RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny (Loose Ends Book 1)

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

  Sloan would have killed Rafe if he let them go in the pool with their freshly done braids. The elaborate low pigtails were slicked down with what she made sound like a gallon of gel. She’d given him a quick tutorial on how to smooth down their parts if needed, but he couldn’t smooth down a dunk in a pool.

  He’d let them buzz around the driveway on their scooters until they were out of breath and then fed them Italian for dinner. They were both listing a bit to the left by the time their bath rolled around. He knew they’d be out cold as soon as they hit their pillows. Just as they finished brushing their teeth, he heard the door downstairs slam closed.

  “Hello?” Sloan called up the stairs.

  “Mommy!” Avery spun on her heels and bolted out of the bathroom. Addison hung back, seemingly waiting for him.

  “You alright?” he asked, taking her little hand. She adjusted her pink shower cap with the other.

  “I’m just exhausted,” she said with a dramatic sigh.

  “I get it. You’ve had a busy day. Let’s go say hi to your mom.” Out in the hallway, Avery was already telling Sloan about their day. “Hi, baby.” Sloan kissed Addison on her cheeks. “Oh, you smell so good. Come on. Let’s get your pjs on,” she added, directing the party into their bedroom.

  “Mommy, will you put lotion on my back?” Addison asked.

  “Of course I will. I want to hear more about your day.”

  “I got to help hand out the crayons. And we both got stickers for sharing because we shared with Marlin and Seth. They’re our new friends. They sit at our table.”

  “New friends and stickers. That sounds like a great day.”

  “Seth is having a birthday party and he invited the whole class. Can we go?”

  “Of course you can.”

  “Can we have a party for the class for our birthday? I asked Rafe, but he said we had to ask you,” Avery said.

  Rafe saw the horror in Sloan’s eyes as she scrambled to come up with a quick answer. He knew the standard, invite one kid you gotta invite them all, but he also knew what Sloan was picturing. Twenty-some odd kids and their parents filling up her house, testing the safety of her pool deck. He’d be there to help out though, and maybe he could kick Gracie a few bucks to pitch in. “Uh, I guess. Sure. That should be fun.”

  Rafe hung around through story time, then said his goodnights, leaving Sloan to get a little extra cuddle time in with her girls. He cleaned up the bathroom, threw in a load of laundry and started the dinner dishes when Sloan came into the kitchen. She’d changed into a loose pair of sweatpants and one of those skin-tight tank tops with the thin straps. She’d twisted her braids up in a pile on top of her head. A real casual look, but Rafe wanted to rip her clothes off.

  It didn’t help his hard-on that her tits looked fucking amazing under the dark pink fabric. It showed off the outline of her hard nipples perfectly. He held back a sigh of relief when she walked right over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He’d spent the whole day working real fucking hard not to pine after her like a teenager. He’d failed, but there was an attempt. Leaning down, he kissed her on the temple. She smelled like citrus. She nuzzled closer and sighed.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”

  “You hungry?” he asked.

  “Did you cook?”

  “Shit yeah, I did. Spinach lasagna.”

  “Oh, that sounds so good. It’s in the fridge?” she asked, heading in that direction.

  “Middle shelf.”

  “Score.” Sloan fixed herself a plate while Rafe cleared out the sink, then they both grabbed a seat at the island.

  “How was your day?” Rafe asked as she washed down her first bite with some water.

  “It was...hard.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “We’re operating on this girl tomorrow. She’s twenty-two. We’re doing a valve replacement. It’s gonna be fine, but she is terrified. We walk her and her parents through the procedure, answer all of their questions and she just loses it. Not screaming, but so many tears. Like tears just leaking out of her face and it wasn’t so much jarring as it was sad. I could see how genuinely scared she was in her eyes. It’s—there’s this thing there where people fear something worse than death.”

  “Yeah, that fear of the unknown.”

  “Yes! People generally aren’t excited to be operated on, but I just felt awful because she was so, like, distressed. I guess I just have to make sure I don’t fuck up royally.”

  “You won’t.”

  “I know. I’m that good.”

  “See.”

  “No, I work with a dream team. We’ve got it under control. Also, work kept my mind off thinking about how I can install cameras in Mrs. Brown’s classroom. I was freaking out so bad I called my mom after you dropped me off.”

  “See, that fear of the unknown hits us all. When I went for pickup, Mrs. Brown said they had a great day.”

  “How was your day?” she asked.

  “Good. Hit the market. Hit the gym—” Rafe looked down at Sloan’s hand as it moved to his forearm, tracing the the biomech tattoo that covered his skin. His muscles twitched at her touch, but he kept still.

  “I kinda like the idea of my boyfriend hitting the gym and then making really good lasagna.”

  “Is it good?” he asked, nodding toward her plate.

  “You know it is. How many tattoos do you have?”

  “One,” Rafe teased. “It’s one giant tattoo. Took sixty straight hours.”

  “Ha ha. Seriously.”

  “I’ve lost count. A lot.”

  “Are you going to get more?”

  “Every time I chaperone a field trip and lose a child, I get a tattoo. A celebration. Like I’ve done something right.”

  “Oh my god,” Sloan said, giving him a playful shove. He caught her hand, pulled her a little closer and then he kissed her properly. It was quick, but a perfect kiss right on her soft lips. When he pulled away, it was clear from the look on her face that the kiss had hit her the same way. “You’re awful.”

  “I get one when I’m moved to get one. When I’m inspired.”

  “I’m afraid it would hurt too much.”

  “Hurts a lot, but that’s part of it.”

  “Do you like pain?” she asked. Her tone sounded a little unsure.

  “Not like that.”

  “Oh, okay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I could pinch your nipples really hard if I thought you were into it, but I don’t think I could bring myself to hurt you, hurt you.”

  He knew what she meant, but he did consider other interpretations of the sentiment for a second. “That’s very sweet of you, Doctor. I appreciate it.”

  “When I’m done eating, I’m gonna brush my teeth and then you wanna make out with me while we watch Horny Millenials By A Pool?”

  “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

  Tuesday Night

  Sloan gently closed the door to the mudroom and stepped out of her clogs. She was expecting the usual silence that greeted her when surgeries went long, and dinner and bedtimes had to go on without her. What she heard was the unmistakable voice of Niles Crane. In the living room, Rafe was stretched on the long end of the sectional. She thought he was asleep for a moment, but as she reached for the remote, he turned and looked at her.

  “Hey.” The afterhours bass in his voice almost took her out. She wedged herself in the small space at the edge of the cushion. Her hand drifted to his tight stomach.

  “Did you wait up for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “I wanted to.”

  “How were the girls today?”

  “Good. I think they’re really enjoying being around more kids.” Sloan felt bad and relieved all at the same time. They’d met a few kids at the park and through their dance class, but Avery was more into running in circles than actually dancing and Addison didn’t feel like dancing with an audience. After she let t
hem drop the class, Sloan hadn’t been the best at getting playdates together.

  “That’s good. They’re so good at keeping each other entertained that I dropped the ball at trying to throw other kids into the mix sometimes.”

  “How was your day?”

  “Good. The girl I told you about? There were complications, but we got through it. She’ll be fine.”

  “I can’t imagine how stressful that must be.”

  “You’ll see. Wait until Addison and Avery get sick at the same time. That will be a test for you, young man.”

  “I can’t wait.” Rafe sat up and stretched.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I was going to bed, but I think that’s the wrong answer.”

  “Complete wrong answer.” Sloan leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. “Will you cuddle me for a little while? I like the way I feel wrapped in your big strong muscles.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  Sloan laughed quietly as he made his pecs dance. “Come here.” Sloan climbed on top of him and settled her weight against his as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I missed you today,” she whispered as she peered into his blue eyes. “You know how when you click out of an app, but you don’t close it and it’s running in the background of your phone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s kinda how my brain is when I’m operating. That’s the app at the forefront, but then all these other apps are running in the background. I feel like I’ve downloaded your app and it’s running in the background all day now.”

  Rafe just stared at her, saying nothing. Sloan started giggling and the longer he stared, the harder she laughed. She buried her face in his shoulder and laughed uncontrollably.

  “Sloan.”

  She laughed even harder, shaking her head. She’d die from embarrassment before she looked him in the eye.

  “Sloan.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Sloan.”

  “No, I won’t. I refuse,” she said, even as she looked up anyway. “Do you understand that I could have said something so much cornier?”

  “There was something worse?” he asked with a straight face.

  “Oh, so much worse. I won’t tell you what exactly, but it does involve the word ‘giddy’.”

  “I see,” he said, before his expression softened. He reached up and lightly ran his thumb over her cheek. “I thought about you all day.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah. You were the only app at the front of my brain phone.”

  “Yes, bitch. That’s just what I wanted to hear.” Sloan snuggled closer, taking in the warmth from his body. She didn’t really relax until he placed a few kisses on her face. They lay on the couch together, letting the Frasier rerun play until the end of the episode and then Sloan knew it was time to call it a night.

  “Let me at least walk you to the stairs,” Rafe said, as he turned off the TV.

  “You’re such a gentleman.” They crossed the living room, hand in hand, then Sloan climbed to the third step and turned to drape her arms over his shoulders. She still wasn’t eye to eye with him. “Goodnight,” she whispered.

  He moved to the first step, pulled her closer and then he kissed her. Sloan had given her whole adolescence to studying medicine, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming of what it would be like to go on a date with a boy, have him bring her home and kiss her goodnight on her parents’ front porch. There had been plenty of times when she’d been bitter as hell about missing out on that. Instead, she’d jumped right to sneaking around with Drew, visiting him at his condo. But this, kissing Rafe on the carpeted stairs, illuminated by nightlights, was so much better.

  They exchanged another set of goodnights and another long kiss before she forced herself up the stairs. Sloan checked in on Avery and Addison, then changed and climbed into her bed. She’d missed the girls like crazy when they went to stay with their dad in a few days, but she couldn’t wait to finally spend the night in the same bed with Rafe. She couldn’t wait to wake up in his arms. In the back of her mind—her brain phone—she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be until they were in the right place to change sleeping arrangements permanently. Instead of dwelling on how badly she wanted that to happen, and how it was way too soon to be thinking in that general direction, she decided it was best to try and get some sleep.

  Wednesday Night

  A conversation with Xeni via text

  I am so fucked.

  Why? What happened?

  I got back from work. We put the girls to

  bed and then we had a quickie in the pool shed.

  Then we came back in, put on MMIP

  and shared a pint of ice cream

  Then we made out for a bit.

  Oh so you meant literally.

  I can’t keep my hands off of him

  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  So the sex is good then? Still good?

  The sex is amazing.

  And I think it’s just getting better

  because we feel more and more comfortable

  with each other.

  I’m not seeing a problem.

  I’m such a dick. I keep talking about him.

  What’s going on with you?

  How’s school?

  How’s the fam?

  How are Meegan and the girls?

  Any sign of any sexy street magicians?

  You’re fine. You’re actually distracting me.

  My favorite aunt is sick.

  Oh shit. Babe, I’m sorry.

  Which aunt is it? Sick how?

  My aunt Sable.

  The one who lives in New York.

  My Witchy Twin.

  My fave. She has stomach cancer.

  Fuck. I’m so sorry.

  Please let me know if I can help.

  I’ll make some doctor related calls.

  I don’t know anyone upstate, I don’t think

  But I know some people in the City.

  You know I’ll make those calls.

  Thank you. It’s early so she could be fine

  It’s just shitty cause cancer is shitty and it’s also shitty

  cause she’s still beefing with pretty much

  everyone in my family but me.

  Fifty years is a really long time to hold

  a grudge, but what do I know.

  Please keep talking about Rafe.

  I don’t want to think about this right now.

  You want me to call you?

  No it’s okay. I’ll have a dramatic cry

  about it on the beach during the new moon,

  But thank you.

  Please, keep talking about your man.

  Okay.

  I’m sprung like a motherfucker.