Page 18 of The Grump I Got Stuck With

“Of my house. With the door open.”

“Have you ever heard of boundaries?”

“Yes, I usually start by not breaking into people’s homes on Christmas Eve. Maybe that’s just a personal one for me, though.”

Asshole! I resisted the urge to tug on my hair. The man was impossible. And he was delusional if he thought I’d ever consider working for him.

“Can we just be sensible about this?”

I crossed my arms. I didn’t care how much he grumbled in that disarmingly sexy Scottish brogue or how good he looked in nothing but a towel. As soon as the roads were clear, I was going to get the hell out of here. “I’m not being your nanny. End of story. Case closed. Stop looking at me like you expect a carpet bag to appear in my hand!”

He scowled, more pissed off than before. It was all broody and hot. Those dark eyebrows and blue eyes made for an intense stare, but I wasn’t going to give in.

“I suppose you have some more important work to be getting back to,” he said mockingly. “An all-important job you can’t afford to be away from with your van that won’t start and your dog that won’t shut up.”

An indignant scoff exploded from me. “As a matter of fact, I do!”

He snorted.

My hands curled into fists at my sides. As if he knew anything about my life or what I was doing here! Heat coursed through me, so hot my vision went red. It was none of his business why I was in Scotland. Like I was going to tell some stranger my personal story. Nope, no way; he was far too much of a jerk.

I knew the best thing to do was ignore him, but the implication that I was some aimless wanderer with nothing important going on in my life really ticked me off. The man could go kick rocks. Preferably off the side of a cliff.

“As I said, I’ll pay you,” he added.

“Yeah, and I ignored that part the first time you said it, because I don’t care,” I snapped. His audacity was astounding. It felt like I had steam coming out of my ears. “I don’t want your money!”

“I can pay you a lot of money,” he clarified.

“No amount of money is worth calling you my employer.”

“Your vehicle is stuck in a ditch. You’re trapped in a small town in the middle of nowhere Scotland. Those kinds of things come with unexpected expenses. Don’t tell me you couldn’t use something to line your pockets.”

Would the repair be eating into my savings in a big way? Heck yeah. Was I going to admit to that? Heck no. But before I could tell him where to stuff his money, Princess raced into the room, giving Alistair a long look before she started barking at him.

He groaned. “Does it ever end?”

“She wants attention. You’re ignoring her.”

“Princess has far too many demands for how much space she occupies,” Alistair said. Princess barked louder, longer, approaching him and then racing away again, like she didn’t fully trust him. “Can’t you stop her?”

I crossed the room and swept Princess into my arms, abruptly realizing that if she was up, so was Kenna. As mad as I was at him, I didn’t want the little girl to hear us arguing.

“Daddy?”

Kenna appeared in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. “Why is everyone shouting?”

“No one is shouting, sweetheart,” Alistair said, gathering Kenna to his side. “We were simply having a…lively discussion.”

That was one way to put it.

“Why don’t we go back to the playroom?” he suggested.

“Are Madison and Princess coming?” she asked, lighting up at the thought.

“No,” he said, jaw clenched tightly. “Madison needs time to do her very important work.”

“Oh,” Kenna said softly. Alistair picked her up, settling Kenna on his hip, and she frowned over his shoulder as they marched away.