Tate gave me a meaningful look.
The corners of my mouth lifted. So, this is where he draws the line.
“Well, I think your dad might be a bit tired after barbequing for so many people, but why don’t we watch it on Monday?”
Paisley lit up. “Okay. I’m gonna tell Great-Gran. Maybe she wants to watch it too.” Sliding down from Tate’s lap, she immediately headed to Beatrice.
“Thank you,” he said with a sigh. “How could you tell that I couldn’t find a good excuse?”
“You seemed a bit stuck and in need of my help.”
“Thank you for coming to my rescue,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ve watched The Jungle Book so many times with her that I want to bust the screen when the theme song comes up.”
We laughed for a moment, and then he asked, “Are you having fun?”
“Yes. I love your grandma.”
“She’s amazing,” he said with admiration in his voice.
“Your whole family is lovely. It makes me miss my parents. They often have gatherings like these too. They love to invite neighbors and friends over for cookouts on the weekend. Well, they used to, before Mom had the surgery. But as soon as she’s better, things will return to normal.” I looked around with a smile, regretting that I had to leave. “It was a great day. I’m happy I stayed.”
His smile faded. “You’re leaving?”
“I’m meeting my friend, remember?”
“Okay. I’ll walk you out.”
“There’s no need to. I can find my way,” I said.
“I know you can. I want a few moments alone with you, without my brothers watching me.”
My heart skipped a beat. I glanced around us as discreetly as possible, and yeah, everyone was looking at us, even Beatrice. “Why are they staring at us?” I asked.
“My brothers have... ideas.”
That was clear as mud. And he was flashing me a mysterious smile. I opened my mouth before closing it again. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what he meant.
He walked me through the house, and the second we closed the door to the backyard, I felt a shift between us, like the air itself was different—hotter and full of tension.
As we reached the front door, he put a hand on my arm. My skin sizzled. He turned me around, holding my gaze. “We didn’t talk about last night.”
I bit my lower lip. I didn’t want to talk about any of it, if I was honest. What good would it do? I knew all the reasons why this wasn’t going to move forward.
Come Monday, we had to find a way for things to go back to employee and employer. But right now, my mind was pulling in one direction and my heart in the complete opposite.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said.
He came closer, bringing a hand to my face, touching my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Thinking about you wearing my shirt all night had a very positive effect on me.”
“Did it now?” I whispered.
“I barely kept myself from coming upstairs and knocking on your door. I thought about you all night.”
A tremor went through my body. “I did the same.”
He groaned, bringing his mouth close to my ear. I pressed my thighs together as heat pooled between my legs.
He groaned again, touching his lips to the side of my neck, moving them up and down. “What am I going to do with you, Lexi?”
“What are the options?” I asked in a lighthearted tone.
“Kissing you against this door or taking you upstairs.”
I laughed nervously. “I don’t think either is a good option. Your family is in the backyard, remember?” I had a visual of the whole family pressing their noses against a window, trying to see what we were up to.
He groaned again, pulling back. “Right. How could I forget? If we stay here any longer, I bet someone will burst through that door.”
“Tate,” I whispered, my voice soft. “We shouldn’t.”
“I know.” His gaze instantly turned from playful to serious. But he kept touching my cheek with his fingers. The skin-on-skin contact was almost too much. He frowned, looking at my mouth. “You’re dangerous for me, Lexi.”
My eyes widened. “Why?”
“You make me feel.” He pressed his thumb on my lower lip. “You make me want.”
I swallowed hard, breathing in deeply.
He stepped back, letting go of me. “But you’re right. We shouldn’t. I’m not sure I have it in me to do the right thing. Not when it comes to you.” He opened the front door, looking at me intently.
My body buzzed with adrenaline and a bone-deep yearning to close the distance between us. Oh, sweet heavens. In that moment, I knew I didn’t have it in me to do the right thing either. How could I when he was looking at me with so much heat?
And that sexy smile? It made my underwear combust.
Panties? On fire.
Bra? Up in smoke.
And the most dangerous part? It also melted all my defenses, and I knew I had to do something about it.
I was going to think really hard about everything over the weekend, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to stay on as Paisley’s nanny.
Chapter Nine
Tate
After Lexi left, I made myself a promise: I wouldn’t contact her until Monday.
I went back to the party, heading straight for the grill. Tyler and Declan exchanged a meaningful glance before looking at me.
“Not one word from anyone,” I said as I picked up the fork, placing the corn on the grill and turning the five chicken wings I’d put on it before going inside with Lexi.
Declan glanced at Tyler again. “He didn’t say anything about not talking to each other.”
Tyler held up his hands. “I’m going to withhold my opinion.”
“I won’t,” Luke said. “I like what I see so far.”
“I already gave my opinion on this,” Declan said.
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Can you stop being a lawyer for a minute here?”
“I’m just a concerned brother,” Declan pointed out.
“There is no need to be concerned about me,” I said, loud and clear. “Why don’t we worry about the real problems in the family? Where is Reese, by the way? She wouldn’t say what’s going on, but I’m going to assume things with Malcolm aren’t going well.”
“She left earlier,” Declan replied. “And no, things aren’t going well. Malcolm insists on moving forward with the spa. The Halsey Group has a lot riding on this.”
The Halsey Group was the company Malcolm worked at.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed. My hackles rose. “Don’t tell Gran. Not until we’re sure of it.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Declan said.
No one was going to hurt my family. Not my grandmother, not my cousins, no one. I was going to make sure of it.
“Let’s change the topic. Gran’s coming this way,” Luke said. “Don’t look guilty or she’ll know we’re hiding something.”
We’d perfected the art of the poker face over the years, but fooling Gran wasn’t an easy feat. She picked up a chicken wing, glancing around the group.