Pining For You (Jasper Falls 4)

No, no, no, no, no! God, what was wrong with her?

Erin glanced at Addison who was struggling to put her snow boots on the wrong feet. “Peanut, why don’t you go get yourself a Coke.”

“No!” Skylar barked then softened her voice. “You can have a juice box from the fridge. No soda.”

Addison pouted but still went to fetch a juice.

“I’d prefer it if she didn’t drink soda.”

Erin raised a brow but didn’t comment. “Anyway, Mr. Buchanan wants you to find a Charming Chinchilla. It’s on Addison’s Christmas list, and he doesn’t have time to search for one. Do you know what they are?”

Being that all of her aunts and uncles were up at the butt crack of dawn on Black Friday trying to find one, yes, she was familiar with the toy. How was she supposed to get one?

She frowned at Erin, unsure if she understood the sort of challenge this would be. “They’re really rare, especially this time of year.” She might have to order one from an auction site. “A hundred dollars might not be enough, especially if it’s coming from the black market.”

“Really, Skylar, it’s a toy. I think you can manage. Do you have a laptop? I’ll show you the one she wants.”

She really disliked the patronizing way she spoke to her but didn’t want to drag out the woman’s stay by confronting her. “It’s in the den.”

Erin followed her to the den. Skylar opened her laptop and put in the passcode. Addison returned, needing help punching her straw into her juice box. As Skylar helped her, she heard an email notification ping. “Just minimize my inbox and open a new search.” She handed Addison the juice box. “Drink this in the kitchen. I have to help Miss Erin with something for a few minutes. We’ll go outside as soon as I’m finished, okay?”

“Okay.”

Erin had the site pulled up and pointed. “It’s this yellow one.”

“Does it have to be that exact one?”

Erin looked up at her as if she was an idiot. “Do you think Santa would make a mistake?”

“No, but I also think he’d have his elves fill the order months ago, not his nanny three weeks before Christmas.”

Erin shut the laptop. “It’s the yellow one. When you get it, let me know. I do all the wrapping at the office.”

Every time the PA left, the house felt a little cooler. Skylar quickly reopened her laptop to check her mail, but her inbox was empty. Weird, she thought she heard something. Tucking it away, she went to find Addison.

12

It took all weekend to find the chinchilla Addison wanted for Christmas, and when Skylar finally found it, the delivery would be hit-or-miss, since it was coming from overseas. Not to mention, with the expense of shipping and handling, the toy would cost close to one hundred and forty dollars. The things some parents did for their kids…

Skylar ordered it using her personal credit card and texted Erin a screenshot of the total, so she’d know she was owed forty dollars. After that, she spent the day working on a project for her class that required her to come up with an entire unit to teach “Respect in the Classroom” with corresponding lesson plans and sample materials.

Since the class was virtual, she had to not only provide the lesson plans but put together three videos of her teaching sample lessons with materials. This gave Rhett and Addison plenty of time alone to decorate the tree.

She was practically brain-dead when she emerged from her room late Sunday night. She’d taken most of the weekend to do schoolwork, and Rhett had used her absence as a chance to order takeout from every restaurant in Jasper Falls—except for Vincenzo’s, of course.

He sat on the couch, reading over paperwork as Addison cuddled into his side. Skylar tried not to intrude, but there was no getting to the kitchen without passing the den.

“Skylar,” Addison yelled when she spotted her. It was late and Skylar hadn’t expected her to be awake. Addison slid off the couch and ran over to give her a hug. “Where were you?”

“I was doing schoolwork.”

“Wanna watch Elf with us?”

“Oh, I can’t honey. I just came down to get something to eat and then I have to get back to work.”

She pouted, her hair unbrushed and her clothing mismatched. “But we haven’t seen you in days.”

Her gaze met Rhett’s and she regretted looking in his direction immediately. It was the first time she caught him in casual clothes. Barefoot and wearing only loose fitting gray sweatpants, he looked…delicious, like the love child of Magic Mike and a modern day Baron von Trapp.

Her ovaries did a little jig as she pictured him dancing like Channing Tatum to a naughty rendition of Edelweiss. No wonder there were so many classics about men making love to their governesses. The combination of his authority and good looks was a potent cocktail, and she’d gotten drunk by the mere sight of him enough times to now recognize that she had a problem. She was addicted to staring at and fantasizing about her boss.