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“Most of her private nurses have quit within twelve hours.”
Are you crazy? Stop telling her that. You’ll scare her away! His tiger was nearly apoplectic with rage.
“I like a challenge,” Hedra said.
“She’s not,” Boone paused as his tiger snarled at him, “fond of humans. And she can have a barbed tongue from time to time.”
Hedra’s smile could have dimmed the sun. He stared in fascination at her full lips and straight white teeth, his heart thumping away like he’d just run up ten flights of stairs and his cock stiffening against his jeans.
“I don’t scare easily. I have four older cheetah siblings and, trust me, your grandmother won’t say anything to me that my siblings haven’t already said,” Hedra said.
“She has a good heart, and she’s fiercely loyal to the people she loves,” Boone said. “She’s just also a bit… grumpy.”
Hedra’s smile turned into a laugh, and Boone’s tiger trilled a mating call. Boone swallowed the sound before it could escape.
Have you lost your fucking mind? We are not mating with her.
His tiger sulked worse than Alfie did when Boone wouldn’t give him another of those disgusting fake pepperoni treats.
“Is she a tiger shifter like you?” Hedra asked.
Boone nodded. “She rarely shifts anymore, and she hasn’t shifted at all since the accident. But she can still extend her claws when she’s pissed off.”
“Slashy with claws when angry… noted,” Hedra said.
“She won’t hurt you,” Boone hastened to say. “Well, not with her claws. Her words though…”
“Sticks and stones may break my bones and all that,” Hedra said before taking another swallow of coffee. “Chase mentioned you were looking for someone to start right away and that your preference is for a live-in nurse.”
“Yes,” he said. “My hours can be long at the security firm and don’t always follow a strict nine to five schedule. So, you’d be required to be on call outside of the regular eight hours during the week. That being said, I’ve talked to Coop about working some of our more straightforward security work for the next six weeks, so overtime should be minimal. And I won’t require you to work weekends.”
“Straight forward security, huh?” Hedra eyed him over her coffee cup. “Sounds kind of boring. Chase says you’re usually the first to volunteer for the more dangerous stuff.”
She knows how brave I am. His tiger strutted around like a rock star.
He made a non-committal sound. Doing the stupid shit like mall security would be boring as hell, but what choice did he have? Even if – and this was a very big if – his nan didn’t scare Hedra away in the next few hours, the less time she actually had to take care of his nan, the better. Working the boring shit meant he’d be around to help Nan in the evenings and on the weekends.
Hedra studied him silently, and feeling a little stupid, he said, “I offer twenty-five dollars an hour plus room and board. You’d have your own bedroom next to Nan’s. It’s on the smaller side, but it has a connected bathroom you’d share with Nan. You’re welcome to whatever food is in the house, and I’m happy to shop for any special dietary requirements you might have. You will be required to make Nan breakfast and lunch. Are you good with that?”
“Yes,” she said.
“She can be picky about what she eats, but I try to encourage her to eat as many vegetables as possible. She prefers a carnivore diet, but her human side needs the greens.”
“I’ve got shifter nieces and nephews. I’m used to hiding veggies in meat smoothies,” Hedra said.
Boone laughed. “Perfect. So, the next step would be to meet Nan. If that goes well and you’re still interested in the position, it will start, well… immediately if that works.”
“It does,” Hedra said. “I checked out of my hotel this morning.”
At the look on his face, which he imagined practically screamed, “not a great idea”, Hedra said, “Sorry, I’m being too presumptuous. I’m not expecting or assuming you’ll hire me. I’ll find another hotel to stay in if your grandmother doesn’t like me.”
“Oh, she’s not going to like you,” Boone said and then winced. “Shit, that came out wrong.”
Hedra laughed. “Did it, though?”
“No,” he admitted. “Nan won’t like you. But the job is yours if after you meet her, you don’t run screaming from the house.”
“I’m not much of a screamer,” Hedra said.
