Chapter Eight
Duncan
"Dad, I want us all to get on the slide."
"Buddy, you said you were old enough to do it yourself."
"I know, but I've seen other parents do it."
"I'll go with you," Riley said, then turned to me. "Come on, Duncan. It's going to be fun."
I focused on the brownie I was about to eat, shoving it into my mouth and chewing slowly.
Today, I thought I’d surprise Jeremy, but I'd been the one surprised by how sexy Riley was in that bikini.
I was also shocked by my visceral reaction to her.
I actively avoided looking at her, though I was starting to accept that I didn't have as much control over my body as I thought. At least not where Riley was concerned.
"Come on, Duncan," she repeated when I didn’t budge. "It's good to let your inner child come out to play from time to time."
I swallowed the brownie, then looked her straight in the face. As long I maintained eye contact and didn’t look at her body, I was safe.
"You don't know how to do that?" she teased.
"I honestly don't."
"Pools are for fun."
I rose to my feet. "I relax by swimming."
"Ha, but see, that's the difference. I wasn't talking about relaxing but about having fun. And going down the slide, well… the thrill is not knowing if you're going to face-plant or dive in feet first."
"And that's fun for you?"
She grinned. "Obviously. I like the unknown."
Her enthusiasm was catchy. "Okay, fine. Let's go."
Jeremy screeched with joy.
Damn it, I was an ass. When he’d told me two years ago that he wanted to do it alone, I’d assumed that he really meant it. But maybe he'd simply noticed that I didn't enjoy the slide and wanted to please me.
Jeremy went first up the ladder, and Riley climbed in front of me. I nearly walked face-first into her perfect, round ass. I’ll never know how I managed to bite back a groan.
I looked sideways as I went, trying to think more about the upcoming call I needed to make, then numbers and more numbers. I needed to distract myself. Her bikini was simple, but her body made it breathtaking. I was so attracted to her that I could barely get my thoughts together.
"Okay, Dad, you first," Jeremy said once we were all at the top. "Then you can catch me."
"All right.” The sooner I got off this platform, the better. There wasn’t enough space for us all, and I was far too close to Riley. I lowered myself and went down the slide.
"Oh, Jeremy, pity we don't have a camera," Riley said loudly.
I looked over my shoulder as I flew down the slide. "What do you mean?"
I hit the water as gracefully as a whale and swallowed a mouthful of water. When I got up, I saw that Riley and Jeremy had succumbed to a fit of laughter.
My entire body instantly relaxed. I hadn't seen my boy laugh like this with anyone besides my youngest brothers.
It was great that he and Riley hit it off so well, but I couldn't see any way of persuading her to continue being his nanny once her new job started. I knew lawyers worked crazy hours, so it definitely wouldn’t work.
Then Jeremy pointed to the slide, and Riley hurtled downward. I reacted far too late. She slid down so quickly that she slammed right into me. I instantly gripped her arms, pulling her up. She burst out laughing, spewing water straight into my face.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry."
"Are you hurt?" I asked.
She opened her eyes. "Wait, let me rub my eyes. I got some water in them.” Closing them, she wiped the backs of her knuckles across them before opening them once more. “No, I'm not hurt. Are you? I slammed into you, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did."
"Oops, I'm sorry. Rule number one, always get away from the slide once you land.” She waved me forward. “Come on, let's move."
I chuckled. "Really? Now you're all about rules?"
She smiled sheepishly.
"Why did you distract me when I was deciding on the best way to go down the slide?"
"Oh, Duncan. You don't see anything wrong in that sentence? 'Deciding on the best way to go down the slide'? It's meant to be fun!"
“Okay, that does sound wrong," I admitted. When did I become such a stick-in-the-mud? I’d always thought I was the cool brother—responsible, yes, but cool. Now I was worried about myself.
"Yes, but we’ll loosen you up yet," she teased.
Jeremy didn't come down the slide right away, and I realized that he was talking to a neighbor friend of his, Andreas.
"Those two are going to chat for a while, probably exchanging stories about Spider-Man," I said. "Let's you and I move away from the slide and give them space."
She nodded.
We headed to the edge of the pool. Instead of taking the stairs, Riley pushed herself up on the edge… or at least tried to. She gasped and then dropped back into the water. She was holding her hands weirdly around the left strap of her bra.
"What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, my swim top came undone," she said.
Numbers. Think numbers, Duncan.
It wasn’t working.
“I think I can tie it back," she mumbled.
She was red in the cheeks as she straightened up. She clumsily tried to tie it behind her neck, then let out a frustrated groan.
"I can do it," I said.
"Oh, thank you. I don’t want to accidentally flash anyone."
Her words were like gasoline poured on fire. The idea of seeing her without a bra was intoxicating.
"Turn around," I commanded.
I sucked in a deep breath as she twirled, pulling her hair to one side. It had come undone from her bun when she came down the slide.
I pulled at the elastic strings, knotting them.
Her skin was smooth beneath my fingertips.
I was trying my best not to touch it, but it was impossible.
While I did a second knot—to make sure this didn't happen again—the backs of my fingers brushed her.
There was no mistaking her reaction. She shuddered as her skin turned to goose bumps, then sucked in a breath.
Fuck, she felt the tension between us too. I wasn't imagining it.
"Is it okay if I turn around?" she whispered.
"Yes."
I was so deep under her spell that I didn’t realize until it was too late that the gentlemanly thing would be to take a step back and put some distance between us.
Slowly, she turned to face me. My mouth almost brushed hers, and she gasped again.
I looked at her mouth for a split second. What would happen if I kissed her right here, right now? Pinned her against the edge of the pool and devoured her the way I want to?
She took a step back and cast her gaze downward. Her breathing was labored. Then she turned to the slide, looking at Jeremy.
"He's not coming down any time soon, is he?"
Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at the top of the slide. He and his friend were sitting down cross-legged. Jeremy was gesticulating with his hands.
"No, he's probably telling him things about Spider-Man."
Riley laughed. "Yeah, that's the one thing that gets him so animated."
That impulse to kiss her intensified. How did she know my boy so well already?
"I used to be just like that when I was telling my sister my favorite stories growing up. She was much younger than me, so obviously we couldn't read them at the same time. I’d sit on the family couch in our trailer and do my best to reenact it. She loved it so much."
She grew up in a trailer? That sounded hard. "Was it just you and your sister, or do you have more siblings?"
"No, just that one sister. I think my parents wanted more kids, but they couldn't really afford it. We were cramped in the trailer as it was."
"Where did you grow up?" I asked.
"Florida."
"Do your parents still live there?"
She shook her head. "No. My dad took off when we were kids. Mom lives in Montana now, still in a trailer. One thing that's on my wish list once I've made it as a lawyer is to buy her her own place. She’d love that."
That was an ambitious goal, and I liked her even more for it. "You're a good person, Riley."
She shrugged. "Mom sacrificed a lot so my sister and I could go to the best schools. And let me tell you, that’s a hurdle when you live in a trailer and are barely making ends meet.”
I’d somehow moved close to her again. She half turned, glancing up at me. I couldn’t look away from her mouth. What has gotten into me?
When she licked her lips, I couldn't stifle a groan. She didn't miss it, her blush intensifying. She turned around, but I could still see the goose bumps on her arms when she raised them, waving. "Jeremy, come on. We're waiting."
He grinned and slid right down to us, landing in the water perfectly and then swimming toward me and Riley.
She’s Jeremy's nanny. She's much younger than you. She's completely off-limits. Get that through your thick skull.
Riley avoided my gaze as I got out of the pool for my phone call.
Fucking hell, I don’t want her to be uncomfortable. I need to get my shit together.
After she left later that afternoon, it was too late to cook, so Jeremy and I ordered pizza for dinner. While we waited for the delivery, we called his mother. He usually spoke to Shona either before or after dinner. I appreciated that she was flexible and never missed a call.
"Hi, Jeremy," she said. "Hey, Duncan."
"Mom, we were at the pool."
She chuckled. "I can see that. You have wet hair. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, we did.”
“He’s very proficient at the butterfly, although he was mostly on the slide today."
“I'm so proud of you, Jeremy," Shona said.
"I’ll leave the two of you to chat." I liked hanging around when they were on the phone, but I knew they were more at ease talking if I wasn't actively part of the conversation.
As I cleaned the table, I heard her saying, "I can't wait for you to come to Dublin."
Jeremy stayed with her for two weeks every summer.
"Me too. Is Jamie going to come with us on our adventures?”
Jamie was Shona’s boyfriend.
"Oh no, baby. I'm sorry. Jamie and I… well, we aren’t friends anymore."
I looked at Jeremy immediately. His smile fell. "But why?"
"Sometimes relationships between adults don't work out. But I have a new friend. I can't wait to introduce you to him."
My brothers didn't understand why I didn't introduce anyone to Jeremy, and this was proof that it was a bad idea. I didn’t want my son to get attached to someone, only to be disappointed when things didn’t work out.
My ex obviously wasn’t as concerned.
"Okay," Jeremy said, sounding confused as hell.
She was on her third boyfriend over the past three years, and it was taking a toll on him. It was one thing if she had someone stable in his life, but that hadn’t been the case, and I didn’t like it one bit.
Once he’d done his nightly routine and gone to sleep, I called Shona back.
"Hey, Duncan. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just figured we haven't spoken in a while."
"That's true,” she agreed. “So, how are things? Ms. Williams leaving wasn't great, huh? Especially with summer starting?"
"No, but that's fine. I've made new arrangements."
"Already? Wow, you always were very efficient."
"Listen, Shona?—"
"Oh, I knew it. I can feel it in your voice. You want to admonish me."
"Not exactly, but I would like to ask you again to be a bit more discreet when it comes to your love life with Jeremy."
She sighed. "Damn it. I knew I didn't handle that very well. Honestly, I didn't even think he'd remember my ex."
"While he's there with you, will it be possible not to introduce him to anyone you’re dating? It just confuses him."
There was a pause, and then she cleared her throat. "Duncan, I'm not introducing him to just anyone, okay? My ex and I were together for six months.”
“I want to give Jeremy as much stability as possible. That’s why I’ve never introduced him to anyone I’m dating." Which is no one, so it’s never been a problem.
Shona cleared her throat. "Well, you know, maybe you should."
"What?"
"Listen, I think he's old enough now to understand certain things. He always tells me that divorced parents at his school are dating, or even remarried.”
I blinked. “He's never shared that with me.”
"Kids share different things with each of their parents, but from the way he talks, it's obvious that he does understand the nuances and differences between… you know… husband and wife or a dad who’s just dating.
I'm not saying you should introduce him to everyone you go out with, of course.
But you're very hard on yourself, you know? "
"Always have been. It's the only way—" I replied.
"Oh, Duncan," Shona said on a sigh, interrupting my response. "It truly isn't. Just think about what I said, okay?” When I didn’t say anything else, she added, "Is that all?"
"Yeah."
"Then have a great evening, Duncan."
"You too."
No surprise that we still had different views on this.
If I started dating, it would take a toll on Jeremy, I was sure of it. He’d feel slighted. Besides, the way I’d handled things these past few years had served us well, and it kept Jeremy happy. I wasn't going to start doing things differently now.
No matter how tempting Riley was.