Chapter Five
***Con***
“Idon’tknowwhat you were thinking, Griff. Hiring a sexy nanny? Could you get more cliché?” Zeke shook his head even as he looked out at the beach, where Autumn was walking with the kids. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
Griff rolled his eyes. “Stop with the drama. She was the most qualified. That’s it. End of story.”
“Oh, yeah? I’m sure the sexy sway of her ass had nothing to do with your hiring her on the spot.”
I gritted my teeth and watched Autumn. Her hips did sway as she walked. Her breasts bounced in a hypnotic rhythm, too. She moved like a siren’s call, and she had no idea. It was infuriating to see that the call was reaching my brothers, too.
Griff came to stand at the window beside us and growled. “It was probably a mistake. She’s got an attitude, too.”
I smiled to myself. They had no idea. My balls still tried to climb up inside my body when I thought of Autumn chucking a baseball at my head. She was strong and fast. And, judging by the way she’d been looking at me, she could hold a grudge. Not that I blamed her.
“You’re quiet, Con.” Zeke shouldered me and groaned when Autumn bent over to grab a shell. “Jesus. This isn’t going to work.”
Griff turned his back to the window and scrubbed his hands down his face. “She’s the most qualified.”
“Too bad. Fire her.”
I swallowed. “You can’t fire her. She signed a contract, right?”
Griff turned back to watch her again. “Yep. An airtight one.”
“This is insane. We agreed to stay here together for the summer to get work done and to get you over Stacy.” Zeke walked to the bar in the corner of the library and poured himself a finger of scotch. “I’m not going to get anything done with her walking around the house.”
“I’m over Stacy, asshole.” Griff sank into his chair and leaned back. “I’ve been over Stacy.”
I ignored them arguing and stayed where I was, watching as Autumn knelt to let Grace crawl up her and settle on her shoulders. Caroline immediately threw herself into the sand, and I didn’t need to be able to hear them to know that she was screaming. To my surprise, Autumn simply walked past the screaming child and pointed something out in the water to Jones.
I laughed as Caroline lifted her head to see if anyone was paying attention and then scowled.
“What?”
“Caroline has met her match, it seems.”
Griff leaned forward and watched as Caroline continued to throw herself down, just to be ignored by Autumn. Each time, she’d look up to see if Autumn was going to respond. Finally, she stood up, dusted her butt off, and followed the little group with her arms crossed over her chest.
I looked over to see Griff actually smiling, something he hardly ever did. “I’ve never seen Caroline give up so fast.”
“Her nanny in the city always coddles her. Stacy just throws presents and money at her when she screams. I watched them yesterday, though. Autumn ignores most of her tantrums.”
I raised my brows. “You watched them?”
Zeke groaned. “See? Did you get any work done?”
Griff leaned back again and shook his head. “Not a fucking thing.”
“How is this going to work?”
I turned my back to Autumn, feeling the need to practice some self-control myself. “We all keep our dicks in our pants and focus on work? We’re not boys. Surely, we can keep our shit together.”
Zeke shook his head. “I don’t want to keep my dick in my pants.”
Griff threw a dark look at my twin. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“I’m not going to be. I’m just being realistic. I’m attracted to her. If she’s attracted to me, which she will be, then I’m not going to stop it.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I’m not recovering from a divorce or a nutty ex. I’m single and more than eager to mingle.”
“What makes you think she’s going to want you?” I couldn’t help prod Zeke the same way we always did to each other. There were some things that never changed, and our competitive nature was one of them.
“I’m a fucking catch. Why wouldn’t she?”
Griff scoffed. “Maybe she likes a guy with a little humility?”
“Oh, that’s rich. Especially coming from the man who has been known to introduce himself as the top surgeon in his field.” Zeke went back to the window and drained his scotch. “Oh, fuck. She went into the water. I feel like I’m a kid watching Baywatch all over again.”
We each moved to the window with embarrassing speed. Sure enough, Autumn was walking through the water, kicking up water and laughing as Grace held onto her head. Even Jones was smiling, something that rarely happened.
“We can’t run her off. She’s too good with the kids.” Griff braced his knuckles against the window and growled. “God knows they need someone normal around them.”
“I’m not going to fuck anything up. I don’t pull that shit anymore. I please my women and then we go our separate ways, both happy.”
I turned to my brother and best friend. “No.”
Zeke frowned. “What the fuck? No?”
I tried to keep my face straight. Neither of my brothers knew about my history with Autumn, and I wasn’t ready to admit to it. That didn’t mean I was just going to sit back and let Zeke have his way with her, though. “Why do you get to stake some claim on her like she’s a piece of land for one of your restaurants?”
Griff grunted. “Con’s right.”
Zeke laughed. “So, what? You two want to throw your hat in the ring, too?”
Griff looked back down at the beach and swore. Moving back to his chair, he shook his head. “I can’t. She’s an employee.”
“I’m interested in her.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to keep the desperation off my face. “Grace let herself into Autumn’s room this morning. We had a moment when I went to fetch Grace.”
“A moment? What kind of moment, Oprah?”
Griff snorted and grabbed his phone. “Well, I didn’t get a distress call from Autumn, so that must be a good sign.”
I snarled at them. “Just a moment. You’re not the only one of us who has a chance with her.”
“Well, if we’re going on who has a chance with her, I’m there. None of us are knuckle-dragging beasts. We all have a chance.” Griff shrugged. “What are we even doing? This is stupid. We’re not kids anymore.”
Zeke looked at both of us and grinned. “No, we’re not. We have access to a lot more money than we used to. What was the last bet we had? And who was the girl?”
I smiled at the stupid memory of our childish bets of who could get the girl. “Ten thousand to whoever got Trish Tomlin to show us her tits first.”
Griff shook his head. “No, it was ten thousand to whoever got Sue Ferrell into bed first.”
“I’ve got a million that says our pretty little nanny falls for me first.”
I straightened. “Two million says she’s mine.”
Griff swore and then laughed. “What the fuck. Two million says Autumn ends up wanting me.”
Zeke nodded. “Two million from each of us, then. Winner gets six million.”
“And Autumn.” I looked back out at her and told my stomach to settle. “And rules?”
“How do we decide who wins?”
“Whoever she decides to sleep with. Duh.” Zeke backed away from us, his grin mischievous. “I think I’ll go down to the beach now.”
I grabbed his shoulder and shook my head. “No fucking way. I’m going to the beach.”
Griff growled. “Both of you get the fuck out of my office. I have to work.”
Zeke’s phone rang. He looked at it and swore. “Fuck. Me, too.”
I grinned. “Looks like I’ll be heading down by myself.”
My phone vibrated before I even got to the door. I didn’t need to look at it to know that it was Gary Hill with design information for a house I was looking at. “Dammit.”