Undercover with the Nanny (Excerpt only; coming April 23, 2018)

Chapter 2

Revised

Was he stalking her? Kate stepped back from the truck window and studied Sawyer Hayes. He didn't look like a bad guy. She'd already established that he was gorgeous, and up close, her first impression was confirmed. Tiny white lines radiated from the corners of his eyes as he smiled into her face, testifying that he spent a lot of time in the outdoors. As did his sun-kissed, tawny hair. Kate pursed her lips, reminding herself that Ted Bundy had been a good-looking man, too.

"Are you stalking me?" she blurted, fingering the alarm button on her car key fob. He burst out laughing that deep laugh she'd admired on the beach, and then he sobered.

"Not at all. I live. Right. Next. Door." He pointed at the apartment beside hers while he enunciated each word, and Kate barely concealed her growl of exasperation. She found him way too attractive to have to run into him on a daily basis. He could seriously derail her resolution to steer clear of relationships, even casual ones, until her head was above water. But at least this was the explanation for his continual presence today. He wasn't a serial killer. Probably.

"Now that we're neighbors, will you cut the suspense and tell me who you are?"

Kate glanced at her wristwatch. If she didn't leave within the next five minutes, she'd be late. Mr. Cabrera valued her punctuality, and she didn't want to ruin her record.

"I need to go. Please move."

"What if I get your mail by mistake? What if you win Publishers Clearinghouse and the notification comes in the mail, and because I don't know your name, I put the envelope on top of the mailbox and someone else picks it up and gets all that money? That's right. I can see your mind going over that very real possibility."

His expression was so puppy dog earnest Kate couldn't control herself. The giggle percolated up from deep inside her chest and erupted at the end of his outrageous statement. Good grief, his sense of humor was as appealing as his looks. And, here she was, once again enjoying the light-hearted banter her life had been without for so long.

She shook her head in frustrated capitulation. "Fine, you win. My name is Kate Munroe, I live next door to you and this is my car. I need to leave right now or I will be late for my job and if I am I will be fired, and then I won't be able to live here. Do you want to be the reason I become homeless?"

His smile widened while his gaze flowed over her face, warming as it tracked across her features. She felt it like a gentle caress, and her own grin faded. She took another step away from his truck. She needed distance from his potent sex appeal.

"That wasn't so hard, was it? Glad to finally meet you, Kate Munroe. I look forward to getting to know you."

"Hmph," was all she could reply, though she looked over his huge, dirty truck pointedly. He continued to smile into her face, until she shrugged. "Well? I can't be late. I've met you, you've met me. I need to leave. Now."

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry. I could get lost in your eyes. I can't tell what color they are in this light. Guess I'll just have to run into you again real soon." He reached for his gear shift, and Kate roused from the hypnotic state his words had put her in. Get lost in her eyes? What guy said that nowadays? In any day, for that matter, except in historical romance novels.

He put the truck in reverse, and glanced at her again. She swallowed hard and straightened her shoulders. She would not turn into a puddle because he'd used a sexy turn of phrase. She was made of stronger stuff than that.

As he began to back up, he gave her a salute with his left hand. "Drive safely, Kate Munroe. I don't want this first meeting to be our last. Good night."