Falling for the Nanny by Jacqueline Diamond Read Free Book Online Page B

how invitingly the shirt stretched over her full breasts. “You gonna help or what?”
    â€œOh. Sure.” Since she obviously didn’t need help tucking in her shirt, he peered at the heap of junk in the backseat, registering a badly folded newspaper, take-out bags, a baseball cap, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, sneakers, a worn duffel bag and, perched on top, a shiny black jacket. Alec handed it to Patty.
    â€œThanks, but that’s not the problem.” She gestured down at the pants, which hung well over the shoes. “Can you believe this? They aren’t hemmed!”
    â€œYou didn’t try it on first?”
    â€œI ordered it and it just arrived yesterday. I’m five-eight. Pants are never too long for me.” She frowned. “I thought I had a stapler, but I can’t find it. You got any tape?”
    Staple the hem of her pants? He supposed the idea made sense in the spontaneous world of Patty Hartman. “I might. Hang on.” From the SUV’s map compartment, heretrieved a roll of double-sided tape. “Good thing I like to be prepared.”
    â€œYou were always good with your hands.” Patty gave him a meaningful look.
    Heat shimmered through Alec at the memory of touching her, everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. They’d gone at each other with an intensity his post-adolescent self had outgrown. Or had never managed to find again, and somehow convinced himself he didn’t need.
    To cover his response, he knelt and set to performing an emergency operation on her hem. He did his best to ignore the debris from the pavement digging into his knees. “So this jerk decked you?”
    â€œKind of.”
    â€œKind of? You’ve got the bruise to prove it.” Alec heartily wished he could return the favor to whoever had targeted Patty.
    â€œLooks can be deceiving. See, there was this girl meeting a scumbag she contacted on the internet. Even though he’s obviously twice the age he said he was, she sits right down, and then leaves her coffee unprotected while she goes to the bathroom. Then he pours something in it.”
    Her body braced as if preparing to do battle all over again. One knee grazed Alec’s temple, almost like a caress. “Stop fidgeting.”
    â€œI’m late! Just stick the hem so it doesn’t drag on the ground.”
    â€œYes, that would be the idea,” he replied dryly. Easier said than done. The fabric had to be folded and smoothed so it didn’t wrinkle, and his hands kept brushing her bare ankle. And itching to move upwards….
    â€œSo, she lifts this doctored coffee but doesn’t drink. Instead, she stares at him and roars, ‘How dare you prey ongirls like me! What do you think we are, objects put here for your perverted pleasure?’”
    â€œShe set him up?”
    â€œYeah. Turns out she blogs about the perils of online dating and set out to find a fellow she could write about. How do you like that?”
    â€œI’d say he deserved it.” Alec set to work on the second pant leg.
    Patty ruffled his hair lightly. “Great haircut. You get that around here? Some of the cops could use a good barber.”
    â€œNo, in Boston. But you can do that again,” he murmured, his scalp tingling.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou want to scratch me around the ears, too? I always liked that.”
    Patty chuckled. “Keep working down there, will you?”
    â€œNearly done.” Alec tore off a last piece of tape. “You still haven’t explained how you got the bruise.”
    â€œThe guy was ticked,” Patty said. “He lunged across the table and grabbed her neck. Obviously, I had to take him out.”
    â€œAnd he punched you in the cheek.” Again, Alec felt the urge to hunt down the man and smack him one in return.
    â€œNaw. Judi threw her coffee on him. Good aim, only her elbow caught me and wham! Lights, sound and music. Quite a show. It’ll be a