Nanny for the Army Rangers by Krista Wolf
Thirteen
JULIUS
She looked amazing, but then again she always looked that way. Only now she was trying to look amazing, so between her makeup, her dress, and her teased-out hair, it took things to a whole different level.
“Hi Julius!”
Delilah bounced past me in the hallway, all smiles and happiness before she disappeared into her room. It left me standing there stock still, deliciously awash with the scent of coconut and raspberry and God only knew what else.
Fuck.
I stayed until I could no longer smell her, which was quite a while. Then I made my way into the living room, where Liam was cracking open three fresh bottles of ice cold beer, even though Duncan was staying in the city tonight.
“We’re gonna end up drinking the third one,” I told him, as he handed me mine.
“What? Why?”
“She’s going out.”
Liam’s brows came together in confusion. I nodded in confirmation as I sank into the opposite section of the couch.
“Where’s she going?”
“Hell if I know,” I shrugged. “But it’s her night off, so…”
I knew what he was thinking even before I saw the concern on his face. I was thinking the same thing. And the way she looked…
“She’s going out with a guy?” Liam tilted his head.
I let out a gruff chuckle. “Hell if I know,” I said again. “But she’s got on a tight dress, high-heels, and her hair’s halfway to Mars. She’s also wearing that makeup around the eyes that makes girls look all feline and sexy. You know the kind I’m talking about.”
Vaguely, Liam nodded. He still hadn’t touched his beer yet. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah, I do.”
“Well have you seen a girl dress up like that for anything other than a guy?”
He swallowed, dryly. “Maybe a night out dancing with girlfriends or something.”
“Delilah has no girlfriends,” I countered solemnly. “At least, none that she’s told us about.”
In the two weeks she’d been here, our Nanny and roommate had pretty much been an open book. She held very little back in the way of anything, and had relaxed alongside us whenever her keyboard wasn’t clacking away from the medical transcription job she still did part time.
We knew she’d been marooned in New York by parents who abruptly pulled up roots and a married sister who recently moved down south. She also had a five-year old niece and nephew she wouldn’t stop gushing about, twenty-four seven. But that was okay. It was cute as hell, how much she loved those kids. As far as we were concerned, it only meant she’d take incredible care of our own.
“Wow,” breathed Liam. “A date.”
“Yeah.”
He finally brought his beer to his lips, and took a long pull. By the time he lowered it Delilah was back in the living room, this time with a fresh but not overly-done application of lip gloss, and liner to make her lips even plumper and thicker than they already were.
Shit, she looked so good it made me shift on the couch.
“I should be out late tonight boys,” she beamed, “so don’t wait up for me.”
She was kidding of course, but the looks on our faces might have told an entirely different story.
“Where are you going?” Liam asked casually. “I mean… not that you have to tell us or anything,” he added quickly, “I was just making conver—”
“I’m going out on a date,” Delilah replied plainly. “Remember? The not-so-random stranger?”
For a few seconds the room was so quiet you could hear a mouse piss on cotton.
“The internet guy,” I squinted finally. “The dating site hookup.”
“Yes.”
“I thought your date with him was supposed to be last Saturday?” asked Liam.
“It was,” said Delilah, “but with all the moving in and getting settled I pushed it back to tonight. The guy was really sweet and understanding about rescheduling, too. I told him I’d make it up to him.”
Now Liam shifted on the couch too. Was he jealous? I know I was. And the strangest part was I had no reason to be.
“And how do you plan to make it up to him?” Liam pressed.
Slinging a slender black pocketbook over one shoulder, our pretty Nanny grabbed her coat and winked back at us.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”