Chapter 23 Evan #2
A soft tinkling laugh releases from her mouth.
“Oh, no reason.” She waves at my son and Bennett, widening her eyes just the tiniest at me before she spins on her heel and begins walking down the hall with Sam by her side.
His arm drapes itself over her shoulder, but she grabs it and places it back down by his side.
Bennett slings his arm around me, laughter bubbling up his throat. “I’m guessing you don’t have any plans tonight?”
“Um, I have a whole bunch of admin I need to do. House stuff.” I arch an eyebrow at him. “Why?”
“Because we’re going to spy on them. You in? Actually, don’t answer that, you don’t have a choice.”
“I’m not spying on my nanny, Quinn.”
Okay, so I’m spying on my nanny.
“Gherk! Gherk! Gherks are yuck!” Leo chants as I take the lid off his baby burger, peeling the gherkins from it and popping them into my mouth.
“It isn’t often I agree with a child when it comes to food, but that kid is very much correct. Gherkins are yuck.” Bennett opens up his own burger that Amber, the waitress, put down in front of him and discards his own gherkins, throwing them onto my plate.
“God, it’s like having two children instead of one,” I mutter as I squirt some mayonnaise onto Leo’s plate for his fries.
“Shh!” Bennett widens his eyes at me. “You’re talking too loudly. We’re supposed to be undercover when spying on your hot, new love interest, so keep it down. We don’t want to get spotted.” He ducks down for dramatic effect while whispering, and I roll my eyes.
Amber seated us in the furthest seat away from the bar at Bennett’s request, but The Salty Dog is hardly full, so it’s not like we’re blending in, especially with Leo giggling as Bennett puts his fries under his gums and pretends to be a vampire.
Idiot.
“They’re not even here yet, and she's not my new love interest.”
“Yeah, sure. You agreed to come, so that says a lot, Evan.” He smiles at me. “You want a step-mommy, Leo?”
My kid doesn’t quite know what he’s talking about, but nods anyway, mouth full of mushed-up burger and fries that he’s distracted with.
“Don’t ask my kid questions like that.”
Mae smiles at us from the bar, and she gives me a knowing look because my guess is that Flo informed her of her spur-of-the-moment date, and it’s definitely not a coincidence I’m here, too. I’m never here.
Flo and Sam finally walk in, and they immediately seat themselves at the bar, with Sam pulling her chair out for her like the gentleman he apparently is. Bet he won’t be much of a gentleman if he takes her to bed, though.
I gulp at the thought, fingers turning white as they grip onto the dark mahogany table. I wish I had some super glue to stick myself to this seat because I am so close to standing up and storming over there, especially when Sam tells her how great Flo looks this evening.
She doesn’t react to it much, eyes flitting over the menu before she orders a Sex on the Beach from her friend, lips quirking with amusement.
“Make that two of those, please, Mae.” Sam holds up two fingers, and Mae begins working on the drinks.
My fingers curl around the glass of beer I’ve barely touched, and I shift on my chair, realising how pathetic I must look to my teammates.
At the grand age of thirty-three, I’ve been roped into spying on my nanny on a date—not that I put up much of a fight—even though I claim I’m not jealous in the slightest.
Flo’s hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail, with wispy bits sitting on either side of her face.
She’s not dolled up or anything—she doesn’t even need to try—but the aura she emits is so natural.
Effortless. Like she’s some kind of siren who loves the idea of having me wrapped around her little finger.
I know she doesn’t care much about what Sam thinks of her. I can tell by how she angles her chin towards me, allowing her eyes to slice over to our table for just a second, before she puts that knowing smile down and focuses on whatever Sam is saying.
Busted.
“Do you think she saw us?” Bennett whispers, and I turn to him with a deadpan expression.
“Of course she saw us, you idiot.” Taking a large gulp of my beer, I close my eyes for a few seconds and rub the spot between them.
“Man, no one’s gonna judge you if you get down and dirty with your nanny, okay? If you want her, go over there and show Sam he’s overstepping a line.”
“Did you just say get down and dirty?”
“I sure did. Now, stop changing the subject. Either you’re too jealous to watch Flo with another man, or you’re happy for Sam to make his move, and we both know his success rate when it comes to women.”
“Flo’s not like other women,” I remind him.
“You just proved my point, West.” Bennett turns to my son now. “Leo, will you tell your daddy to stop living with his tail between his legs and to go and snatch Flo away from Sam?”
Leo blinks, gazing at Bennett with confusion.
“Leo,” Bennett tries again, “will you tell your daddy to go!”
My son grins at me, pointing in the same direction Bennett is, letting out a loud, “Go!”
It catches Flo’s attention, and she titters into her glass.
But then Sam reaches forward and places his hand over Flo’s spread one on the table. It’s intimate, and something pings inside me.
“Is that enough to make you go over there?”
My chair is already scraping back. “Yup.” I pop the ‘p’ and within a few strides, I’m invading Sam and Flo’s space, causing Flo to tilt her head up to me, a curve tugging her plush lips.
“Took you long enough, West,” Sam murmurs over the rim of his glass, glancing at his watch.
“Six minutes on the dot. Stewed in your possessiveness enough?” He’s smiling now.
“We’ll look after Leo for the evening. You’re welcome.
” Standing, he pats my back and takes his drink with him to Bennett’s table, where he plonks his ass down next to my son and ruffles his hair.
Flo pivots towards me in her peeling leather stool. She looks somewhat surprised by Sam’s comment, but then she smiles, hitching an eyebrow up. “Possessiveness looks good on you.”
“I hated every second of that. We’re going home.”
Flo freezes mid-sip of her drink, glass frozen in the air.
Home.
It slipped off the tongue. I know this isn’t Flo’s permanent home, but it feels like it is. Right now, it is. And I’ll take that.
“You caught me on a good day because usually, I’d never listen to what a man tells me to do,” she says as she gathers her things and thanks a smirking Sam for the drink from across the bar.
With my chest rumbling, I lean down to whisper in her ear, “Wasn’t the case the other night, though, was it, trouble?”
And after quickly briefing Leo on how to behave for the guys, since he’s begging Bennett and Sam to take him to go and see Whisker Wheelers 2 in 3D for the second time, which they reluctantly agree to after I give them Leo’s car seat, Flo and I head home in my car. Alone.
“Fancy a late-night swim?” Flo’s cheeks pinch as she grins, and I flash her a look.
“You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?”