Maybe I needed to get him into therapy. Cedar Ridge had a decent therapist that treated a variety of patients. I should give her a call.
A soft knock sounded on the front door.
My body jolted, coffee sloshing over the rim of my mug. I muttered a curse and grabbed a towel as I headed for the door.
Opening it, I stilled, gray eyes freezing me to the spot. Hallie stood holding a towel-covered bowl. Her hair fell in loose waves to frame her face, and she wore a sweater that shouldn’t have been enticing but somehow was. It skimmed her curves, falling to mid-thigh, where it met with black leggings that left little to the imagination when it came to those long, toned legs.
I forced my gaze back to her face.Hell.The last thing I needed to be thinking about was my twenty-five-year-old nanny’s legs. “Morning.”
My voice sounded like I’d just woken up, not as if I’d been up for two hours already.
“Morning,” Hallie echoed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
I quickly stepped back. “Come in.”
Hallie moved into my space, the scent of something sweet but somehow smoky weaving around me.
“Thanks for stocking my fridge. I made sunshine muffins as a thank-you,” Hallie said, extending the bowl to me.
My lips twitched. “Sunshine muffins?”
It was fitting for a woman who was pure light herself. I had to fight a laugh.
She worried her bottom lip. “My housekeeper used to make them when I was growing up. They’re orange-flavored, but they’re pretty healthy, too.”
“Just as long as they don’t have gross orange pulp in them,” Drew grumbled as he stumbled down the hallway in his sweats, his hair sticking up in every direction.
“Drew,” I clipped.
Hallie just laughed. “No pulp. I promise.”
“Sweet,” Drew said, pulling back the towel and grabbing one. He broke off a piece and popped it into his mouth. His eyes went wide. “These are amazing.”
His words were barely discernible since his mouth was full, but Hallie grinned. “I’m glad you like them.”
“Will you wake up your brothers, Drew?” I asked.
He nodded, turning back to the hallway and yelling, “Charlie, Luke, get up. Hallie brought sick muffins. If you don’t hurry, I’m gonna eat them all.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Not what I had in mind, D-man.”
He shrugged. “I’ve got muffins to eat.”
Drew grabbed another one and headed for the kitchen just as Charlie bolted out of his bedroom. He ran down the hallway, crashing into me. “I want muffins!”
I grinned at Hallie. “I’d say you’re a hit.”
That pretty pink stained her cheeks again. “I’m easily won over by food, too.”
I’d have to remember that.
* * *
“Let’s go,”I called as I headed for the door. I glanced over my shoulder at Hallie. “Ride with me today, and I’ll show you the drop-off ropes. Drew has lacrosse conditioning after school, so you don’t have to pick him up. One of his teammates’ parents will drop him off at the house.”
“She doesn’t need to pick me up either,” Luke muttered as he grabbed his backpack by the door.
I sent a glare in his direction. I hadn’t missed how Luke refused to call Hallie by her name. He hadn’t done it even once. “It’s a little too far to walk.”
