Chapter 10
Annie hadn’t forgotten about the ghost, but she’d been suitably mollified by her three-scoop caramel brownie sundae and let the matter drop. Unfortunately, Annie wasn’t the only one distracted by their little ice cream outing.
Watching Jo lick an ice cream cone had been a special kind of torture that Derek hadn’t anticipated.
After the third group of fans had cornered the members of Midnight Storm for photos and autographs, the guys had called it a night, leaving Derek, Jo, Annie, and Kat to meander through the poison gardens back to the cottages on their own.
Annie excitedly pointed out each new variety of plant they passed and Jo made up names for each of them.
Annie pointed to a shrub with pink flowers Derek was pretty sure was an oleander. “What’s that one called?”
“Bubblegum Bane,” Jo said confidently.
Annie giggled. “And that one?” She pointed to a fluted white flower atop a stout green stem.
“That is the deadly Trumpeting Terror,” Jo said.
“You’re making these up!”
“Am I?”
Derek fell to the back of the group, watching as Annie took hold of both Kat’s and Jo’s hands and jumped, allowing herself to be lifted off the ground in giant leaps that left her cheeks rosy and laugh breathless.
In less than thirty-six hours, Jo had already become a safe space for his daughter and a welcome addition to their dysfunctional Midnight Storm family. To his own imperfect family.
At the door to their cottage, Annie planted her hands on her hips and widened her stance. Derek knew that posture all too well. It was her ‘I have an idea and you won’t dissuade me’ stance.
“I think we need to have a girls’ night,” Annie declared. With a pointed look at Derek, she added, “No boys allowed.”
“Peanut, it’s getting late,” Derek said.
“I thought we were going to go to bed early,” Jo said, pretending to yawn. “If we want to build a life-size mermaid out of sand tomorrow, we’re going to need our rest.”
“I’m already rested,” Annie said, karate chopping the air and spinning in a circle. “See? I have tons of energy.”
“That’s the caramel brownie talking,” Derek said.
Annie caught Jo’s hands and spun her around with her.
Jo tilted her face up to the sky, a wide smile breaking across her face.
As they spun, Jo’s hair flew out around her, silver strands sparkling in the moonlight.
He wanted to memorize it, the laughter in her eyes, the way the light kissed her cheekbones and the tip of her nose.
“Girls’ night, girls’ night, girls’ night!” Annie chanted.
“But what about our mermaid plan?” Jo asked.
“I'm on vacation! I want a girls’ night and a mermaid,” Annie said.
But Derek was only partially paying attention to Annie’s bargaining. His attention was still fixated on Jo’s hair, the way it moved like water, the streak of blue behind her ear.
Wait.
Streak of blue?
There hadn’t been a blue streak in her hair the other night. He was certain he would have noticed. He’d gathered that hair in his fist, raked his fingers through it, buried his nose in it when it fanned across her pillow while she slept. He would have noticed a blue streak.
Annie pouted. “I have a plan and it doesn’t include going to bed early. We’ll watch a movie and paint each other’s nails and find a star to make a wish on. Star wishes are very important."
“The most important,” Jo agreed solemnly.
“What will you wish for?” Kat asked.
“I can’t tell you that,” Annie said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t you know the rules of wishes? If you tell someone what you wished for, then the wish can’t come true. You gotta follow the rules.”
“You know, there’s a wishing fountain somewhere at the hotel. I read about it in the brochure,” Kat said.
“We have to go! Can we go?” Annie asked.
“We’ll go tomorrow,” Jo said. “Tonight you need to rest.”
“I don’t need to rest!”
“Well, I need to rest.” Jo moved to stand next to Derek, as though they were a united front against Annie’s demands. Partners.
Annie calmed, studying Jo, then pinching the bridge of her nose. “Maybe you had too much ice cream. Are you feeling okay? Does your belly hurt?”
Jo nudged him with her elbow and whispered, “She gets that from you.” As if Jo knew them well enough to notice that his daughter had inherited his penchant for worrying about everyone else.
As though she were a part of their family in truth and not the nanny he’d hired a day and a half ago.
Then, to Annie, “My belly feels fine, but thank you for asking.”
And there was that flash of blue behind her ear again.
Derek caught the lock of Jo’s hair between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing the strands between the pads of his fingers. Beneath a layer of her platinum strands, the electric blue streak colored a section of hair behind her ear. “What's this?”
She turned her face towards him. “Hair chalk. There was a stand on the beach.”
He hummed, the low rumble moving through him, deepening when her pupils darkened in response. He wanted her. There was no denying how badly he wanted her, and from the quirk of her lips he was positive she knew it.
“Daddy, look! I got hair chalk too. It’s exactly like I wished for.” Annie held her braids high above her head, revealing hot pink undersides. “Isn’t it beautiful, Daddy?”
“Very beautiful.” Derek tugged lightly on Jo’s hair before releasing the strands, a visible shiver moving through her.
“I have an idea.” Kat clapped her hands together and turned to Annie, barely biting back her grin. “Why don’t you and I have a girls’ night, just the two of us, and we let Jo and your dad go to bed early?”
He wanted to protest, but there was no denying the hunger that hummed through his veins at the idea of having the whole cottage to themselves for the night.
It was a horrible idea and went against every one of his rules.
But before he could talk that particular fantasy back into its cage, Annie flung her arms around Kat’s waist, babbling a mile a minute about which movie they should watch first.
“Go get your pajamas,” Kat said, sending Annie sprinting into the cottage.
“You don’t have to do that,” Jo said to Kat. “It’s my job to watch her and—”
“And you deserve a night off,” Kat said. “Isn’t that right, bossman?”
“I told you not to call me that,” Derek grumbled, but there was no heat in it.
Not when all the heat in his body had rocketed to his groin.
A fact he was sure Kat was well aware of.
She’d always enjoyed meddling in other people’s love lives.
But the last thing he needed to do was sport a full-on erection in the middle of an exclusive resort.
Jo glanced between Kat and Derek, as though sensing a conversation happening between them that only they could hear. “I’m going to make sure Annie grabs her toothbrush.”
He watched her go, that blue streak winking in and out of view. He wanted to see it wrapped around his fist, to tug on those strands until she melted into a puddle at his feet, to bundle her into the shower and fuck her as they watched the color wash down the drain.
Kat’s chuckle pulled him out of his trance. “You have it so bad.” Kat shook her head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“She’s cute. A little younger than I would have thought you’d go for.”
He groaned, planting his hands on his hips and turning his face up to the sky as though the key to getting out of this conversation would be written in the stars overhead.
“I’m trying to tell you I like her.”
“She’s good for Annie,” he answered.
“She’s good for you too.” Kat poked a finger at his chest. “You’re different around her.”
“Different how?”
“Lighter. You smile more.” She smirked. “It’s a good look on you.”
“She’s the nanny.”
“For the next few days. And then—”
“And then nothing. Then I'm out on the road with Midnight Storm—assuming Jackson doesn’t fuck it up between now and then. One last tour and then I can be the father Annie deserves.”
“You already are.”
Derek shook his head, scraping his hand over his face. If Kat had noticed the way he looked at Jo, then it was only a matter of time before Annie noticed, and if Annie noticed, she might start to hope. To plan. To get even more attached than she already was. He couldn’t allow it.
Kat sighed and lowered her voice. “Look, I’m not saying you need to marry her. But you’re on vacation—”
“I’m working.”
“At one of the most luxurious resorts in the country, with a beautiful woman staying in the next room and your amazing tour assistant taking your daughter off your hands for the night,” she said.
“And when Annie gets attached? What then?”
Kat chuckled. “I hate to break it to you, Derek, but Annie’s already attached.”
“It’s unprofessional. I’m supposed to be setting an example for the band.”
“They’re not teenagers. They don’t need a role model.” Kat shoved him playfully. “All I’m saying is, loosen the reins a little. Have some fun. You’re both adults and you’re clearly attracted to each other. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
The door to the cottage flew open. Annie, dressed in her Princess Peach pajamas and sandals, careened out onto the front step, her backpack slung over one shoulder. “Ready!”
Jo appeared next, leaning a hip against the doorway. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” she said.
“I won’t.” Annie gave Derek a quick hug around his middle before taking Kat’s hand and skipping off into the night, already making detailed plans for the snacks they’d consume during their girls’ night.
He kept his eyes on the receding form of his daughter longer than necessary just to feel the sweep of Jo’s eyes over his back.
If he turned around, he’d have to acknowledge that they were really alone, that there was no way in hell he would be able to get through the night without kissing her, touching her.
That this thing between them was knitting itself into his skin, seeping into his muscles and twining around his organs.
It doesn’t have to mean anything, he repeated to himself.
It was too late for that. It had been too late for that the moment he decided to stay over that first night.
The instant he let himself fall asleep in her arms. He liked her.
More than was reasonable for someone he’d just met.
More than he’d liked anyone in a long time.
And if he crossed this line with her again—no, not if.
When. There would be no going back, no pretending it didn’t mean anything.
But maybe it doesn’t have to mean everything...
Maybe this time he could be the guy who had a casual fling and walked away.
Maybe he could take these moments for himself without it impacting his daughter or his business.
And when it inevitably ended in a few days, he could go back to being the guy everyone else needed him to be: responsible, cautious, the consummate rule follower.
And lonely. Can’t forget that part.
Fine. At least he wouldn’t be lonely for the next few days.
When at last he turned to face her, Jo’s too-perceptive eyes met his. “What now?” she asked.
He moved towards her, bringing them toe to toe, her bare feet against his dress shoes. Capturing that lock of blue hair again, he twisted it around his finger, tugging. He watched as her eyes grew darker, the gray-blue of her irises shrinking to a thin ring around her pupils.
Something primal and possessive yawned to life in his chest when he dug his other hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and she tilted her face up to him.
He made a slow perusal of her face, caressing her lips, her cheekbones, with his gaze.
Lower, across the sharp ridge of her clavicle, the tips of her breasts, tempting peaks pressing through her shirt.
“I’m sure we’ll think of something.” He scarcely recognized the deep gravel of his voice.
He tightened his grasp on her hair to keep from shoving his hand between her legs, and she shifted in his hold, squeezing her thighs together. “What about your rules?”
He pressed his hips against her, letting her feel how little he cared about the rules at that moment. “Time for some new rules.”
She bit her lip and nodded eagerly, his cock kicking against her belly behind the placket of his pants.
“No one can know about this, Jo. My life is complicated. Between work and Annie... This makes things more complicated.”
“Then let me uncomplicate it.” She snaked a hand between them, palming his cock over his pants.
He hissed and rocked into her touch, glancing out into the darkness. Anyone passing by could see them standing there in the open doorway to the cottage. The thought shouldn’t have made him want her more.
“We have three nights to work this—whatever it is—out of our systems.” He grunted in agreement and pressed a kiss to the curve of her jaw.
“I’m not the complicated type, Derek. I’m not interested in making things harder for you.
” She squeezed his cock, grinning. “Well, I suppose there are some things I’m very interested in making harder. ”
He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged, tasting that grin. “Get inside, little menace.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Make me.”