Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
A few days later, Iris was sitting at Hazel’s tiny dining room table sipping a cup of tea.
‘So, she doesn’t remember it?’ Hazel asked, her gaze turning to where Olive and Noah were playing checkers on the coffee table. His nieces, Cece and Ivy, were sprawled out on the carpet next to them coloring in their coloring books. Hazel had had the bright idea of creating Pumpkin Spice coloring books to sell to tourists, but the locals loved them, too. Iris personally owned one and had sent one to her mom for Christmas. They’d sold out twice this month already. The girls were currently working on a very creative interpretation of The Pumpkin Spice Café, complete with purple pumpkins and a pink Casper in the window.
The layout of Hazel’s cottage was similar to Archer’s, except for the kitchen having walls and being closed off from the living room, but Hazel had co-opted a corner of the living area for a dining room table. From her vantage point, Iris could see Olive jump three of Noah’s checkers. The little girl smiled triumphantly as he groaned.
‘Nope. I asked her and she just looked at me like I was nutty.’
‘Hmm.’ Hazel’s brow furrowed as she took another sip of tea.
‘Anyway, I thought maybe if we came for a daytime visit, she’d stop trying to get over here at night.’
‘It’s worth a try,’ Hazel said. ‘And this was the perfect time, with Ivy and Cece here for the weekend.’
‘Yeah, we like Olive!’ Ivy shouted from her position in the living room, and Olive gave her a shy smile. The girls had just met an hour ago, but the cousins were happy to let Olive join them in playing with their favorite uncle. The foursome had already made matching friendship bracelets.
‘Yes, we like Olive, too,’ Hazel said.
‘Were you and Cate close?’ Iris asked.
‘Not very. But she used to bring Olive into the bookstore all the time.’
Iris found herself wishing she’d known Cate better. Maybe that would have helped Olive get through this whole thing. While Dr. Bloomfield, Olive’s therapist, had assured her that children were resilient, Iris still couldn’t imagine losing her mother at such a young age. Or now, for that matter.
‘Noah, please tell me you’re letting her win,’ Iris said, shaking off her melancholy for Olive. If the little girl could still find it in her to laugh at Noah’s horrible checkers skills, then so could she.
‘I really wish I could,’ he said. ‘But she’s a killer.’
‘Olive’s the best at checkers,’ Cece said, coming to stand beside the coffee table.
‘Yep, the best best at checkers,’ Ivy repeated, and her cousin shot her a look that said she didn’t like to be mimicked but would allow it for the sake of complimenting their new friend.
‘Good girl, Olive,’ Hazel said. ‘Show him no mercy.’
‘Thanks, babe.’
Hazel grinned at him, and he winked back.
‘How’s that trip you guys are planning?’ Iris asked.
‘I’m still worried about leaving the store, but Noah almost has me convinced we should go.’
‘We’re definitely going,’ he called, and Hazel rolled her eyes.
‘We’ll see.’
Iris smiled. She understood why Olive kept trying to sneak over here. It was nice here. It felt like a home, like people that loved each other lived here. You could feel it. Archer’s house still smelled like fresh paint and Ikea furniture.
‘Hey, Olive,’ Iris said, an idea striking her. ‘What’s your favorite color?’
‘Yellow,’ she answered, without hesitation. If Iris could have the confidence of a kindergartener declaring their favorite color, she’d be all set.
‘We should repaint your room.’
Olive’s head spun so fast to face her, Iris’s poltergeist fears almost reignited.
‘Really?! Paint it yellow?’
Iris shrugged. ‘Sure.’
‘Yay!’ Olive was up and dancing and the girls joined her chanting, ‘Yellow! Yellow!’ And the checkers game was forgotten.
‘Shouldn’t you check with Archer?’ Hazel asked, a bemused expression on her face as Noah joined in the dancing.
‘Probably. But I don’t think he’ll mind.’ She didn’t actually know that at all, but after Archer had licked her finger two nights ago, she’d been avoiding him. She didn’t really feel up for a chat about redecorating. Not when she’d been about to pour that entire bowl of batter over her head just so he would lick her everywhere else.
It seemed best to steer clear.
‘What do you think about sleeping with your boss?’ she blurted out, and Noah froze mid-dance move.
‘Hey, girls!’ he said, too loudly. ‘How about we move this dance party outside?’
‘Yeah!’ they all shouted.
He followed the girls racing out the side door, flashing Iris an amused smile on his way out.
Hazel spun to face her, eyebrow arched in question. ‘What’s going on over there, Iris?’
Iris sighed with all the drama she was currently feeling, which was a lot.
‘He almost kissed me.’
‘He what?!’ Hazel looked murderous. ‘That is unacceptable. Totally inappropriate.’
‘Hazel…’
‘How dare he? Doesn’t he realize he holds all the power here?’
‘Hazel…’
‘I mean, really, taking advantage of the situation like that.’
‘Hazel!’
Her friend blinked in surprise. ‘What?’
‘I one-thousand percent wanted him to.’
‘Oh.’ Her eyes widened behind her glasses. ‘Huh.’
‘Yeah, I know.’
‘So, what are you going to do?’
Iris groaned. ‘I don’t know! I mean, objectively, I know it’s a very bad idea. I need this job and I even kinda like Olive now and I don’t want to mess with her … with her healing process. Plus, a free place to live has been great. I actually have some money in my bank account for the first time in … maybe ever.’
Hazel nodded. ‘Okay, good. So I think that’s your answer.’
But Iris hated that answer.
‘On the other hand,’ she started, and Hazel closed her eyes and sighed. ‘Just hear me out! On the other hand, he’s really hot!’ Okay, that didn’t sound like the best reasoning.
‘Iris, plenty of people are hot. Go find a different hot person.’
Iris groaned again. She didn’t want a different hot person and maybe that should alarm her more than anything, but now she was on a mission to convince Hazel this was a good idea. As though Hazel was the one in charge, and with her permission, Iris could have sex with the hot chef guilt-free.
‘It’s not just that!’ He was also dedicated and persistent and sexy and those forearms haunted her dreams, and … she was getting off track. He’d come back for his daughter. He was honorable and sweet, when he wanted to be—and talented, so freaking talented. Hadn’t Hazel ever heard of competence porn? Watching this man chop veggies had made Iris hornier than anything in a long time.
‘There’s this tension between us,’ she said, instead of listing all of Archer’s best attributes. ‘Maybe we need to just get it out of our systems?’ And no one needed to know. Except apparently, Hazel.
Hazel looked at her over the rim of her mug like Iris was the dumbest person to ever live. It was very possible that she was.
‘Do you really think that has worked for anyone in the history of the world?’ Hazel asked. ‘When has sex ever made things easier to walk away from?’
‘When it’s really bad?’ Iris suggested.
‘So, you want to have sex with Archer because you think it will be really bad and you’ll be able to move on and work for him with no problem after that?’
Damn, Hazel and her damn reasoning. Iris should have tried this with someone else. What was Kira up to today? She made questionable choices all the time.
‘No,’ Iris confessed. ‘I don’t think it would be bad at all.’ The feel of Archer’s tongue on her finger, lapping up the batter, echoed through her body, the memory of it nearly as strong as the real thing. No, it wouldn’t be bad at all. If that tongue could make her feel like that from just licking her finger, just imagine what he could do if he licked?—
‘Okay, so I think you need to take sex off the table.’
Or do it on the table…
Iris shook her head. ‘Right. Of course. You’re one hundred percent right.’ She wasn’t stupid. She knew what she was doing every time she snuck out of her room to talk to him in the dim light of the kitchen, to ogle his arms, to flirt with him, letting her shirt slip down her arm, flaunting her shorts that were barely shorts. She’d broken down his defenses.
And all he was trying to do was to prove to himself, his daughter and the entire town that he was dad material. Being seduced by the nanny probably wasn’t going to help his case.
God, she was the worst.
Noah and the girls raced back into the house.
‘Is it safe?’ he asked, shaking water from his hair. ‘It started to rain.’ He grabbed a towel from the hall closet and tossed it onto Olive’s head. She giggled from underneath it.
‘It’s safe,’ Iris said, and Hazel raised a brow. ‘It is! You’re right. I will be keeping things strictly professional from here on out.’
Hazel still looked skeptical, and Iris was still feeling skeptical, but she was determined now. No more flirting with the boss. No more sexy eyes and suggestive smiles. Nope. She was all business.
Ha! ‘All business’ was never something Iris had been called, but she could do it. She got up and went over to help Olive dry off. She rubbed the towel over her head, savoring the giggles still coming from underneath. If she screwed things up with Archer, she would definitely have to leave. And oddly enough, she didn’t want to leave this kid. She didn’t want to think about how Olive would feel if she did leave.
Not that she thought Olive liked her all that much, but she tolerated her. She talked to her and even occasionally ate the food Iris gave her, and frankly, that seemed like a lot at the moment. She didn’t want to think about Olive having to get readjusted to a new grown-up in her life. Not yet.
‘All dry?’ she asked, pulling the towel off. Olive’s hair was a wild mess around her head. Cece and Ivy were walking around with towels still over them pretending to be ghosts or zombies. It was unclear. Olive laughed at them before turning back to Iris.
‘Can we have ice cream for dinner?’ she asked.
‘Don’t push it, kid. We still have to break the news to your dad that we’re repainting that pink nightmare of a room.’
Olive frowned.
‘Oh, stop. Your dad is a good cook. Maybe he’ll let you help again tonight.’
That got Olive to brighten slightly.
‘Here, take an umbrella,’ Hazel said, joining them at the door. ‘It’s really pouring now.’
‘Thanks. And thanks for the pep talk.’
‘Anytime.’
‘And thanks for the checkers game, Noah.’
‘I still want a rematch,’ he said, shooting a fake glare at Olive.
Olive grinned.
‘I’ll see if we can arrange that,’ Iris said with a laugh. ‘But during the daytime and with permission, right Olive?’
Iris earned herself a scowl for that, but she ignored it and steered Olive out the door.
‘Bye, Olive!’ Ivy and Cece called from the doorway.
‘Bye, girls!’ Iris tugged Olive back under the umbrella from where she’d scooted out into the rain to wave to her new friends.
Time to go home and face Archer.
And act like he was nothing but her boss.