I shake my head. “I don’t get it.”
“You’re a big guy,” Dave says. “You’ve got the cowboy hat and the muscles, and you probably love working this ranch. I’m not built that way. I’m a nurturer. Imagine if every man wanted to be a cowboy. Humanity should consider itself lucky that we don’t all have the same aspirations. Do you have any actual questions for me about infant care?”
“I think we’re done here,” I say. “I have your application from the agency. We’ll be in touch.”
Dave shakes my hand and leaves, head hanging. He knows as well as I do I won’t be hiring him.
Amber stands with her arms crossed, looking pissed. “You’re ruling him out because he’s a man?”
“It’s weird.”
“What do you care, Quinn? You’ve said a thousand times you don’t want this, so what’s the big deal with who watches her?”
I look at Josie, sleeping in the swing. I don’t care. I don’t. I just think she deserves someone… motherly.
Amber motions to the door. “And he’s a far notch better than the woman who reeked of cigarettes but claimed she doesn’t smoke.”
He throws his hands up. “Fine. If the next one doesn’t work out, we’ll call him back. Happy?”
“Yes.”
On cue, there’s a knock on the door. Amber answers, and in walks an attractive young woman. “Hi,” she says jubilantly. “I’m Sophie, better known as ‘Sosi’ to the toddlers. Nice to meet you.” She beelines to Josie in the swing. “Your baby is adorable. Six weeks?”
“How’d you know?” I ask.
“This isn’t my first rodeo, cowboy.”
Amber’s eyebrows shoot up.
“This is Josie,” I say. “You should know this is most likely a temporary gig. Three weeks, maybe.”
Josie wakes. Sophie asks, “May I?” I nod. She picks her up and talks to her in some barely recognizable baby language. “Don’t you just love that baby smell?”
“I… I wouldn’t know.”
Amber scans Sophie’s resume. “It says here you’ve worked for four families? That seems like a lot considering how young you are.”
“I’m twenty-two,” she says. “Legally, I don’t have to tell you that, but I don’t care. I started nannying when I was eighteen. It was my neighbor’s kid. When they moved away after two years, they referred me to a friend of theirs who’d had a baby. I was Josh’s nanny for eighteen months before his parents started working from home and realized they didn’t need a nanny. Since then, I’ve worked mostly part-time for two other work-from-home families. You have no idea how hard the nanny business was hit by the pandemic. I could really use this job.”
Josie fusses. “Want me to take her?” Amber asks.
“No. That’s what I’m here for.” She pulls some brightly colored toys from her bag. “Don’t worry, they’ve been sanitized. Look at this, Josie. Do you like this pretty orange one?” She puts the toy up to her hand and Josie grabs it and flails it around. “I think she likes it.”
“So no formal education?” Amber asks.
I laugh to myself. How the tables have turned. Amber doesn’t like the fact that Sophie is young and beautiful.
Sophie spends the next twenty minutes explaining how she reads books on childcare, attends nanny conferences, and takes infant CPR and first-aid classes every year. She hands over an extensive list of references and says she’s willing to work any hours we need, up to the forty the agency allows.
I ask, “You wouldn’t care if one day was nine to five and the next was noon to seven?”
“My schedule is wide open. Oh, hey, I cook too. I’d be happy to make food for everyone if I’m here over suppertime.”
I stand. “You’re hired. Can you start right now?”
Amber shoots me a look. “A moment, Quinn?”
“Excuse us,” I say, walking behind Amber into the kitchen.
She leans against the counter. “Don’t you want to check her references?”
“I’m sure the agency already did that, but go ahead if you want to. In the meantime, she seems perfect, and she’s here and willing to work anytime we need her.”
Amber peeks into the other room. “She’s perfect all right.”
I chuckle and pull her against me. “You know what the best thing about having a nanny will be?”
She pouts. “What?”
I lean down and whisper in her ear. “It means I can take my time with you.” He moves me aside and reaches into the refrigerator for some chocolate sauce. “It means I can lick this off your body and not have to worry about the baby screaming. It means I can put my fingers inside you and find the spot that makes you shout my name.”
A slow breath leaves her lips. She takes my hand and pulls me to the living room. “Sophie, welcome to Devil’s Horn Ranch. Josie’s stroller is right over there. We’d like you to take her for a walk. There are some paved paths around the stables and arena. Stop and watch the horses if you’d like. Josie loves horses. I introduced them all to her by name. I think she may be a cowgirl in the making. Come back in…” She looks at me.
“An hour,” I say.
“Is it okay if I take a bottle of water to mix with her formula in case she gets hungry?”
“Of course,” Amber says. She races to the kitchen, fills one up, and hands it to Sophie. “And take the diaper bag in case you need to change her.”
Sophie looks between us, surprised we’re practically pushing her out the door. “Okay then, we’ll be back in one hour. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you then.” Amber closes and locks the door behind them and jumps onto me. “You were saying?”
I hold her by the ass and pull her against me. “Jesus, woman. If I knew hiring a nanny would get you this turned on, I’d have hired Smoky the Bear two hours ago, and I’d be balls deep inside you already.”
“I hope you have a sweet tooth, because you’re about to get a huge fix of chocolate.”
I carry her to the kitchen, put her down, and kiss her. She goes for my belt, but I push her hand away. “Hold on now. We’ve got a whole hour. No need to rush. I’m tired of the quickies we’ve fit in over the past few days.” I push back the hair on either side of her head and gaze into her eyes. “I’m going to take this slow. I’m going to build you up so much that by the time you come, they’ll hear you scream my name all the way over at the lodge.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Do you know how much I love it when you shout my name?” I nibble on her neck. “I love it when my dick is inside you when you come, and you squeeze it with your tight walls.” I reach under her shirt, move her bra aside, and pinch her nipple. “I love it when I suck on these and you squirm beneath me.”
I tease her with my words, my kisses, my touch.
“Will you fuck me already?” she yells when she can’t take it anymore.
I laugh. “And there’s my girl. I’ve missed your filthy mouth.”