I made the mistake of looking up at him and felt a bolt of awareness shoot through me. The look on Con’s face, interest and desire, was one that I recognized from another summer spent being the help for the rich people of Southampton. Meeting his eyes, seeing the bright blue shift darker, even as his pupils dilated, was dumb.Those eyes had always been my kryptonite.
He clenched his jaw and licked his lips. “I...”
It wasn’t fair that smoke alarms weren’t going off, or a tornado warning, or something. Con was dangerous, and I had to remember that. Jerking to action, I scooted to the opposite side of the bed and yanked the blanket off as I stood up, wrapping it around me like a cocoon. Standing as far away from him as I could get, I shrouded myself from him and his eyes. “Well, I’ll be out soon.”
He got the hint and backed away. “Again, I’m sorry for this.”
I wanted to ask him what else he was sorry for, if he remembered it the same way that I did. I wanted to demand an apology for the hell he’d put me through. Instead, I forced asmile and waited until he closed the door behind him to let out a shaky breath.
There was no sense in expecting remorse from him. I knew the type of men they were. My family had worked for them for decades. They didn’t apologize, not really. They didn’t care who they hurt on their way to getting what they wanted. I just had to remember that.
Chapter 5
***Con***
“I don’t know what you were thinking, Griff. Hiring a sexy nanny? Could you get more cliché?” Zeke shook his head even as he looked out at the beach, where Autumn was walking with the kids. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
Griff rolled his eyes. “Stop with the drama. She was the most qualified. That’s it. End of story.”
“Oh, yeah? I’m sure the sexy sway of her ass had nothing to do with your hiring her on the spot.”
I gritted my teeth and watched Autumn. Her hipsdidsway as she walked. Her breasts bounced in a hypnotic rhythm, too. She moved like a siren’s call, and she had no idea. It was infuriating to see that the call was reaching my brothers, too.
Griff came to stand at the window beside us and growled. “It was probably a mistake. She’s got an attitude, too.”
I smiled to myself. They had no idea. My balls still tried to climb up inside my body when I thought of Autumn chucking a baseball at my head. She was strong and fast. And, judging by the way she’d been looking at me, she could hold a grudge. Not that I blamed her.
“You’re quiet, Con.” Zeke shouldered me and groaned when Autumn bent over to grab a shell. “Jesus. This isn’t going to work.”
Griff turned his back to the window and scrubbed his hands down his face. “She’s the most qualified.”
“Too bad. Fire her.”
I swallowed. “You can’t fire her. She signed a contract, right?”
Griff turned back to watch her again. “Yep. An airtight one.”
“This is insane. We agreed to stay here together for the summer to get work done and to get you over Stacy.” Zeke walked to the bar in the corner of the library and poured himself a finger of scotch. “I’m not going to get anything done with her walking around the house.”
“I’m over Stacy, asshole.” Griff sank into his chair and leaned back. “I’ve been over Stacy.”
I ignored them arguing and stayed where I was, watching as Autumn knelt to let Grace crawl up her and settle on her shoulders. Caroline immediately threw herself into the sand, and I didn’t need to be able to hear them to know that she was screaming. To my surprise, Autumn simply walked past the screaming child and pointed something out in the water to Jones.
I laughed as Caroline lifted her head to see if anyone was paying attention and then scowled.
“What?”
“Caroline has met her match, it seems.”
Griff leaned forward and watched as Caroline continued to throw herself down, just to be ignored by Autumn. Each time, she’d look up to see if Autumn was going to respond. Finally, she stood up, dusted her butt off, and followed the little group with her arms crossed over her chest.
I looked over to see Griff actually smiling, something he hardly ever did. “I’ve never seen Caroline give up so fast.”
“Her nanny in the city always coddles her. Stacy just throws presents and money at her when she screams. I watched them yesterday, though. Autumn ignores most of her tantrums.”
I raised my brows. “You watched them?”
Zeke groaned. “See? Did you get any work done?”
