Chapter 5
five
GREER
Greer looked up from being bent over the kitchen table, her nose buried in books from her night classes, and spotted Nathalie coming directly into the kitchen through the garage door. Greer’s breath caught. She’d seen Nathalie when she’d gone out, but somehow, she’d gotten more gorgeous in the interceding hours.
Her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders in curls that seemed to go on for days. She moved comfortably in the tight navy-blue dress that V’d all the way down to below her breast line, showing off her ample cleavage that somehow fit the dress perfectly and looked like they were just begging to be touched. Greer’s pulse quickened, hitting in her throat as she struggled to find words.
Nathalie tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled sweetly at Greer. “How was he tonight?”
Who? Greer couldn’t form a single word if she wanted to. And when Nathalie walked even closer to her, the lines of her legs showed in the slit of the dress and the soft meshy material over the dark blue shifted with each sway of her hips.
“Did I catch you in the middle of something?” Nathalie asked, but it was obvious that she was coy and knew exactly what she was doing to Greer.
Clearing her throat, Greer glanced down at the books on the kitchen table. “I was just uh… studying.”
Nathalie nodded and put her hand on one of the books and slid it so that she could read it. “Hmm, this sounds boring.”
“Probably no more boring than the anatomy books you had to read when studying,” Greer countered, flicking her gaze up and trying not to have her eyes snag on those stunning breasts before meeting Nathalie’s eyes. She was unfortunately unsuccessful. And again, she was damn sure that Nathalie knew it. Her cheeks heated.
“I do suppose the interests of the reader matter.” Nathalie slid the book back around. “How much longer until you finish your MBA?”
“At this rate? Three semesters. I’m taking my time.” Greer smiled up at her.
Nathalie quirked her lips slightly. “Then I suppose you’ll want a newer, better job.”
“No,” Greer answered, honestly. “But I would like to know how to organize better and maybe have a backup plan if parents decide I’m too old to be a nanny. But I love my job, Nathalie, and I’m not about to give it up for anything.”
“Good to know.” Nathalie glanced out the kitchen window, a devious look crossing her features when she spied the lights outside. “I have company coming over tonight. I hope you don’t mind. And if we’re too noisy or get in the way, let me know. This is your house too, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable here.”
“W-what?” Greer furrowed her brow, trying to keep up with everything that Nathalie had just dumped into her lap.
“Company, Greer.” Nathalie placed her hand on top of Greer’s and squeezed. “I might be perpetually single, but I’m not a nun.”
“Oh.” Realization dawned in Greer’s very slow and tired brain. “I’ll uh… make myself scarce then.”
“How was Alaric tonight? He didn’t struggle to go to bed without me here, did he?”
And there was the parent that Greer knew she could rely on. Nathalie was notoriously sharp and abrupt with everyone else except with Alaric, and even the other kids most days. She ran a strict house, keeping everything going and sticking to a timeline. She seemed to be the only one of the three managing that.
“He was perfect, as always.”
Nathalie chuckled lightly. “Not always, but I appreciate the compliment.” She patted Greer’s hand again when the doorbell rang. Frowning, Nathalie shook her head. “I told him not to ring the bell. I didn’t want Alaric to wake up.”
Nathalie immediately glided out of the kitchen, her hips and ass looking stunning in that dress. It did absolutely everything for her body, and Greer was going to look since Nathalie couldn’t see her gawking now. But holy fuck, her bosses were hot, and Greer was ever so happy that she got the chance to see them like this—in their element and happy.
It was a little window into their worlds.
Nathalie didn’t say anything, and something in Greer’s gut set her off. Standing up, she made her way to the front hallway and the front door. Nathalie stood with the door open, the front porch light on, and a man who definitely didn’t look like someone Nathalie would be dating. She held an envelope in her hand.
Nathalie looked over her shoulder at Greer, worry crossing her features before they were masked instantly. She took the envelope and shut and locked the door behind the man. She walked straight to Greer, a frown deep on her lips and her head down as she stared at the envelope in her fingers.
“Who was that?” Greer asked, never more sure that it wasn’t who Nathalie had been expecting.
“Process server,” Nathalie answered, not taking her gaze from the envelope in her hand.
Greer’s heart kicked up, and her throat closed in a bit, making it hard to breathe. “You’re being sued?”
“Apparently.” Nathalie breathed deeply, finally looking up into Greer’s eyes. “Don’t worry about it. This happens more often in my line of work than you might expect.”
But Greer wasn’t buying that. There was something in Nathalie’s gaze that had her worried, and that in turn, worried Greer.
“Come on. I’d like a drink before I open this.” Nathalie touched Greer’s arm lightly as she walked around her and back toward the kitchen. But Nathalie didn’t make herself a drink. She sat down next to where Greer had set up her makeshift study room and stared at the envelope. “Here goes nothing.”
Greer slid into the chair she’d occupied before. But she couldn’t take her eyes off Nathalie, and that worried look was haunting her. Nathalie never let her emotions show—ever—so to see them now was unnerving.
Nathalie said nothing as she slid her finger under the back and opened it up. Inside was a stack of papers that had been threatening to burst the envelope open even without Nathalie’s intrusion. Greer bit her lip as she waited for some kind of answer.
“It’s not a patient…” Nathalie murmured, reading through the document quickly. “This is personal.”
“Someone’s suing you personally?” Greer wanted to rip the papers from Nathalie’s fingers and read them for herself, but she resisted the urge. Sitting here and waiting for the explanation was so damn hard.
“Yes.” Nathalie dropped the papers onto the table. Were her hands trembling? “Penny Villegas.”
“Are you serious?” Greer still wanted to snatch the papers up and read them, but she wasn’t a part of this family.
Nathalie hummed and crossed her arms over her chest in a protective move that Greer would recognize from any distance. “She wants the fifty percent of Ivy’s share of the company that she feels she’s owed.”
Nathalie stood up sharply, the chair screeching as she pushed it back with force. Greer followed her, needing to make sure that she was okay. Nathalie spun around, facing Greer down, anger in her eyes now. Her cheeks hollowed out and she clenched her jaw.
“Where does she get off thinking she has any right to it?” Nathalie’s voice reverberated around the kitchen.
Greer came to a halt. She had no clue what to say. She didn’t know that much about Ivy’s divorce other than it was contentious and that Ivy had left the practice, selling her shares to Nathalie and Lachlan, right before she filed for divorce two years ago.
“Fucking hell,” Nathalie said, again loudly enough that Greer wondered if Alaric would wake up to her rage. “Can’t she just leave well enough alone already? She’s torturing Ivy over this, like it’s some sick joke that she can’t get enough of.”
“She does seem to have it out to hurt Ivy,” Greer commented.
“She does! It’s ridiculous. There’s no reason she could possibly want part of the practice. She hates it. She’s always hated it, and when we went into business together, she thought we would fail in the first year.” Nathalie paced through the kitchen. “She just wants to hurt all of us. That’s her goal. Hurt us until we can’t bleed anymore.”
“Mommy?”
Nathalie jumped a full foot in the air, spinning around. “Baby, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry.” She reached out for Alaric and pulled him into a hug.
“You were yelling.” Alaric frowned as he hugged her hip. “Are you mad at Greer?”
“No, not at all, baby.” Nathalie’s tone instantly softened, and when she looked up at Greer, she had a sad look in her gaze followed quickly by an apologetic one. “I don’t think I could ever be upset with Greer.”
Those words were said directly to Greer, and they hit her hard in the heart. Greer stepped forward and put her hand on Alaric’s shoulder. “Come on, bud. I’ll take you back to bed.”
Nathalie shook her head slowly. “No. We need to go to Ivy’s and since he’s already awake…”
“But your da?—”
Nathalie jerked her chin up a cold look crossing her gaze. “We’ll go to Ivy’s, okay?” She said to Alaric, not moving her gaze from Greer. “Why don’t you go get jammies on since you stripped down to your underwear and find a stuffy to bring. You can sleep over with Leon.”
“Okay,” Alaric answered sleepily.
He walked, still half asleep, away from them. Greer went to follow him, but Nathalie snapped her hand out and snagged Greer’s wrist. “We need to talk.”
“All right?” Greer’s stomach plummeted. What had she done wrong? But more important than that, what were the consequences going to be? She didn’t want to be out on her ass looking for a new job already, although she doubted it would come to that at this moment in time. She hadn’t screwed up that bad, and they desperately needed her, that much was obvious.
Nathalie didn’t let go of Greer’s wrist, but she did soften her grasp. They were standing nearly side to side, and Nathalie had to look up at Greer. Even in heels, she was considerably shorter than Greer.
“I don’t talk about my sex life in front of my kid.”
“Understandable,” Greer answered, cold washing through her. Nathalie’s gaze was all fire and nothing else. Going from being so angry about the injustice that Ivy was facing and that they were all being pulled into this was nearly too much for Greer to handle. She’d never been so turned on by another woman’s anger before, but she had to admit that it was damn sexy on Nathalie.
“I don’t mention dates. I don’t mention evenings out. I don’t talk about it.”
“Okay,” Greer said in understanding. “Then I won’t. I didn’t know.”
“Now you do.” Nathalie breathed deeply, her breasts pushing against the fabric of her dress, and Greer’s gaze dropped immediately to them. She couldn’t stop herself, and she hated that she couldn’t. This really wasn’t the time for that—it never would be with her boss. “I’ll deal with my…date…when he finally decides to show up. He didn’t leave the restaurant that long after I did.”
Nathalie didn’t move to step away, though. In fact, she seemed to lean imperceptibly closer. Or was that just Greer’s imagination? Nathalie’s tongue peeked out between her lips, sliding across her lower one before disappearing back inside her mouth.
“You really should stop looking at me like that.” Nathalie’s voice lowered to just above a whisper.
“L-like what?” Greer asked, so breathy and her heart racing. She could barely keep up with what was happening right now.
“Like you’re the one who wants to take me upstairs and find out just how un-nun-like I am.”
Greer’s cheeks burned. Her eyes widened. “I didn’t… I thought… shit.”
“ Shit’s right.” Nathalie cocked her head to the side, a glint of humor in her gaze, and it was more stunning than ever right now.
The knock on the door was exactly what Greer needed right then—a distraction from whatever was happening between her and Nathalie. Except Nathalie didn’t move right away. She hummed softly, and it sent a wave of arousal straight through Greer that ended right between her legs. She swallowed and tried to wet her suddenly parched mouth.
“You’re not doing a very good job,” Nathalie added, a slight tease now. “I suggest working on that one. You were quite obvious when I was leaving earlier.”
Another knock.
Nathalie made a little noise in the back of her throat before she released Greer’s wrist and took a step back. The spell that she’d woven was broken in an instant. Greer’s face was on fire from embarrassment. But she literally couldn’t speak if her life depended on it right now. Nathalie headed straight for the front door, and when Greer caught sight of Alaric coming back into the room, she beckoned him over to her.
She could do one damn thing today, and that would be keeping the secret that Nathalie was a sexual woman out of the eyes of her son. And Greer would do that. She hugged Alaric to her side and scratched her fingers lightly against his back and shoulders. He was so sleepy still. Greer glanced at the papers on the table and then collected them together, shoving them back into the envelope. She was fairly certain that Nathalie was going to want to bring those with her.
“I’m going to change.” Nathalie locked her eyes on Greer’s. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“Right.” Greer still could barely find her voice, and that direct look at her from Nathalie was saying more than words right now.
With Nathalie walking away and up the stairs, Greer was at a complete loss. She’d really just fucked this up, hadn’t she? It was way too late to call Kam, but they were going to need at least a full hour to hash out this shit that Greer had just found herself in. Cringing, Greer sat down heavily in the chair and pulled Alaric onto her lap to cradle him.
He was nearly asleep by the time Nathalie came back in much more comfortable and modest clothing. Still, Greer’s heart raced at the sight of her. She was wrapped in a long-sleeved sweater top, a tight white shirt, no bra because Greer could definitely see her hard nipples through it, and leggings that left nothing to the imagination.
“Come on, Bud. Let’s go see Ivy.”