There with You (Adair Family 2)

“No, I just mentioned the cake. You’ve been off all morning.”

My pulse raced at Robyn’s probing stare. I hemmed and hawed over whether to tell her about Thane. I worried she’d judge me as that impulsive, irresponsible woman who had dated an asshole after running away from another asshole. However, I also needed someone to talk to. Someone I could trust. Someone whose advice meant a lot to me.

“Okay, I’m getting worried.” Robyn pushed away from the laundry room counter and stood right in front of the ironing board so I had nowhere to look but into her eyes. They were golden today beneath the room’s bright spotlights. “Talk to me.”

Sighing, I placed the iron down. “Robyn … when you started your affair with Lachlan, did you ever think you were doing something wrong? Like he was an inappropriate choice because he was Mac’s friend and boss?”

My sister seemed surprised by my question but considered it. “Well, yeah, I think more so on Lachlan’s part because I was Mac’s daught—oh my God, you have feelings for Thane.” She guessed, her eyes big and round and absolutely not revealing whether she was horrified or surprised.

I grimaced. My sister was way too smart for her own good. “If I said I did?”

Robyn blinked like an owl for a few seconds and then exhaled slowly. “Okay … well … I’d have to ask what kind of feelings? Feelings-feelings or lusty feelings?”

Relieved she wasn’t acting creeped out about it, I relaxed. Marginally. “At first I thought it was just a crush. He’s sexy and nice and he’s got that accent—”

“Oh, I know all about the accent thing, trust me.”

I gave a huff of laughter. “Right? And he’s adorable with Eilidh and Lewis. It was the first thing that struck me about him was the way he looked at his children, like they were his universe.”

“They are his universe.”

“I know. And I thought I just had a typical female reaction to being in proximity to a smokin’-hot single dad. I mean, it’s one of my favorite tropes.”

Robyn’s lips twitched with laughter.

“I was absolutely determined to ignore the lusty feelings he was eliciting in my southern region.”

“Thanks for the overshare.”

I grinned unashamedly. “You’re welcome. As I was saying”—my humor fled as I remembered Thane’s coldness toward me that morning—“there have been times these past few months when it seemed like we might be flirting with each other a little … and I even told him about why I left you when you got shot.”

My sister raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised I’d divulged that to him.

“And he’s entrusted me with some of his history. Things I don’t think he discusses with many people. We get along amazingly. It’s like we fall naturally into sync, as though we’ve all been a family forever.”

Concern entered Robyn’s eyes.

“I know,” I hurried to say, “I know, before you say that those are dangerous ideas to have. But I’m finding it harder to ignore how I feel. Until … well, you know how I rushed to his work yesterday to drop off his portfolio?”

She nodded.

“There was this sleazy colleague that Thane wanted me away from as fast as possible, and he was kind of an ass about it. He apologized when he got home and then told me he smacked the guy in the face for making a crude crack about me being the nanny, and, well, he didn’t tell me the details but I could guess what was said.”

Robyn nodded. “Lachlan told me last night. I was shocked. Thane always comes across as the levelheaded brother, but Lachlan said when they were younger, Thane was kind of a scrapper.”

I filed that information away, coveting it, as I did anything about Thane. Seriously, I was borderline obsessed. “I was icing his hand afterward, and we had this moment. There was touching … of my ass. More like a manly, hot, grabbing of my ass, actually.” I shivered remembering it.

“Keep the details to a minimum.” Robyn scowled. “You are my baby sister, and I do not want to have to kill Lachlan’s brother before our wedding.”

I chuckled unhappily. “Well, that was all that happened. He was about to kiss me when your stupid fiancé walked in, and I ran away.”

“I will let the stupid comment pass since you’re clearly upset.”

“I am upset. Here I’m thinking, there’s no denying Thane is attracted to me, too, because I had evidence of said hard-on digging into my stomach—”

“God save me from baby sisters who have no filter.”

“—and being a complete naive fool, barely sleeping because I’m daydreaming that something special might come from this, and all he’s thinking is ‘How can I make it as clear as possible that I’m repulsed by my reaction to my nanny last night?’”

Robyn frowned, her amusement gone. “What did he do?”