Sully laughed. “Too right. What they don’t talk about every time is the boy.” Shit. “Your fans remembered him, boo. They’re convinced it must be true love since you trust him with your kid.”
Jordy shook his head but said nothing, in part because he couldn’t say anything that Sully wouldn’t mock him for and in part because anything he said, even a denial or joke, would be confirmation for Sully. The man knew him too well.
Brady, on the other hand, had no such issues. “Isn’t Rowan the nanny?”
Sully shook his head. “Oh, sweet summer child,” he sighed, because apparently he was an aging meme, “Rowan isn’t just the nanny. He was Jordy’s accidental date to a charity gala this summer.”
Brady’s eyebrow rose. “Really?”
“Yup. And the internet obsessed about it because Jordy is a man of mystery when it comes to romance and his fans are starved for information.”
“Rowan was a friend and we were helping each other get through a difficult evening,” Jordy said dryly, because Brady looked like he’d stumbled into the middle of a Hallmark movie.
Sully nodded. “Yes. Just bros helping each other out. Which is why Rowan is the new nanny. He and Jordy had compatible problems. But he’s not a permanent replacement.”
Jordy groaned theatrically. “Don’t remind me.”
That caught Sully’s attention. “Nanny hunt going well, then?”
Jordy pulled a face. He wasn’t sure if nanny hunts were always this difficult and he’d simply forgotten the pain of the first search, or if he had simply lucked out with Janice. Either way, the hunt had proven frustrating.
“Hiring someone to parent your kid isn’t easy,” he admitted.
That garnered sympathetic nods from Sully and Brady, not that either of them had been through the nanny search themselves.
“Guess it would be hard to find someone that you gel with,” Brady said thoughtfully.
Jordy wished that was all it was, that he couldn’t find someone he felt any sort of connection with. But every applicant he’d reviewed had felt wrong. Too young, too old. Too into hockey, too into fringe child-rearing ideas. He’d barely found any that he wanted to interview, and the few people he’d talked to on the phone had left a bad taste in his mouth.
Of course, he wasn’t exactly motivated to find someone new. What he really wanted was for nothing to change—or at the very least for a new nanny not to chase Rowan out of Jordy’s house.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone,” Brady said positively.
Sully slapped Jordy’s shoulder. “Yup. And let us know if you need any help—that’s not babysitting. Happy to help with the search, though.”
“Thanks,” Jordy said dryly. “You’re a mensch.”
The issue, Jordy reflected as he got into his car, wasn’t the nanny. The problem was that he didn’t know where he stood with Rowan. The problem was that Jordy was in love and desperate to hold on and there were so many question marks about the future and Rowan and their relationship.
Shaking his head, Jordy started his SUV and made a decision. He needed to talk to Rowan. Maybe Rowan would say no, but maybe…. Either way, Jordy needed answers.
Besides, if he was headed for heartbreak, maybe sooner was better than later.
At home, Kaira was fed and cuddling with Rowan on the couch, watching another Bollywood film, though Jordy didn’t recognize this one.
“She wanted to watch a Pakistani one, for my sake,” Rowan explained. Ah, so not Bollywood, then.
“Any good?” he asked as he settled on the couch on Kaira’s other side. She shifted to lean into him but didn’t otherwise move away from Rowan.
“It’s great,” she told him, and then stayed quiet, watching the movie. High praise.
“What did you think of your first game?” Jordy murmured over Kaira’s head.
Rowan shot Jordy a look full of heat and promise. “I think I’ll save my review for later.”
Jordy blinked. Wow. Okay. “Uh. Right. Sure?”
Rowan dropped the sex eyes and chuckled. “Kaira and I had a lot of fun, didn’t we, poppet?”
