There with You (Adair Family 2)

The hurt rose to the fore, and I couldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, I smiled breezily. “He was kind of cold to me this morning, no big deal.”

“Regan, it’s me you’re talking to.”

I met her loving gaze and instantly dropped my guard. “It hurt.” I shrugged, trying to pull back the ridiculous emotion I experienced over a guy just because he’d acted monosyllabic and short with me. “I’m making a bigger thing out of it than it was.”

Robyn leaned on the ironing board and reached for my hand, her expression concerned and tender at the same time. “If there’s one thing I know really well, it’s Adair men and how they think. One thing I love about Lachlan and Thane is their sense of honor and responsibility. Having a sense of honor is a dying trait, and it’s appealing when you find it in someone. But it can also make a person pretty hard on themselves. Lachlan gets tetchy when he thinks he’s failed someone or failed himself. And I can see Thane being that guy too.”

“What are you saying?”

She squeezed my hand, her sympathy making me uneasy. “I’m saying, how would it look if he seduced his twenty-five-year-old nanny?”

I pulled my hand away. “When you say it like that, you make it sound crude and dirty. It’s not.”

“No, but that’s how some people will see it. And you are his employee, Regan. His much younger employee, and he has two children he needs to protect. Even from village gossip.”

My brows pulled together as my agitation built. “It’s not wrong if we have feelings for each other.”

My sister gave me a pained look. “Sweetie, I think any man would be lucky to have you, and any man who can’t see that is a fool … but there’s a possibility that all this is for Thane is a physical attraction. Baby girl, you are gorgeous. Could fit right in among all those stunning, famous actors running around the estate kind of gorgeous. He would have to be dead not to see that. And react to it.”

The hurt flared again. It had never crossed my mind that all it would be for him was physical attraction.

Why would it be anything else?

He was a professional, intelligent, sexy, wealthy single father.

And I was a flailing college graduate who had abandoned her family because she couldn’t face the harsh realities of life.

“No. No.” Robyn tugged my chin to bring my eyes to her. “Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, get it out of your head.”

“I’m a moron,” I whispered.

“You’re not a moron. Don’t say that.”

“Should I quit?” The thought of leaving Eilidh and Lewis killed me.

Robyn frowned. “No. They need you, Regan. They … Eils and Lew are so happy, and I see a difference in Thane too. He’s more relaxed, less stressed.”

“I have to leave in four months, anyway.”

“Actually … not really. I’ve been looking into it, and you could apply for a UK ancestry visa. Those allow you to stay for five years, as long as you can prove you have a work placement, which I’m sure Thane would provide.”

Surprised, I asked, “What’s a UK ancestry visa?”

“It applies to anyone who has a grandparent who was born in the UK. And you do, on Seth’s side. While his dad’s parents were born in Boston, his mom’s parents were born in the UK. In Newcastle, to be exact.”

“Is that what you have because of Mac?”

“No. Because my dad was born here, even though I was born in the States, I automatically have dual citizenship. Yours is something you have to apply for.”

“I think we need to sit so I can process this.”

Two minutes later, I sat on a stool at the island facing my big sister. “I have grandparents living here?”

Robyn winced. “They’re both passed now. But that means you have relatives living in the UK, if you ever wanted to look them up.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” I smiled. “So this means I can apply for this visa thingie?”

She nodded, excitement lighting her eyes. “I spoke with Seth, and he gave me his grandparents’ information so I could trace them. Mac helped. We found out two weeks ago, and I just … I didn’t know how to bring it up because I didn’t want to pressure you into staying.”

“Dad knows about this? Is he okay with the idea?”

“He’s not thrilled, but he sees a massive difference in you. Says you keep in touch more with him now than you did in Boston, and you sound happy. That’s all he wants. And he knows how close you and I are. I’d forgotten how much we need each other. Not that I’m pressuring you.” She rolled her eyes. “That sounded like pressure.”

I was so grateful Robyn wanted me to stay. “It’s not. And I would do it in a heartbeat, but … maybe this whole Thane thing is a sign I shouldn’t. It’s not exactly responsible.”