Chapter 12 Thane #2
Striding into the living area, I found Regan with her back to me at the stove, stirring a pot while another simmered.
She’d scraped her hair into a ponytail that brushed between her shoulder blades.
As she shifted, the hem of her cropped sweater revealed the smooth, golden skin of her slender back.
I swallowed hard as I realized how much I was noticing (and enjoying) the way her jeans highlighted her firm, round arse.
Yanking my eyes away, I looked to the living room and saw it was empty. Eilidh and Lewis were nowhere to be seen. The only noise came from the smart speaker that sat at the end of the kitchen counter. A woman’s low-toned voice sung out of it about two people finding each other in the stars.
“Where are the kids?”
Regan shot me a quick glance over her shoulder before returning to the pot. “Halloween party tonight, remember? I dropped them off at school twenty minutes ago.”
Unease filled me at her emotionless tone. “Did you get them ready okay? No drama?”
“No drama. They looked adorable. Robyn took some great photos.”
I could imagine. Eilidh wanted to go as a unicorn, and Regan had sourced a pastel, rainbow-hued dress with a tutu skirt that came with matching unicorn wings and a unicorn headband with a horn.
Eilidh loved it so much, I thought she was going to pass out with excitement when she saw it.
And Lewis hadn’t wanted to dress up, but all his friends were going as Marvel characters and they wanted him to go as Ant-Man.
Again, Regan had sourced the costume. I felt shit that I’d missed them going to the party, but I’d see them when I picked them up later.
“We’ll need to add the photos to the wall if they’re that good. ”
“They’re that good.” There was that emotionless tone again.
I dragged a hand down my beard, the long hairs reminding me I needed to trim the damn thing. But that would be after I smoothed things over with Regan.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you.” I stepped into the kitchen. “It wasn’t you I was angry with. It was Paul. He’s a sleazebag, and I didn’t want him talking to you.”
“Bit of an overreaction, no?” she replied, refusing to look at me.
Irritated that I couldn’t see her expression, I sighed. “Will you be an adult and face me when I’m talking to you?”
With angry, jerky movements, I watched Regan turn the stove down and then whip around, her arms crossed over her chest. “I am not one of your children. Do not speak to me like that. Ever.”
After the utter swine of a day, I did not want to argue with her. “I apologized. The mature thing to do is accept it.”
Regan’s eyes flashed, but as quickly as her ire appeared, she banked it. Using that annoying monotone again, she replied, “You’re right. My apologies. I’ll just get out of your hair. Your dinner is ready. You just need to plate it up.”
My heart hammered stupidly fast and as she moved to march past me, I reached for her without thinking. I wrapped a hand around her elbow, jerking her to a stop. Those gorgeous, warm brown eyes flew to mine, and I saw what she was trying to hide.
Hurt.
I’d hurt her feelings.
I experienced another sharp pang of regret. “Regan, I’m sorry. I’m being a bastard. It’s not an excuse, but I’ve had a hell of a twenty-four hours. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you by being a condescending prick.”
To my relief, she relaxed under my hold. Her eyes wandered over my face and sharpened. “What happened?”
“Just a long day.” I released her, and her attention dropped to my hand.
“Thane.” She reached for me, gently cradling my right hand in hers. My knuckles were swollen. The look she gave me demanded answers as she repeated, “What happened?”
“I told you, I’m fine,” I said, but secretly I enjoyed Regan fussing over me.
After I’d explained about hitting Paul, miraculously avoiding criminal charges but not avoiding the conversation with my boss about why I’d hit Paul, Regan had pushed me down onto the sofa and told me to wait.
Thankfully, Allan, my boss, liked me and did not like Paul. We received warnings for our behavior and that if anything like it happened again, we’d both face termination.
Knowing it could have gone so much worse, relief filled me.
Regan handed me a beer. “Take with your left hand, please.”
I grinned and sipped my beer, feeling better already. “Thanks.”
She flicked me a dark look as she sat down close beside me. “Right hand.”
My lips trembled from holding back another grin as I did as she demanded. Out of nowhere, she produced a small bag of frozen peas and crushed them over my knuckles.
“Fuck,” I bit out at the shock of the cold.
“We need to get the swelling down.” She held it over my hand.
“I can do it,” I said, though I wanted her to.
“You can’t drink a beer and hold ice over your hand.”
“Considering how angry you are, I’m surprised you don’t just leave me to it.”
She shrugged, relaxing into the sofa. Drawing her knees up, they touched my outer thigh. “I feel bad you had a nightmare day.”
“It’s better already.” I took another swig of beer, watching her over the top of it.
Regan smiled softly, her dimples just teasing an appearance. She was so beautiful, it knocked the wind out of me sometimes.
“I can’t believe you punched a guy in the face.”
Scowling, I looked away. “He deserved it.”
“What exactly did he say about me?”
“Nothing worth repeating.”
We sat in silence for a moment. “Well … thank you for defending my honor.”
At the teasing note in her voice, I replied, “I was defending both of us.”
She frowned but as just as quickly, her confusion cleared. Her lips parted on a little “oh.” “He insinuated you and I …”
I grunted my yes.
“He’s not the first one. Even Lachlan knows there’s gossip around the village about us.”
Anger and something a lot like guilt had me barking as I slammed my beer down on the nearby coffee table. “Who else is gossiping? I thought it was just those bloody women at the school?”
Regan tutted and moved a little closer, drawing me back against the couch. “No need to get worked up about it. They’re just spreading their jealous bile from the school gates to the entire village. Everyone thinks you’re sneaking into my annex at night.”
The imagery her words conjured caused an instant reaction in my body, and I flew from the sofa before I did something we’d both regret.
“Your hand.” Regan jumped from the couch just as I moved to walk away, and we collided.
I instinctively reached out to steady her as she dropped the frozen peas to grab onto my arms. We tensed against each other, her body tight to mine. I could feel the sharp rise and fall of her breasts, hear her quickened breathing, smell her skin.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered hoarsely as our fiery gazes connected.
And there it was, clear as day for me to see in those glittering, chestnut eyes.
Regan wanted me.
For a moment, a lust more powerful than I’d ever experienced clouded my mind.
My hands seemed to move down her waist with a mind of their own, tracing the gentle curve of her hips to her tight arse.
I gripped her in my hands and pulled her deeper against me, and she gasped at the feel of me hard and throbbing, pushing at her soft belly.
Bending my head toward her, desperate to taste her—finally—I was a mere whisper from her mouth when she broke the silence.
“Thane,” she moaned my name with so much need, a savage possessiveness flooded me.
“Thane, you in?” Lachlan’s voice cut through the house from the front entrance.
It was like being hammered by five thousand bags of frozen peas.
“Fuck,” I cursed, unable to believe what I’d just been about to do.
Regan stared up at me in confusion and then something like disappointment.
Oh, hell.
Before I could say another word, she slipped away, hurrying down the corridor behind the stairs, toward the side exit.
Still aroused, I scrambled for a large cushion on the sofa, snapped up the bag of peas, and sat down, covering my lap with the former and my knuckles with the latter.
Just in time.
My brother strode into the living room. “Robyn said the kids were at a Halloween party, so I thought I’d stop by, see if you fancied grabbing some food.” He frowned, his eyes going to the stove. “Looks like you’re already sorted for dinner, though.”
“Aye. Regan left it for me. Isn’t there a Halloween bash at the estate tonight?”
Lachlan shook his head as he wandered over to the stove. “We agreed to skip it this year after, well, Fergus and Lucy.”
I understood. One of Lachlan’s security guards had been murdered on the estate only a few months ago. The creepy Halloween party they usually put on at the castle would seem in poor taste this year.
“Chicken curry,” Lachlan announced, stirring the pot. “Enough for two.”
I laughed, trying to sound normal. “Grab us both a plate.” I held up my bruised knuckles and peas. “Had a bit of an incident.”
My brother frowned. “I’ll plate up, you explain. Want another beer?”
“Can’t. Picking up the kids from the party in a wee while.”
“Can’t Regan do that?”
Scowling, I snapped, “No, Regan can’t do it. She’s not my beck-and-call girl.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lachlan set out two plates. “I never said she was. You’re in a fucking mood.”
With a sigh, I slumped into the sofa. “It’s been a day.”
“Tell me.”
It took the length of the story about Paul for reality to cool my libido. I did not, however, mention my interlude with Regan. What the hell had I been thinking? I’d almost kissed her. Though burying my arousal in her stomach seemed worse than a kiss, anyway.
“I can’t remember the last time you lost the plot like that,” Lachlan observed as I sat down at the island with him to eat. My brother ate a forkful of chicken curry and rice. “Regan cook this?”
I nodded.
“She’s not bad at all.”
“I know. She’s been a godsend.”
And I’m the vile bastard who nearly took advantage of her.
“Is that why you cracked Paul in the face? Or is the village gossip getting to you?”
“How bad is the gossip? I wasn’t even aware of it until tonight.”
Lachlan shrugged. “People daren’t say to my face, but you know I have my ways. They’re all twittering about you being shacked up here with an attractive younger woman.” Seeing my horrified expression, Lachlan frowned. “It’s just gossip, and you haven’t let the village gossip bother you for years.”
“They’re nosy, bored, pains in my arse.”
“Aye, well. Even so … you haven’t been quick with your fists since you were a boy.”
It was true. When I was younger, I was always in some kind of fight. I was quick to anger whenever someone said shit regarding the people I cared about. A lot of the anger was from loss, but I’d mellowed with age.
“I would have punched that git, Guy, if you’d given me the chance.
But you beat me to it.” I referred to Arro’s ex-boyfriend, Lachlan’s former chef at the estate.
Lachlan discovered he’d beat up Arrochar and had not only fired him but had taken a nasty swing at him too.
I found out after the fact, once Lachlan’s security escorted Guy out of Ardnoch.
“Still. Sounds like you’re protective of Regan.”
Concerned Lachlan could tell she’d gotten under my skin, I shrugged. “Don’t you want me to be? She’s family. I’m just defending her as I would Arro or Robyn.”
“It’s appreciated.” Lachlan gave me a serious nod. “I’m glad it didn’t cause too much trouble for you.”
Too much trouble?
That was an understatement.
Regan was trouble.
But only because I wanted her.
Like really, really was seriously lusting after her.
My nanny.
My brother’s soon-to-be sister-in-law.
My employee, thirteen years my junior.
Never again, I vowed.
I was not that hotheaded youth anymore. I was a grown man with children and responsibilities and a respectable reputation within our community. I could control my attraction to an inappropriate woman.
Never again.
I could only hope Regan understood that. At any rate, I planned to make sure she did.