Sir Fluffy Butt rested his chin on my thigh and I leaned down to give him love. Scratching his head and behind his ears, I sighed happily. I’d always wanted a dog, but Dad had been allergic. I’d always considered it his one flaw.
“Are we going to come home tonight and find that you’ve adopted a couple of big fish, Griff?” Zeke laughed. “Maybe a whale or two?”
Con cupped my face and turned me so I was facing him. “Don’t let him bring anymore animals home, for the love of everything holy.”
My breath caught in my chest as I found myself so up close and personal with the man who’d ruined me as a young woman. He’d held my face in that same way so many times before kissing me. It felt natural that he should lean in and capture my mouth. I was shocked by the way my body and mind reacted to him.
I licked my lips and looked up at him through my lashes, wondering how he’d so thoroughly broken my heart before, yet my heart still seemed fond of him. I should’ve been angry at him.Maybe I was deep down, but when he held my face, I wanted to let him make it all better.
Con held my gaze and then looked down at my mouth for a second before sighing and pulling away. “Or let him bring home more animals, I guess. I don’t know.”
I sat back in my chair and forced my eyes to stay on the open stretch of ocean in front of us. It was so beautiful and peaceful, so different from the turmoil inside of me.
Wiggles whined at my feet and looked up at me with his big eyes. Putting his paw on my knee, he huffed and impatiently looked at the door.
I rubbed his head and stood up. “It’s potty time for the boys. Why don’t you kids finish breakfast while I take these guys out and then we’ll get ready for the aquarium?”
I left to a chorus of agreement and rushed downstairs with the dogs in tow. I let them out and followed behind them, needing a bit of fresh air to clear my head. Things were getting weird with the men. I couldn’t have something with all three of them. It was weird and wrong. Yet, it definitely felt like I had something with all three of them. Did they know it? Did they see it? More so, what were they thinking about it?
I was so far in over my head that I didn’t think I even knew how deep in I was. Was it possible to drown before you even realize there’s water around you?
Chapter 18
***Autumn***
The drive to the aquarium was just short enough that the girls’ excited squealing didn’t give me a headache. We all clamored out of the car, and I took a second to adjust my sundress before looking up and seeing a small horde of people waiting for us. I stopped short and looked up at Griffin.
“What’s this?”
He ignored me and walked forward to shake hands with a man in a suit. How Griffin had found someone more overdressed than he was, I didn’t know. “Mr. Gregory. Good to see you again.”
“Good to be able to see you again, Mr. Phoenix.” He looked down at the kids while still clasping Griffin’s hand in his. “Your father saved my life. You should be very proud of him.”
I watched Jones stand up a little taller while Caroline and Grace looked up at Griffin with a question in their eyes. I stayed where I was, watching the interaction with a lump in my throat that had no business being there. Griffin looked embarrassed by the praise, and there was something so humanizing about his reaction. He didn’t seem like the rich asshole anymore. He was a normal guy for a moment, unable to take praise.
“Anyway. We’ve got the whole place ready for you today. You’re going to get to see and experience everything. If you’re brave and kind, you’ll even get to swim with the sharks.”
Jones came alive. “Swim with sharks?”
A pretty blonde woman stepped forward and nodded to Jones. “Yeah. We have several sharks inside. Want to see?”
“Yeah!”
Another woman moved over to Caroline and Grace. “And if you don’t want to swim with the sharks, we have other exciting things. Have you ever held a starfish before?”
Grace shook her head while Caroline nodded. “Once. There was one on the beach.”
“Well, I have a bunch inside. Just for you to see and touch. There’s no one else here today, so you have my entire attention.”
Mr. Gregory smiled at me and then looked back at Griffin. “We’ll take good care of them while you look around at your leisure.”
When the kids moved forward with the staff, I went to go with them, but Griffin caught my arm and held me at his side. Looking over at him, I frowned. “Kind of hard to be a nanny when I can’t get to the kids, Griffin.”
“Call me Griff. And you’re off-duty today.” He brushed a strand of hair out of my face and smiled. “Which means you’re with me.”
I frowned hard, untrusting of his smile. “No, I’m the nanny, Griffin. I’m not being paid to hang out with you.”
He shrugged and pulled me along with him. “Fine. I won’t pay you for today.”
