GRAY WOLF SECURITY, Texas: The Complete 6-Books Series

by Glenna Sinclair

  “Wait!”

  She paused, glancing over her shoulder at me.

  “Does she know about us? Does anyone know about us?”

  “Why would I tell anyone?”

  The wheels were spinning in my head. “Do you know anything about taking care of children?”

  She studied me for a long moment. “I was a live-in nanny for a year when I was a kid.”

  “Yeah? For who?”

  She seemed a little embarrassed by the question. She shifted on her feet, staring at the floor—what she could see of it through the clutter—as she answered.

  “The mayor in the little town where I lived and his wife. She was my English teacher and she needed help keeping track of her seven year old after school.”

  “You took care of him?”

  “I did.”

  “Do you know anything about SpongeBob or Baby Genius?”

  “My boss has a four year old. We hang out from time to time.”

  There was something about the way she said it. I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Would you be willing to make a deal with me?”

  She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip, reminding me of the way she bit her lip when she was on the verge of orgasm. I hadn’t been able to get the image out of my head these last few weeks since our night together. And seeing her now, seeing her do that…it was almost enough to drive every logical thought from my head.

  “What kind of deal?”

  “I won’t tell anyone what happened between us if you’ll take this job, but instead of reporting back to Julep, you keep an eye out for anything unusual going on in my house.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Julep’s not the only one with suspicions.”

  She watched me for a long second, the uncertainty suddenly leaving her face. She looked interested in a way she hadn’t before, her eyes taking in not only me but also everything around us. It was as if she was reassessing the situation with new perspective.

  “You’ll have to tell me what you think is going on. That might mean talking about your wife and your relationship with her.”

  That idea might have bothered another man, but I’d talked about Colby so much this last year that it seemed like it didn’t really matter adding another audience to the mix.

  “Okay.”

  “And this is professional. Everyone keeps their hands and feet inside the ride.”

  Again, I couldn’t help but smile at her choice of words. Or maybe it was just something about the way she said it.

  “Agreed.”

  She inclined her head. “And my boss doesn’t ever hear about our little night together.”

  “Never.”

  She studied me a moment longer, then nodded. “Okay. You have a deal.”

  ***

  Janis didn’t seem thrilled when I asked her to give my new nanny the paperwork required to be filled out before I could take her to the house and introduce her to the girls. I watched her lead the woman out of the room, realizing that I still didn’t know her name. We’d talked some that night, mostly just small talk. The only reason I knew she worked security is because she mentioned it at one point when I commented on how sufficient she was in certain physical maneuvers. The woman was impressively limber and in very good shape. I found myself quite impressed with some of the positions she was able to adopt. But I never bothered to ask her name because I never intended on seeing her again. Names just seemed to make things a little too intimate.

  Not that I knew how these things worked. I’d had all of one of these so-called one-night stands. This one. I went from my parents’ house to my dorm room to my wife’s house. Unlike Colby, I was faithful in my marriage. This woman—whatever her name was—was the first person I’d been with since. The first person I even considered being with. She was beautiful and sexy and…I needed to stop thinking about it. I needed to focus on the fact that Julep was sending spies to watch over my children.

  Julep began accusing me of murder the moment I called to tell her about Colby. It was the first words out of her mouth.

  “You son-of-a-bitch! I knew one day you would do this!”

  Colby was close to her mother, but not so close that she ever told the woman the truth. If she had, maybe Julep wouldn’t have been so quick to accuse me of murder.

  I looked around my office, thinking that it was a perfect illustration for my life. Utter chaos.

  Janis walked in and silently set the paperwork on my desk.

  “Are you sure about this? These kids—”

  “I’m sure.”

  I picked up the papers, scanning over them. Knox Adams. Her name was Knox.

  Another southern woman. Great.

  I could feel Janis’ eyes on me. I looked up and forced a smile.

  “Have a good evening, Janis.”

  “Dunlap—?”

  “Please, Janis. I know what I’m doing.”

  She inclined her head just slightly and walked away, pulling the door closed almost silently. I’d worked with Janis for six years. Sometimes she thought she was my mother or something. And as much as I appreciated her concern and the intense help she offered here at the office, sometimes it was annoying. I left my mom back in Illinois. I didn’t need another.

  I finished up what I’d been doing at my desk and gathered the paperwork that would have to be addressed tonight, shoving it into a battered old briefcase I’d carried since college. Colby bought me a new one every year, but this one just felt right.

  “Ready?” I asked, as I stepped out the door and found Knox lounging in the alcove, leaning back against the wall with a magazine between her hands.

  “Yeah.”

  She dropped the magazine and wiped her hands on her ass. I walked out ahead of her, pausing when one of my architects stepped out of his office as we passed to ask a question. It took us a few minutes to get to the front door, but Knox was patient, as everyone seemed to need to ask me a question on the short walk down the corridor.

  “You have a car, I assume.”

  “I do.” She pointed across the street to the public lot. “The black SUV.”

  “How cliché.”

  I didn’t really mean to say it, but it slipped out before I could stop myself. To my surprise, she laughed.

  “It is a little bit,” she agreed.

  “How about you follow me to the house?”

  “Okay.”

  I found myself glancing in the rearview mirror more often than necessary as I drove home. She stayed right behind me, her petite form made smaller by the massive size of the SUV. I caught her singing along with the radio once or twice—and that made me smile. I wasn’t the only one who did that.

  We pulled into the drive and Shawna appeared on the doorstep almost immediately. She was frantic, worried about missing her flight. I’d forgotten that I was supposed to be home half an hour ago.

  “Hey,” I said as I walked up the front steps. “Sorry.”

  “They’re in the playroom drawing pictures. They’ve had their dinner, but they haven’t had baths yet.”

  “Okay.”

  Shawna stepped back inside the house and grabbed her bags. “Thanks,” she said, her face red, as she rushed past me, pausing to kiss my cheek. “For everything.”

  I turned to watch her go and found myself focusing on Knox instead. She’d climbed out of the SUV and was leaning against the grill, watching us. Or watching Shawna, more like it. Shawna was a tall, heavy girl with impossibly long, blond hair that she liked to keep in a braid. She looked like she belonged on a ranch instead of in a suburban home. Shawna glanced at Knox, too, smiling at her with this look that a man would recognize anywhere.

  I’d always suspected Shawna leaned that direction. And who could blame her for admiring Knox? She was a fucking knockout.

  Knox inclined her head toward Shawna, then pushed away from the car and came sauntering up to where I was standing. The only thing missing was the leather jacket to complete her super-cool look.
She had her fingers in her front jeans pockets and was walking in those roman-style sandals like she was Cleopatra. Like before, my cock began to stiffen as I watched her. No woman had ever had that sort of power over me before.

  My mind went back to the first time I saw her, dancing on that crowded floor with every man who offered. I’d wanted to go out there and make her mine, but I would have had to wait in line and I wasn’t that kind of guy. But then she came to the bar, flirting with me, and I couldn’t resist.

  But then I had to go and mention my wife.

  Colby was in everything I did. Still.

  “I’ll show you around the house, then take you upstairs to meet the girls.”

  She gestured for me to go first.

  “It’s an impressive place,” she said as we walked through the front door.

  “Designed it myself.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. It’s one of the first projects my crew took on.”

  “A little self-indulgent, isn’t it? Having your company build your house?”

  “Couldn’t think of anyone I trusted that much.”

  She giggled a little. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  I walked her through the first floor—open-concept kitchen and living room combo, study, and formal sitting room—then up the stairs to the girls’ playroom and the nursery.

  “There’s a guest bedroom there. That’s where Shawna was staying, but I haven’t had a chance to get it cleaned up. You can take the other room,” I said, pointing across the hall to another guest bedroom.

  “No, this is fine,” she said, peeking inside Shawna’s room. “Closer to the nursery.”

  “That’s how Shawna felt, too.”

  I hesitated with my hand on the doorknob to the playroom. I could feel Knox watching me, but I couldn’t make myself open it just yet.

  “My kids are everything to me,” I said, glancing back at her.

  She crossed her arms over her full breasts, covering Paul, John, George, and Ringo’s faces. “I understand that,” she said softly.

  “I just…I don’t—”

  “I get it.” She reached up, pushing a piece of red hair out of her face. “The night we met, I don’t suppose I gave you the best impression of me. But this is a job and I take my job extremely seriously.”

  “It’s not about that. I just want to make sure you understand that if anything happens to my girls, I can’t promise how I’ll respond.”

  “No problem. I understand completely.”

  She seemed genuine. A part of me wanted to take her at her word, but there was this doubt that was rooted in experience that told me that trusting a stranger—trusting anyone—was a bad idea. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t exactly change my mind now.

  I opened the door and Stevie immediately squealed, rushing to jump into my arms. This had to be the very best part of the day. No matter what was happening in my life, no matter how many disappointments I’d had, I always knew I could come home and this little girl would treat me like I was king of the universe. It was…awesome.

  Stevie was six. She had me wrapped around every one of her little fingers.

  Mattie was in her play yard, calling out to me in her soft little voice. I walked over with Stevie completely attached to my hip and knelt down so that Mattie and I were on the same level.

  “Hi, Mattie girl. How was your day?”

  She patted my cheek, giggling.

  “Were you a good girl for Miss Shawna?”

  “She had a leaky diaper,” Stevie informed me. “Very stinky.”

  “That’s okay. She can’t help it.”

  “I know.”

  I glanced back at the door. Knox was watching us, her expression unreadable. I stood, about to turn to take Stevie to meet her, but Mattie started to cry. I shifted Stevie over a touch and then scooped Mattie up with one arm. She snuggled up against my shoulder, her teeny, fourteen month old’s body warm and delicate.

  “Girls, this is the new nanny. Her name is Knox.”

  Stevie buried her face against my chest, but Mattie didn’t seem to mind meeting someone new. She giggled again, reaching her hand out to Knox. Knox immediately took it, holding it for a second before letting go.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss Mattie.”

  Mattie giggled again, laying her head sleepily on my shoulder.

  “And you must be the awesome big sister I’ve been hearing so much about,” she said, turning her attention to Stevie. “The one who takes such wonderful care of her little sister.”

  Stevie peeked at her. “Who told you that?”

  “Your daddy. And the nice lady who works at his office.”

  “Janis,” Stevie said with an air of superiority.

  “Yes, that’s her.”

  “I help Janis at the office sometimes.”

  “Yeah?”

  “When Shawna had to go to class, I helped Janis at the office. But now Shawna has to leave.”

  “I know. But that just means that you and I get to spend a little time together.”

  “You’re a stranger,” Stevie said in her sweet but still a little baby-ish voice. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

  “I am a stranger. But hopefully you and I can get to know each other and become friends so that we’re not strangers anymore.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Why don’t we go downstairs and we can show Miss Knox where everything is.”

  Stevie wiggled free of my arms, rushing toward the door. “I know everything about this house!” she called over her shoulder.

  “Slow down, Stevie!” I called after her, but she was already gone.

  Knox and I exchanged a look. I felt slightly better about leaving her alone with my children, but that was just the first meeting. I’d have to see how she dealt with Mattie when she woke in the middle of the night, ready to play, or with Stevie when she decided she could run the dishwasher by herself.

  I gestured for Knox to lead the way. We arrived back down stairs; Stevie already in the kitchen pulling vegetables and leftover chicken from the fridge.

  “We have to make Daddy his dinner,” she announced.

  “Stevie, maybe that can wait a while,” I said.

  “No, she’s right. Daddy should have his dinner.” Knox winked at me as she went over to the counter and watched Stevie take more out of the fridge. “What are we making?”

  “Daddy likes chicken salad.”

  Knox smiled. “Well, then, we should make him chicken salad. What can I do to help?”

  Stevie thought about that for a long moment. “Well, I’m not supposed to use a knife, so you can help cut up the veggie-tables.”

  “Okay. I can do that.”

  Knox dug right in, locating a cutting board and a proper knife before she began slicing the tomato into cubes. Stevie gave her instruction in a running commentary that made me laugh. I felt like I should do something, but Mattie was rubbing her eyes, clearly in need of her evening bottle. I grabbed that and warmed it up, settling at the butcher block island to feed it to her while the two ladies made my dinner. Knox was incredibly patient with Stevie, taking everything that fell out of her mouth with all the seriousness of a student listening to her teacher.

  It was pretty cool.

  “All done!” Stevie announced, just as Mattie finished her bottle, her eyes big and wide with fatigue. Stevie set the plate in front of me, and I bit my lip, trying not to show my amusement at the messy, disorganized plate of food.

  “The tomatoes are better under the lettuce,” Knox informed me as I studied the food. “And the chicken can’t possibly be on top of the lettuce because it might make it all yucky.”

  “Of course.”

  “And the cheese has to be with the chicken to keep it company.”

  That one nearly choked me up. I glanced at my daughter and the pride that just shown from her gorgeous gray eyes and I nodded.

  “Perfect.”

  Stevie clapped her hands. “Does
that mean I get a reward?”

  “Of course. The cookies are under the—”

  “I know!”

  Stevie ran over to the counter and quickly climbed up, grabbing the cookies I thought I had hidden well under the can of tea. Apparently, not well enough.

  “Did you make yourself some?” I asked Knox. “You must be starving.”

  “I stole a couple of chunks of chicken.” She leaned close. “Just don’t tell my boss.”

  “Of course not.”

  Laughter was dancing in her green eyes, the sight of it doing something to my sense of balance. I reached out to touch her, but Mattie shifted in my arms and I realized what I was doing seconds before I did it. I quickly turned my attention to my fork, taking a bite of the chaotic salad.

  “Mmmmm, that’s awesome, Stevie.”

  Stevie was already lost in the cookies. I’m not even sure she heard me.

  Knox came around the island and slipped the baby out of my arms, resting her expertly on her shoulder. The baby snuggled close to her, already in a deep sleep.

  I watched Knox run her hand over Mattie’s dark hair, her pale fingers a stark contrast to my daughter’s silky curls. Did Colby ever touch Mattie that way? I searched my memory, trying to remember, but I couldn’t. I remembered her leaning against Stevie’s crib once, reaching down to touch her back to see if she was breathing properly, but I couldn’t remember her ever doing that with Mattie. In fact, I had no memory of her touching Mattie at all.

  And that was sad.

  I turned back to my salad and was about to lift another bite to my mouth when the doorbell rang. I groaned, wondering who would be stopping by this late in the evening.

  “I’ll get it!” Stevie called, rushing from the room before anyone could react

  “Stevie…”

  I got to the foyer just as Stevie pulled the heavy door opened. A man stood there, dressed in a dark pair of slacks and a white oxford—a manila envelope in his hands.

  I knew what it was before he said a word. This wasn’t my first round at this particular rodeo.

  “Mr. Spencer? Dunlap Spencer?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ve been served.”

  Chapter 4