He loved to see Raine smile.
Of course, their morning of orgasms had come to an abrupt end by a home visit from one of their lawyers. Business had to be taken in hand.
They had hidden Raine away while he and Dylan dealt with the necessary paperwork that they had both forgotten about, but as it was, their lawyer was more than happy to come chasing them, seeing as they paid him rather well.
The paperwork was Raine’s contract. She had been working for them without the necessary paperwork, including salary agreements.
Their lawyer had dropped everything off, and now he and Dylan had to find the right time to talk to Raine about her work. The truth was, he didn’t want to.
Raine wasn’t just an employee, not anymore. Not that she ever was. She was so much more than that.
The nanny position had brought her into their lives, but keeping her wasn’t about being a good nanny.
“Who is this Michael? A bully?”
“He is Lake’s friend. He’s the kid who’s having the Halloween party thing, and he is in his stage of growth where he doesn’t really have a filter. Most kids don’t. They merely say what they see. You know how it is.”
He sighed. “I … I don’t know how it is.” He sat back down at the kitchen counter.
“What do you mean?”
Max had never needed to be open with a woman, but Raine was different. “I think it’s safe to say that you know I’m a little different,” he said.
“You’re someone who likes things done a certain way. I get it.”
He glanced back toward where Lake and Dylan had gone. “I didn’t have a lot of friends in school. My idea of fun was reading books.”
“Ah, are you saying you were book smart from an early age?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much. I didn’t know how to play well with others. My mom … she … she didn’t know what to do with me. She put me through all these tests to see what was wrong with me, but she just couldn’t accept that she had a son who was happier in his own company than with anyone else. I think it was one of the reasons why she remarried, and not long after, Lake’s mother arrived.”
Raine stopped and placed a hand on top of his arm. “It must be hard for you.”
He didn’t know how to tell her that he had no feeling when it came to other people. How Dylan was the only one he cared about, and Lake, and her. He didn’t cry at his sister’s funeral, nor did he care about his own parents when they passed.
“It’s not,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
Max opened his mouth about to tell her that he was a cold man to the core, but Dylan chose that moment to stop him.
“We’re all cleaned up and ready to eat.”
Raine’s gaze moved from his to Dylan’s. She offered a smile again. The one that lifted his fucking soul. He had never known such beauty could exist.
“Uncle Max!” Lake’s arms went around him once again, and he had no choice but to hold her.
There was so much he wanted to say to Raine, but the moment had passed. Holding Lake’s hand, he walked her into the dining room, more than ready to have some food.
Dylan helped clear away the dishes as Max took Lake to tuck her into bed. His best friend was trying with his niece, and he couldn’t be prouder of him.
Raine kept avoiding looking into his eyes, not that he blamed her. After their morning hookup, life had invaded and there hadn’t been a way of drawing her back against him since.
With all the dishes piled next to the sink, she had nowhere to go.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his face against her neck. “You’re not avoiding me, are you?”
“No. Why would I be avoiding you?” she asked.
“You haven’t been in my arms since this morning.”
“Ah, so the real reason could be that you’re avoiding me? You both had to go somewhere else. Not me. I wasn’t the one distracted.”
He loved the little chuckle she released.
Kissing her neck, he spun her around, and Raine’s gaze went to the doorway. “Are you worried about getting caught?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you want from me. What this is? What … to do?”
“I’d say we’d start with me kissing you and seeing how you feel. Do you want me to kiss you?”
“What about Max?”
Dylan chuckled. “You can kiss him when he comes back.” He ran his hands down toward her ass, gripping the supple flesh and pulling her closer to him, so she had no doubt of his arousal for her. “Now, back to me. Do you want me to kiss you?”
She sank her teeth into her lip and nodded. That was all the permission he needed.