus nights. They’ll have to stay with us at the resort. Round the clock care. It’s a lot to ask.”
“Hold on. Someone gets to spend three days playing with your kid at aresortin California, plus they get to stay in one of those fancy-ass hotel rooms, and you’re going to pay them four thousand dollars for the privilege?” Jo stared at him incredulously. Four thousand dollars would pay her rent for three months, and someone was going to earn that kind of money in threedayson what amounted to a vacation. “I’ll do it.”
His eyes snapped to hers. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I’ve been babysitting my friend’s daughter for over a year and—”
“I thought you were a bartender.”
“I am a model-slash-bartender-slash-nanny extraordinaire.” Jo shrugged. “Girl’s gotta eat.”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t know. That feels like crossing some kind of line.”
She planted a hand on her hip. “You’ve been inside me multiple times in the last twelve hours, butthisis crossing a line?”
He shook his head. “That’s just it, Jo. I’m not in the habit of sleeping with my daughter’s nannies.”
“I wasn’t her nanny then,” Jo said. Then, in a small voice, “I could really use the money.”
And if being his daughter’s nanny meant she also got to spend some more time with Derek—at a resort in sunny California, no less—that was icing on the cake.
“It would be easier than trying to find someone in California on shortnotice…”
“Exactly.” She stepped closer. “You already know I’m not a serial killer.”
“I don’t know that. You have a bookcase full of shoes.”
She waved away the comment. “Those are just the ones that are too beautiful to put in a closet. I have excellent references. I’m sure Tessa and Jamie would tell you I’m great with their daughter. The little squirt loves me.”
He paced away, dragging his hand over his jaw. “I must be crazy for considering this.”
Jo’s heart raced, but she was determined not to let him see how desperately she needed this job. “It’s perfect. You need a nanny and I just so happen to have an opening in my schedule.”