Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVE
ADDISON
It was all I could do not to stare at Alex Noble the entire ride to Looking Glass Falls. He’s wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt and swim trunks that reveal way too much of his rich brown skin and its perfect bronze undertones. Inky black tattoos adorn both arms, and each time he turned the steering wheel, the movement of muscles under his skin drew my eyes like a magnet. I had the overpowering urge to lean over and lick his arm—then move my way up to his neck and feel his short facial scruff against my skin. By the time we arrived, my swimsuit was already wet in one very specific area.
We find the boys waiting impatiently at the foot of the stairs, and Alex takes the hand of each of the younger boys to guide them over the slick rocks to the shallow end of the swimming hole. Aiden easily hops from rock to rock ahead of them while I settle on a dry rock with our things and watch them all wade into the water.
“Addison!” Aiden waves at me once the water reaches his thighs. “Go under the waterfall with me! It’s really fun!”
Mr. Noble swivels his head and lifts his chin at me in a silent invitation. Since he’s keeping track of Everett and Tristan, I have no choice but to join Aiden as he continues venturing toward the roaring waterfall. Looks like my plan to keep my cover-up on the entire day is a lost cause. My nipples pucker at the thought of Mr. Noble seeing me in my suit, and I hope to God he has terrible eyesight.
I stand and awkwardly pull the black dress over my head, hoping my bathing suit’s dark color hides my slightly aroused state. The suit itself is about as conservative as it gets. A one-piece black number with an attached ruffle skirt to, hopefully, cover my ass—my way-too-ample ass. I self-consciously adjust the straps and don’t dare let my gaze travel to my boss as I wade into the freezing water. But I don’t need to look his way to know his eyes are on me—and I mean on me. I can feel it down to my core. And there go my damn nipples again. Shit! At least I can pretend it’s the water temperature causing them to spring to life this time.
I scramble for what to do and finally settle on diving under the frigid water and swimming toward Aiden. “Who wants to get dunked?!” I shout when my head breaks through the surface.
The falls were utter torture.
Alex—he insisted by the time we left that I stop calling him Mr. Noble—was not only sexy as sin in his swim trunks with all that exposed wet skin, but he was downright adorable with his kids. They climbed all over him, and he tossed them around in the water like they weighed nothing before letting them dunk him under the waterfall a dozen times.
My heart swells at the loving, familial picture they make, and I question the sanity of any woman missing out on all that this remarkable family has to offer. I’m more determined than ever to find out where in the hell this Taren woman is.
It also brings my thoughts to my own family and how damned dysfunctional we’ve always been. This, right here, is the family life I’ve always longed for. Not the wealth but the loving acceptance and easiness.
“Right,” Alex says, bringing me out of my thoughts. “You wait here with Tristan. Everett and I will race Aiden, and then Everett and Tristan can switch places.”
We’re at the go-kart place, the deafening growl of motors whizzing past mixing with peals of laughter from kids and adults alike. Tristan stands at my side, arms crossed and an adorable little scowl on his face as his brothers don helmets and prepare to ride.
“Wait. What?” I ask.
Alex huffs out a breath of impatience as if I’m a child who isn’t listening. Granted, I’m not, but that isn’t why I stopped him.
“I can’t take both younger boys at once, so they’ll have to take turns,” he explains carefully, clearly wondering—not for the first time—if resumés were confused and he ended up with an idiot for a nanny.
I shake my head. “I know that. What I mean is, where’s my helmet? And Tristan’s? We’re going to race you guys.”
His head jerks back in surprise, his brown eyes widening. “You are?”
It’s my turn to huff. “Of course. I have opposable thumbs, don’t I?” I bring both hands up for emphasis and add, “I’m a woman, not a child. I can drive.”
That brings a grin to his face as his gaze blatantly runs over my body from head to toe and my face flames like a three-alarm fire. “You certainly are,” he says in a low whisper before turning around and going to retrieve two more helmets.
Just for that, we’re going to kick their asses. I drop my eyes to Tristan, whose little face has transformed into the absolute picture of joy and excitement. “Ready?”
He throws himself at me in answer, and I pick him up for a bear hug. “Let’s do this thing!”