Tempt Me

Considering he’d woken her during the night, her explanation made sense. He believed her… up until she headed for the room with her suitcase and not his bedroom in order to lie down and rest.

* * *

Mia stretched out on the bed she’d yet to sleep in and stared at the ceiling. She knew she’d overreacted and hadn’t made any sense to Austin, not when she’d refused to take his hand or when she’d chosen this room in which to nap. She’d caught the surprised look on his face when she hadn’t gone to his bedroom to lie down.

What could she say to him though? That when he’d held out his hand, out of sight from his mother and Bailey, she’d been smacked in the face with the reminder that their relationship was a secret? Would remain a secret? That she wasn’t his girlfriend and she shouldn’t be spinning ideas about the future just because he’d held her hand when they walked through the woods? Or talked about him sharing the holidays with her and her seeing his family traditions? Or how incredibly intense sex with him just happened to be?

She raised her head, punched the pillow, and turned onto her side. Although she couldn’t rationalize all of his actions, like the hand-holding in the woods, she could, however, justify why he’d keep their joined hands out of view of his daughter. Bailey was used to Mia as her nanny. Seeing Mia hold hands with her daddy would only confuse her… and maybe even cause the little girl to spin stories of her own, thinking they were more of a family than was accurate or true.

With the weekened ending soon, it wasn’t too soon to start putting her own walls back in place. And if Austin pushed her for answers on her withdrawal… well, the truth would suffice. Because she had no doubt he didn’t want a relationship in the true sense of the word. And she was at risk of losing her heart to the man. The same heart that warned her she already had.

Mia didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she woke up to a knock on her door. She rolled over. The sun had gone down and the room was dark, no light from the windows streaming through.

“Come in!” She pushed herself upright in bed.

Austin opened the door. “Light,” he said before he hit the wall switch and the nightstand lamp turned on.

She blinked, her eyes adjusting. He walked into the room, having changed into his favorite relaxing outfit, a pair of black track pants and a random tee shirt. Today’s said Alpha on the front… and Security on the back. He always looked sexy, especially now, with wind-tousled hair he hadn’t combed and a worried look on his handsome face.

“Sleep well?” he asked, stepping inside.

She nodded. “I guess the fresh air really hit me hard.”

He settled on the edge of the mattress, leaning an arm near her hip and taking her hand in his.

His palms were warm as his fingers wrapped around her hand. How did she feel such a simple touch throughout her entire body like she’d touched a live wire?

“I’d like to know what changed,” he said, his eyes locking onto hers, not letting her escape his probing gaze and the questions he had. “You froze up during that phone call and rushed to sleep… not in the bed we shared last night.”

She sighed, having anticipated his directness. Austin was a straight shooter. “It’s just… I was reminded of my place,” she said, choosing the simplest explanation.

“Your place.” His brow furrowed. “I definitely don’t understand.” And he still held her hand tightly in his.

She swallowed hard and curled her legs beneath her. She gathered her courage before speaking. “If I’m going to continue to be Bailey’s nanny, I can’t also be sleeping with you on the one hand and a secret we need to hide from everyone on the other.” She couldn’t emotionally handle it.

Sex with him had taught her she wasn’t equipped for a casual fling. She’d never meant to send him mixed signals, leading him to believe an affair was okay with her when it wasn’t. There was no way she could have anticipated the total way he’d taken over her mind, her thoughts, and her heart after she’d gotten involved with him.

“It was amazing, Austin, but we can’t have an affair and expect life to go on as normal. We both want different things for our futures. It’s best to admit we got it out of our systems and go forward the way we began. As employer and employee.”

He stayed silent and she couldn’t read him.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought I could do casual but apparently it’s not in my DNA.”

Not that she really knew what was in her DNA. She barely remembered her parents, but sex for the sake of sex apparently wasn’t part of her genetic makeup.