Lake chuckled. He loved that sound.
A buzzer went, and she wriggled in his arms, wanting down, to which he had no choice but to let her go. He turned toward Raine, but the woman was already walking away, following behind Lake.
Dylan couldn’t help but admire her full ass. Raine was all woman and all curves. She was temptation wrapped up in a package. It helped that she was sweet, kind, and so damn nice.
In the past six months, he’d learned she wasn’t putting on any show. This was just who she was. He was surprised because if he had to spend a great deal of time with kids, he would’ve gone crazy. Some people were just better prepared for handling children than he was.
Lake stepped up onto the stool as Raine went straight to the oven, complete with an oven glove, and the scents were amazing. His mouth watered as Raine pulled out not one, but two trays of cookies.
Lake clapped her hands and leaned over, sniffing.
“Ah, be careful, sweetheart. We don’t want to rush and risk burning ourselves, do we?”
“Nope.”
“Go and wash up. I’ll make you a hot chocolate.”
“Yay.” Lake was off the stool and rushing out of the kitchen.
Raine chuckled.
“A hot chocolate before dinner?” Dylan asked. “You’re spoiling her.”
“Have you not checked the time? I couldn’t allow the poor girl to starve.”
Dylan glanced around the room and saw it was close to eight in the evening. “Shit,” he said.
“I’ve noticed time gets away from both of you. I fed Lake and kept her entertained until you arrived.”
His stomach chose that moment to growl.
Raine smiled. “And I have a hot pot in the oven for you and Max.”
“I can’t believe I missed dinner again.” He had tried to get home but work at the clubs just sucked up all of his day.
Annoyed, he removed his jacket, draped it on the back of a chair, and headed to the fridge. After pulling out a bottle of red wine, he opened it up and poured himself a generous glass. There was no reason to offer any to Raine. She never drank. Never. He’d offered her plenty of times.
He also happened to notice she’d pulled two mugs out of the cupboard and was in the process of preparing herself some hot chocolate.
With Max on his way home, his friend would be just as pissed as he was.
“You’re doing good with Lake.”
“She’s a great kid. A little afraid at times. She’s worried that you and Max will be hurt in a fire, but I try to talk to her about it. I did tell Max of her concerns.”
He wasn’t aware of that. “I hate that she experienced that.”
Lake had been on a sleepover with a friend when the fire had happened.
“Do you think she needs to talk to someone?” Dylan asked.
“I honestly don’t know. She’s handling everything well. She misses her mom, and she doesn’t know Max all that well. She’s worried she’s not wanted.” Raine shrugged.
“Lake is wanted.”
“I do tell her.” She nibbled on her lip, clearly wanting to say something more.
“What is it?” Dylan asked.
“It’s … not my business.”
“Raine, we trust you. You’ve been a goddess with Lake.”
“I’m just doing my job, and Lake is such a good girl. So sweet and kind. I think she’s … her mother was a stay-at-home, mom, so she’s not used to being around people who work so much.”
Dylan didn’t know the whole of Max’s sister’s life, but he did know the woman rarely worked, if at all. Lake’s father had also been killed in the fire, but again, they could only figure out he was in and out of Lake’s life.
“Then maybe it’s time we stay at home more,” Max said, entering the kitchen.
“Evening, Max,” Raine said.
Her face went a beautiful shade of red and all Max had done was enter the kitchen.
Dylan winked at her, and of course, she went even redder and he loved that.
“Well, well, well, I take it you got work done and dusted,” Dylan said.
“You wouldn’t believe how fast I work and get what I want when there’s temptation to come home to. Those cookies smell great.”
Raine was already putting them on a baking tray. “Lake would like to give you a cookie. If that is okay?” she asked.
“Anything for you, darling,” Max said.
****
Raine considered herself to be a professional.
She’d been a nanny for seven years, and she loved kids so much. This was the first live-in role she had taken.
At first, she’d been a little uncomfortable, but Dylan and Max had done everything within their power to help her feel at home. She just wished she didn’t have these feelings while she was around them. They were so distracting. She had never been attracted to anyone she was employed by. The fathers were always off-limits, and she never wanted to cross any kind of line.
Max and Dylan were different.
She couldn’t keep them out of her thoughts, or more importantly, her sexual desires. This was alarming because she had never experienced this level of attraction before.
At thirty years old, she was no virgin. She’d had one serious relationship that had ended in disaster when she caught him cheating with her then best friend. They’d been sleeping together for years. All that time she thought they were in a strong happy place, he’d been lying to her.
Raine had kicked his ass out of the apartment, put it up for sale, and terminated her friendship all within a matter of days. She’d moved, and it was like someone was looking down on her because she happened to be sitting in a diner, in a new city, looking for work, and saw this ad.
The last six months had made her realize she had fallen out of love with her boyfriend and had only been with him because it had made life easier. They hadn’t been together for a long time, certainly not physically. For the most part, they lived separate lives.
“Uncle Max!” Lake came running into the kitchen and straight into Max’s arms.
Raine loved to see Lake like this.
She adored the little girl, and Lake was so much fun to be around. She had started school that August and was, so far, settling in well, as far as he knew.
Max had picked the school, and from what Raine remembered, had done extensive research to make sure he picked the right place.
At Lake’s insistence, Max carried her through to the dining room. Raine put the hot chocolates and cookies into the tray, then followed them into the room.
Lake wouldn’t move from Max’s lap, and Raine was sure to serve them enough hot chocolate to dip. She was about to leave them alone, but Dylan grabbed her hand, stopping her. It was moments like these that had her heart racing.
Dylan and Max tried to draw her in, to involve her with their lives, and she loved that. The only problem was that it was so easy for her to forget this was a job. Lake was her responsibility. They paid her to take care of Lake.
Keeping things professional between them was hard.
Both men had the ability to make her blush, to awaken her body, and to make her yearn for what she wasn’t allowed. She had to keep boundaries.
After their cookies, Raine cleaned away the dishes and checked on the hot pot she had in the oven. It was cooked to perfection.