My sister’s dad saw way too much.
9
Thane
“You seem in a better mood.”
Thane turned from watching the slowly lowering sunset across the water to meet his brother’s gaze. They were sitting on Lachlan’s comfortably furnished, raised back deck, beers in hand, enjoying the gorgeous summer evening. A half hour ago, his brother had texted to ask if he fancied a beer out back. He’d just put the kids to bed, and at Eilidh’s demand of a bedtime story from Regan, Robyn’s sister was still at the house. Thane had tried to tell Eilidh that Regan had to go as it was past her working hours, but Regan shushed him, happy to do as Eilidh asked. She seemed disinclined to return to her annex, and he didn’t mind her presence. It was actually nice not being the only adult in the house.
“Go have a beer,” she’d said as they descended the staircase. “I can stay here in case the kids wake up.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’m not paying you to work after hours, Regan.”
She’d given him a droll look. “Either I watch a Friday night movie in the guest house, or I watch it here. There’s no difference other than you can go have a beer with your brother if I do it here.”
Reassured, Thane left her in front of a romantic comedy, curled on his big sectional.
“Regan’s lifted the atmosphere in the house,” he answered his brother. “She’s taken the kids’ minds off Lucy. That whole thing was confusing for them. I think I made it confusing for them.”
“Isn’t it confusing for you?” Lachlan prodded quietly before taking another sip of beer.
Low-level anger burned in his gut as he looked out at the water. “I wasn’t the one she stalked.”
“What she did, how she could lie so brilliantly, fucked with my head. If it weren’t for Robyn, I’d have become even more of a mistrustful bastard than I already am. As it is, I find it difficult to trust anyone new coming into our lives because of what she did.”
Lachlan’s confession didn’t shock Thane. They were so close in age, they were more like twins. While they rarely discussed their emotions with other men outside of the family, they’d never held back from telling each other what was going on in their heads. Most of the time.
“Regan arriving hasn’t been easy,” Lachlan continued, and Thane experienced a twinge of something strangely like defensiveness. But before he could voice it, his brother said, “But I trust Robyn, and she trusts her sister. She believes Regan has owned up to her mistakes and that she means well … I’m glad you put some trust in her, for Robyn’s sake, but I wouldn’t blame you if you were struggling, in general, to trust people.”
Thane frowned. “Like I said, Lucy was stalking you, not me.”
“There was something between you. She admitted to us she had genuine feelings for you.”
That low-level anger flamed brighter. “Is that woman capable of genuine feelings?”
“I don’t know. Fuck, I hope so.”
“Nothing happened between us,” Thane said, turning to Lachlan. He knew his brother suspected he and Lucy had slept together, but it had never gotten that far. “We kissed. Once. After the ceilidh last spring. That was it.”
“Did you have feelings for her?”
“Why are you asking this now?”
“Because I don’t want you stewing over this shit. I don’t want any of us stewing over this shit. The trial looms, and with it a media storm, and all that won’t die until the trial is over. I don’t want it consuming our lives until then. So, we get the poison she put in us out. Now. Before it goes any deeper.”
Marveling at the change that had come over his brother since Robyn’s arrival, Thane felt a prick of envy. That was what a good woman’s love could do. He knew it firsthand.
He also knew firsthand what her betrayal could do.
“Well … Lucy … did you have feelings for her?”
Thane smirked unhappily. “She was a knockout, charismatic Hollywood star. And I’m a mere mortal. What do you think?” Despite knowing she’d been in his brother’s bed, Thane had been extremely attracted to Lucy Wainwright. She was the kind of stunning that was almost untouchable, but she’d seemed so down-to-earth. The type of woman who knew how to make any man comfortable in her presence. Lucy had also always been sweet to his children.
While he’d been on dates since Fran’s death and had slept with other women, Lucy was the first woman he’d been more than just physically attracted to. Thankfully, his feelings hadn’t developed beyond affection.
The thought of what might have happened had he let her any deeper into his life enraged him.
“She fucked with your head,” Lachlan surmised.
“I let her near my kids,” Thane hissed. “That’s what fucks with my head the most. The time she spent with Eilidh. Filling her mind with who knows what. And then having to explain to them that Lucy won’t be around anymore because she tried to hurt their aunt and uncle … let’s just say that was a confusing mess of a conversation for us all. I didn’t know what I should tell them and it was … just … fuck, it was a mess.”
Silence fell between them, and Thane took an agitated pull of his beer.
“Regan’s not Lucy,” Lachlan suddenly said.
Thane’s head whipped toward his brother so fast, a burn of pain flared up the side of his neck. “What?”
He shrugged. “Just saying. In case that’s on your mind. She is a beautiful redhead.”
“Do you think I would have hired Regan to look after my children if that was what was going on in my mind?”
“’Course not. I just meant … I don’t know.” Lachlan sighed wearily. “I’m just worried about her. Robyn thinks if we all make Regan feel at home, feel embraced here, she might settle down.”
Thane snorted. “She’s living in my annex, looking after my kids. How much more do you want me to embrace her?”
His brother burst into laughter. “Fair enough.”
Grinning, Thane stared out at the water again. A door closing in the distance sounded, followed by the hum of music. Lachlan glanced over his shoulder, toward the side of the house. When he looked back, he wore a small, almost imperceptible smile. “Robyn’s working.”
His brother had built a separate building for Robyn’s photography business.
“I’m glad you found her,” Thane said. And he genuinely was. Lachlan deserved someone special like Robyn.
Lachlan looked somber of a sudden. “I love her so much, I can barely contain it. I don’t know how you did it, Thane. How you got up every day and kept going after you lost Fran. I’m humbled by you.”
Emotion burned in his throat. Thane reached out and patted Lachlan’s shoulder. He didn’t know how to tell his brother that in the end, he hadn’t had with Fran what Lachlan had with Robyn. There was no point. It didn’t change the fact that a woman he loved, the mother of his children, had died abruptly and he’d grieved over her deeply. Still grieved for her.
After a few moments of silence, Thane said, “You’re going to let Eilidh be a flower girl, aye? Until Regan showed up, it was all she talked about.”
“Of course.” Lachlan grinned the smile of a smitten uncle. “We’ll make sure she gets the dress she wants … Eils likes Regan, then?”
“Oh, aye.” Concern niggled in Thane’s gut. “So does Lewis. You know he doesn’t take to folks quickly, but I can tell he likes her. I explained to them that it’s just temporary, that Regan goes back to the States in six months, but I’m worried about how attached they already are to her, and it’s only been two days.”
“If Robyn has anything to do with it, her sister will be here longer than six months.”
“What do you mean?”
“She thinks this place will be good for Regan.”
It would make his life easier if Regan could stick around longer than six months. “At her age? I doubt this place will keep her interested for long. Still, you should see my house. It’s gleaming. All the kids’ stuff is organized and tidy. I c
ome home to dinner ready. Even my office … she cleans it without messing anything up in there.”
Lachlan grinned at him. “Sounds like you’re enjoying your nanny housekeeper.”
Although he knew his brother meant nothing sexual, Thane felt a flush of physical longing.
Just the beer, he told himself, unable to meet his brother’s eyes.
“It’s nice not living in chaos.”
However, when he returned to the house an hour later, he found Regan curled up asleep on his couch. He’d noticed her dress that morning, wondering what happened to her comfortable jeans and T-shirt, which was more appropriate for her daily tasks, but had made no comment since she could wear whatever the fuck she wanted.
But now he was definitely noticing the dress. It had ridden up high so he could see the curve of a very pert ass beneath it. Her gorgeous hair spilled across the sofa cushions.
His gut tightened with need as he took in the sight of the sleeping beauty on his sofa.
She looked sleepy and comfortable …
And sexy as hell.
Reaching for the throw over the back of the couch, he brought it down over her, careful not to touch her.
She was too young for him.
Not to mention his brother’s soon-to-be sister-in-law.
And he was her boss.
That she was a beautiful woman must be ignored.
Switching off the TV, he stood back, not making a move to leave, apparently hypnotized by the sight of her lovely face relaxed in sleep.
Earlier, he’d watched her face as she animatedly read a book to Eilidh. She was brilliant at acting it out and doing all the voices, and she’d even made him chuckle.
The image of her laughing face, those dimples deepening in her apple cheeks, made him harder.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he quietly stumbled upstairs. “Just a bit drunk,” he reassured himself. That was all. He wasn’t actually attracted to his twenty-five-year-old nanny.
He was a better man than that.
10
Regan
Still getting nasty side-eye from thirsty single moms.
I tried not to smirk as I sent off the text to Robyn. A couple seconds later, my cell buzzed in my hand.
Lachlan wondered what I was laughing at so I told him. He thinks it’s hilarious. Is prob gonna tell Thane.
Oh, no. He wouldn’t. He better not.
It was bad enough hiding my ever-increasing crush on the man. He didn’t need to know there was a group of single moms at Ardnoch Primary School who clearly had Thane in their sights. Over three weeks ago, at the end of my first complete week working as the nanny, and after these moms had eyeballed me at the school gates every morning and afternoon, two of them made an approach to ask who I was. At first, I thought they were just looking out for Eilidh and Lewis. While the school was big enough to accommodate all the outlying settlements around Ardnoch, it wasn’t massive. And I already knew from Robyn that everybody knew each other here. Naive me thought they were being friendly.
“I’m Regan Penhaligon.” I’d offered a hand to the attractive older blond who introduced herself as Michelle.
“Any relation to Lachlan Adair’s fiancée?” her brunette companion asked.
“Her sister.”
“And you’re … watching the children for Thane?” the blond queried.
“I’m his new live-in nanny.”
Abruptly, the atmosphere turned frosty and their smiles grew tight. They dragged their gazes down my body in that way women did when they wanted you to feel judged.
And there I was thinking how awesome their Scottish accents were and how I liked Michelle’s modern take on preppy style.
Then it got worse. “Just the nanny?” The brunette arched an eyebrow.
I raised an eyebrow right back at her. “No. I also cook and clean.”
Having been taught by the master (Robyn) how to out-stare someone, the brunette lost our match and looked away, her lips pursed.
Michelle gave me another tight smile. “You’re awfully young to be a nanny, are you not?”
Damn, she had a cool accent. It was a thicker brogue, a bit like Mac’s. Pity her accent was cooler than she was.
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Oh, you look younger than that.” The brunette’s expression was suspicious, as if she didn’t believe me. What the hell?
“Aye, we thought you were just out of high school.”
Yeah, right. What was going on here?
“We’ve known Thane a long time,” the brunette said haughtily. “We really do miss him at the school gates. Will he not be coming back, then?”
My suspicions built. “Not in the immediate future.”
The bell rang, and thankfully the women scampered back to their companions who leaned in to hear what they’d discovered in their reconnaissance mission. I rolled my eyes and tried to forget them, excited for Eilidh and Lewis to come out of the school.
“Don’t worry about them,” an English-accented voice said.
I’d glanced to my left to see an attractive guy grinning mischievously at me. He had longish brown hair and dark eyes. “Excuse me?”
He jerked his chin in the direction of Michelle and the three other women. “Thirsty single mothers.”
“Excuse me?” I repeated.
“Thane Adair is sexy, wealthy, and a single father. Not just any single father—a widow. Bleeding hearts love that. Plus, he’s an Adair. That name has gravitas in these parts.”
My suspicions were confirmed. “They all have their sights set on Thane?”
“Yes.” The man smirked, his eyes dropping down my body but not in the insulting way Michelle and her friends’ gazes had. “They’re not happy to hear you’re living with him as his nanny.”
At my confused expression, he chuckled. “You have looked in a mirror, yes?”
The blood in my cheeks turned hot. As arrogant as it might sound to admit it out loud, I knew I was pretty. I’d never lacked for boyfriends. But I’d never prioritized physical appearance. The guys I’d dated all had one thing in common: charisma. Other than that, they’d been totally different in the looks department. Some typically good-looking like Maddox, and some made attractive by his inner sexiness rather than overt handsomeness.
Anyway, I hadn’t expected to find myself back in high school in a small village in the Scottish Highlands, hated on because I was dating the sexiest guy in school. And this time, I wasn’t even dating him—I was working for him.
“Jesus,” I muttered, throwing them a look. “They think I’m a threat?”
“Aren’t you?”
Perhaps it was because I hadn’t quite been able to talk myself out of a crush on Thane that I snapped, “Of course not. Thane’s a gentleman. He’s my boss, that’s all.”
The guy raised his hands, his gaze flicking to the school doors as the kids flooded out. “Hey, I meant nothing by it. I’m Will, by the way. My fiancé works for Thane’s brother at the estate. Jock. He’s on the security team.”
Jock, as in Sarge? “You’re Sarge’s fiancé?”
Will chuckled. “He told me you call him that. And yes. That little munchkin running toward me is Adam!” he said, just as a boy who looked like a mini version of Jock jumped into his arms. “How was school?”
“Fine.” The boy eyed me shyly. “Glad it’s over.”
I smiled at him, but I was watching for Eilidh and Lewis.
“Your little one is just coming.” Will pointed out Eilidh in the crowd. “She and Adam are in class together, so I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
I’d waved goodbye to Will and Adam just as Eilidh ran up and wrapped her arms around my legs. She threw her head back, grinning up at me, and announced, “It’s Friday!”
Shaking myself out of the memory of that first full week as Thane’s nanny, I shot the four women a look. Even though I knew all their names now, I kept referring to them as the thirsty single moms since Will first called them that. Will,
I’d discovered, was an artist, and not only did I fall in love with his paintings, but I was kind of in love with him. We grabbed a quick coffee after school drop-off twice a week when we’d chat about everything and nothing. He’d told me all about Jock getting his ex-girlfriend pregnant and how they’d met when Will moved to Ardnoch to set up his gallery. He didn’t go into too much detail, but I could read between the lines that Jock had a tough time accepting he was bisexual. Eventually, though, he came out to his family and moved in with Will.
During all of it, he’d battled for full custody of Adam because of his ex-girlfriend’s heroin addiction. There was so much evidence of neglect that he won.
Will was a great buffer between me and the thirsty moms, but he, Jock, and Adam were on vacation in the Caribbean for two weeks, so I was alone at the gates this week.
My sister didn’t text back, which meant Lachlan was totally telling Thane about the moms. Not that it mattered. If they were this obvious with me, how obvious were they with Thane?
Another glance over. I caught the brunette’s eye—her name was Laura—and smiled.
She frowned like she didn’t know what to do with that.
Whatever. Looking down again, I sent Robyn a link to a wedding designer in Edinburgh. While I’d been nannying and housekeeping my ass off this past month, I’d also been helping Robyn plan her wedding. Everything was going smoothly, considering they were getting married at Ardnoch Castle and using the estate’s resources for that. But we still had bridal-party wear, décor, music, band, invitations, and all that to sort out. They were having a spring wedding, only seven months away.
Two minutes later, the bell rang and I put my cell away. For once, Lewis reached me first.
“Hey, buddy, good day?”
He shrugged. “It was okay.”
I rested a hand on his shoulder, pulling him to my side and inwardly cursing Mrs. Welsh to hell. While Connor’s mom filed a complaint and Mrs. Welsh had issued an apology, she was still “impatient and mean.” I felt powerless, hating that Lewis disliked school so much because of her. In fifth grade, I had an awful teacher who made me feel stupid all the time, and she’d seriously made me hate school. Until that year, I’d loved school. I didn’t want that to happen to Lewis.
There With You Page 12
