Tempting Mr. Wrong (Wrong Man) by Kerri Carpenter Read Free Book Online

question?”
    “Shoot.”
    “What are you doing for money?” At her quizzical stare, he continued. “You said you’d been working for a temp agency, but is that en… I mean, are you okay financially?”
    “Ah, see, I knew you cared.” Jokingly, she leaned over and punched his arm. Only he didn’t even flinch, because his arm was crazy strong and muscled. Wow. Just wow.
    He shoveled a large spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “I’m serious, Carly. How are you supporting yourself?”
    Her instinct was to continue joking, but Mr. Serious’s pinched expression had her sobering up. “I’ve had steady work with the temp agency and it’s actually paid pretty well.” She failed to include the fact that her loan payments from grad school were going to kick in soon, and she was pretty certain they were going to need to replace the furnace.
    “But what about full-time employment?”
    “As in, what do I want to be when I grow up?”
    He nodded, although he did not appear amused.
    “My degree was in development and fund-raising. Despite how small and bucolic it may be around here, there are actually quite a few nonprofits that I would like to work for.”
    “Any leads?”
    “A couple. One of my best friends works in HR and she said she has some info for me. We were supposed to meet for coffee today but my usual sitter has the flu and my friend Maria can’t watch Mya.”
    “I can watch her,” Lance said around a large spoonful of cereal.
    Carly quirked an eyebrow. “Come on. I don’t just leave my niece with anyone.”
    Lance dropped his spoon with a thunk . “I’m not just anyone. I’m her godfather.”
    “True. But it’s not like you’ve spent a lot of time with her. Have you ever babysat any kid?”
    “I mean, not technically. But I’ve gotten plenty of soldiers out of harm’s way in the Middle East. I’m sure I can handle a Frozen marathon.”
    Carly considered him. Then she glanced over at Mya who was bobbing her head in time with whatever song was playing in the cartoon. She wanted to say yes. She really wanted to talk to her friend Anna about some job opportunities. But she just didn’t know how Lance would be with Mya.
    “Come on, Carly. I don’t see any other responsible adults in the room. I can handle watching Mya for a couple hours.”
    “You don’t even know our emergency numbers or where her doctor is located.”
    Lance held his cell phone up. “I do have one of these bad boys. And you could, I don’t know, leave me a list.”
    “What if she’s hungry?”
    “I’ll make her a sandwich.”
    “What if she gets a cut?”
    “I’ll put a Band-Aid on it. Jeez, Mrs. Doubtfire, I think I can handle a little girl for a couple hours.”
    She frowned. “I don’t know.”
    “Hey, Mya,” Lance called. “Would you like me to watch you for a couple hours so Aunt Carly can meet her friend?”
    Mya jumped up and started dancing around. “Yay, yay, yay!”
    Carly narrowed her eyes. “Oh that is so not fair,” she said to him in a hushed voice.
    “Can Uncle Lance watch me? Can he, Aunt Carly? Can he?” Mya was now jumping up and down in front of her.
    With one last glare at Lance, Carly finally acquiesced. “Okay, fine.” She walked to Lance and placed her hands on his arms. Oh, hello biceps! She shook her head. Not the time for that. “But we’re going to spend the next couple of hours going over everything you could possibly need to know.”
    “What can go wrong?” he asked.
    She gave him an I-can’t-believe-you-just-said-that look and began spouting off options. But Lance just grinned and leaned over to high-five Mya.
    …
    Lance now realized that high five with Mya may have been premature.
    The finality of the door closing behind Carly had fear and anxiety rising in his throat. Few things made him nervous. Tornadoes, snakes, political unrest… Who knew he’d have to add kids to that short list. What in the hell was he supposed to do with a four-year-old? What was he supposed