Read Online Marine for Hire by Tawna Fenske - Free Book Online Page A

head to bed.”
    “Sleep well.”
    “You, too. Thanks for everything, Sam.”
    “No problem. It’s my job.” He hesitated again. “It is a job, you know. I have to be careful about not crossing any lines or doing anything that might create an unprofessional environment or jeopardize our working relationship or—”
    “I get it,” she interrupted, feeling her cheeks flush. She looked down at her babies so she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. “I won’t ask you any more questions about my butt.”
    “Good.” He cleared his throat, hesitating again. “But since you already asked me that one, and since I did a pretty lousy job answering it, let me just state for the record that you have the most spectacular ass I’ve ever seen in my life.” He swallowed, then nodded. “I needed to put that out there in case there was any confusion.”
    “I appreciate that,” she said, stifling the urge to giggle or smile or do anything else that would give her away as a wanton hussy instead of a demure, mild-mannered mother of two. “Thank you for clarifying.”
    “If you could refrain from mentioning that to your brother, I’d appreciate it.”
    “Noted.” She hid her smile behind her hand.
    He nodded again. “Good night, Sheri.”
    And with that, he wandered off down the hall.
    …
    Sleep didn’t come easily that night for Sheri.
    She wanted to pretend it was the nervous jitters of starting a new job in the morning, but that was only part of it. She felt dizzy with the knowledge that Sam was sleeping just inches away through the thin walls painted apricot on his side and pale turquoise on hers.
    How had that happened?
    Not the wall colors, though that was odd, too. How had she come to be a single mother of twins with a gorgeous, sensitive, sexy man sleeping in another room instead of in her bed?
    Not that she needed another macho guy in her bed. Jonathan had been plenty for one lifetime, thank you very much. There were times she wondered what she’d seen in him, but mostly she knew. Security. Strength. The familiarity of a big, strong military man who reminded her of her father, her mother, her brothers, her uncles, and pretty much every other member of the Patton family for as far back as Sheri could remember.
    Not that there was anything wrong with the military, per se, but Jonathan had made her aware of a pattern. He, like so many of his friends, was a macho, knuckle-dragging jerk who cared more about climbing the ranks than climbing into bed with her and telling her she was smart or beautiful or that she made him see stars when they kissed.
    Sam’s different, whispered a tiny voice in her head. And he’s not military.
    Maybe so, she whispered back. But Sam is off-limits.
    Right now, with a new job and new single motherhood, she needed a nanny, not a man. She needed him to do a job, not to do her . He was here to help her juggle it all—the career, the babies, the house—and she couldn’t risk a distraction that might cause one of them to drop the ball.
    Of course, they had agreed this was a trial period. If Sam moved on in a couple weeks and she found a different nanny, maybe then she and Sam could—
    Stop it!
    She rolled over to adjust the baby monitor, hoping to hear the breathy little murmurs of her sons’ sleep sounds. Then she remembered Sam’s insistence that she leave it with him for the night.
    “It’s your first day at your new job tomorrow,” he’d reminded her after dinner. “My whole job is centered around making it easier for you to be a working mother. If they need to be fed or changed in the middle of the night, it makes sense for me to handle it.”
    She hadn’t argued, and she’d appreciated his foresight. But now she longed for the comfort of their sleepy little murmurs. Maybe she should just peek in on them…
    She was out of bed and wrapping herself in her purple satin robe before she’d even completed the thought. She tiptoed down the tiled hallway, careful not to make any