“No, I’m good. I promise,” I told him with a genuine smile. “I’m used to big dogs. We had pets all the time when I was growing up.”
His head tilted to the side, those icy blues lighting with curiosity. “But not now?”
I shrugged. “My small studio apartment wouldn’t really work for a dog.”
Something in his head caused his features to pinch, that familiar coldness returning, and I’d have paid a million dollars to know what he was thinking just then, but instead of giving anything away, he schooled his expression and stepped aside to allow me entrance.
Just as I crossed into the entryway, another ball of energy came rushing down from the top of the stairs, heading straight for me. “Ms. Marin!”
I let out a little laugh as Eli jerked to a stop right in front of me, looking up at me with an adorable little boy smile. “Hey there, Cool Guy Eli.”
“Dad said you’re gonna be my babysitter sometimes!”
“And your dad was right.” Unable to help myself, I reached forward and ruffled his overly long dark hair. Man, Eli was such a cute kid. I didn’t have a clue what his mother looked like, but it always struck me as uncanny just how much he looked like his father. Stick him in a tiny little button-down and slacks, and he’d have been a perfect mini-clone of Pierce.
He had the same dark hair, the same golden tanned complexion, and the same pale, polar blue eyes, only his were constantly suffused with so much warmth and light that it was impossible not to want to scoop him up and squeeze his adorable chubby little cheeks.
“It’s gonna be so fun!” he exclaimed, punching his tiny fist into the air. “Carey was nice, but after she tucked me in, her boyfriend would come over and they’d wrestle on the couch.”
“What?” Pierce barked, his eyes looking like they were going to pop right out of his head.
“I saw them a couple times when they thought I was sleeping,” he continued, oblivious to the crackle of electricity suddenly sparking in the air. “He always won.” He looked up at his father with a curious expression. “Dad, why do girls gotta wrestle with their shirts off?”
I snorted loudly, slapping my hands over my mouth to keep my laughter from bursting out as I waited to see how Pierce would handle this line of questioning.
He looked like he was about to be physically ill, which only made the situation that much funnier.
“I’ll explain it to you when you’re older,” he grunted. “Go wash up. We’re about to have dinner.”
Eli skipped off, no worse for the wear . . . unlike his dad.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, unable to keep from giggling. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh, but . . .” Another snort burst free. God, I really hated that I couldn’t laugh without snorting!
“She’s just lucky she’s already in L.A. or I’d have to track them both down and wring their necks,” he grumbled.
“Maybe when you finally find someone full time, you should invest in a nanny cam.”
Pierce looked at me just then. “I think he’d be safer if I just padded all his walls and ceiling and locked him in this room for the rest of his life. Christ.” He reached up to massage the back of his neck. “I can’t believe I didn’t have a clue. What’s that say about me?”
“Hey.” I placed my hand on his forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Stop beating yourself up. Seriously. You’re doing just fine.”
He blew out a frustrated sigh. “Sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.”
“You can’t protect your kids from everything. If you knew half the stuff my older sister, Tali, and I used to get into . . .” I shook my head good-naturedly. “Our parents were great, and we still ended up with broken bones and scrapes and were caught in a number of compromising positions.” I arched a single teasing brow. “Tali rocks as a mom, and my niece and nephew can still be little monsters from time to time. You can’t protect him from the world, and you can’t be perfect. You’re going to screw up from time to time, and so is he. That doesn’t make you a failure. It just makes you human.”
One corner of his mouth hooked up in a devilish smirk. “I think I might need to know some of those compromising positions you were caught in when you were younger.”
I threw my head back on a short laugh. “Not on your life. I’m taking that stuff to the grave. But if you feed me, I may let some of my sister’s secrets slip.”
“Well then, I guess I better serve up the pizza, huh?”
11
Pierce
As inappropriate and burdensome as it was, I fought with my erection all goddamn evening.
I wasn’t sure what I expected when I opened my front door earlier, but the sight of that bombshell managed to lodge the air in my lungs and nearly made my tongue fall out.
It was clear Marin was still wearing the same getup she’d worn to her rehearsal earlier that day, and if that was what she walked around in regularly, I was going to be in big trouble.
The deep violet leggings were designed to roll at her waist and fit to her body like a second skin, showcasing those long, toned legs of hers, and when she’d turned around and I got a peek at her ass, my traitorous dick instantly sprang to life. I could see she was wearing a sports bra in the same color as her pants beneath a tight, thin, white camisole. The hem of the top didn’t quite reach the waist of those leggings, revealing an inch or two of smooth, lightly tanned skin that my fingers itched to touch. I’d lost count of how many times I’d wondered if it felt as soft as it looked.
Her long golden hair was pulled up into a knot on the crown of her head with tendrils escaping from every which way. With it up like that, it exposed the long, delicate column of her neck, and the few times I hadn’t managed to stop my mind from going there, I’d imagined what she’d look like with my fingers wrapped gently around that throat as I hovered above her, driving myself into her tight, wet heat. Would her eyes be glassy as I fucked her to orgasm? Would those tawny depths catch fire as she came, screaming my name until her voice went hoarse?
Fuck. She’d been in my house for less than two hours, and already I was imagining a million things I could never have.
I made it through dinner just fine, but of course I’d had my son as a buffer. It was only once he’d headed up to his room to play for a bit before his bath and bedtime—after Marin had helped me clear the table of the dirty dishes and empty pizza box from Momma Gianna’s, and I’d poured her a glass of wine before we moved to the kitchen island to look over our schedules—that my mind fell straight into the gutter. And I’d been fighting tooth and nail for the past twenty minutes to pull it back out.
“I think this will work,” she said, leaning closer so she could look at the calendar app I had pulled up on my phone. That sugary floral scent of hers invaded my senses and sent a shot of warmth through my chest. “Eli will still be in school while I’m at rehearsals, so that won’t be an issue. I’ll get out in plenty of time to pick him up. And on the nights I don’t work at the club, I can stay with him a bit later if you need to put in some extra hours.”