AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EIGHT
SIENNA
It is a stunning afternoon, and there are a few kids and families down at the pool. Most of the adults are just lazing in the sun, but Nova and I are in the water with his newest water guns. It’s fun to get in with him, and play—and laugh. Laughter is good. We worked on his school program all morning. He deserves the fun and laughter.
Lance ran into me earlier, quite literally, and I am pretty sure I could feel his business getting excited. It made me blush, even if it was just my imagination. Nova quickly leaves our game to join some of the boys in the pool, who all have the same guns as him. It’s great to see him making an effort to make friends. He loves playing with them. Nova wants to be everyone’s friend and that’s amazing.
I dry off and find a lounger close enough that I can watch him. They run and rough house like only boys can. Turning it into a great game of imaginative play, on a hot day like today, there’s nothing better than being able to just swim and be outside. Pulling my book out of the bag I brought with us, I adjust my sun hat, and settle back to read while he plays—if he calls me, I will go join him again. But for now, he’s having a blast without me getting involved.
“Sienna,” he calls from the water. “Can I jump from the diving board?” he asks. I am not going to stop him if he wants to. The other boys have been up and down the whole time we have been here.
“You can if you’d like,” I say. “Just be safe, no running and rough play on there.” He beams and hops out the water following the boys as they clamber up the metal ladder and onto the diving platform. I’m not sure he will jump, but I also know he won’t want them to catch on that he’s afraid.
“Whoop.” He screams to cover his fear on the way down, and I clap and give him a wink as he swims to the edge and climbs out to do it again. I watch the first few jumps, before I go back to reading in between. I’m off in another world between the pages when Lance sits down on the lounger next to me. What is he wearing? Nope—why am I looking. I can’t stop myself.
It is not a speedo, but it’s also not baggies, or shorts. It’s like a snug boxer-brief-swimsuit-situation and it very graphically shows what he’s packing down below. “Hey,” he says sprawling out, folding his arms behind his head. “Looks like he is having some fun.” He’s not looking at Nova, he is looking at me. The way I was looking at him.
“They’re having a ball. I have left him to play. It’s great for him to make friends, especially ones in the building so they can see one another.” I try to steer the conversation to Nova, so that the weird tension and looks can stop.
“There are a few things out here worth seeing this afternoon,” he says with a smirk on his face. “I should come down to the pool more often.” Is he flirting with me? Surely not, there are rules. He wouldn’t be flirting with me. He’s so stiff and rigid about rules and schedules and shit. I am imagining it to be more than it is. It’s in my head.
“It’s nice out here,” I say, trying to pretend like he is not flirting, and this is a normal conversation like any other. Lance looks over at me, and I can see the way his eyes dance over my exposed body. He has a hungry look in his eyes, and when he smiles, I feel it tingle in my nether parts.
“Gorgeous, not nice,” he says and stands. Right in front of me—crotch to nose—so I have no choice but to look at his pecker or up into those damn blue eyes of his. “Want something cold to drink?” he asks me, and I nod because his swimsuit stole my words. A few heads turn as he strolls around the pool to where they have a pool house and bar for residents. Lance places an order with a friendly smile and points to where I am lying in the sun.
“Dad!” Nova hollers when he sees him. “Look…I can jump from the top.” Lance stops to watch him and gives him a high five when he clambers back out the deep end to do it again. Lance comes back over to me and lies down. On his stomach this time, thank God, but it still has a view of the ripped muscles across his back and shoulders. Not to mention the round globes of his ass. Jesus.
“Want to get in the water and cool off?” He turns his face to ask me after lying down like that for a few minutes. I should say no, I am here to swim with Nova—not his dad. Lance doesn’t need supervision and floats to a pool noodle.He has one of those in his swim pants.
“Sure,” I say, getting up. I take off my hat and glasses. “It’s definitely hotter out here now.” I think my raised body temperature might be caused by how my boss is looking at my ass. Lance runs past me and jumps in like a kid doing a cannonball, laughing. His splash wets everyone anywhere close to the water, including me. I needed to cool down after the view I had of him on the lounger. Taking a short run, I join in the shenanigans and jump in after him. My splash is smaller—because I am half his size.
“Impressive.” He smirks when I surface, standing just too close to me in the water. “You’re more fun than I bargained for, Sienna.” Oh, my fucking God, he is flirting—very openly. I don’t know what I am supposed to do here? If I flirt back, it means I like him, which I do, but he’s my boss and there are rules. I love my job, I don’t want to lose it—and I love working with Nova.
This is confusing, and I have never had a crush on anyone I worked for before this. Lance is older than me, a lot older. “Is that a compliment or are you flirting with me, Lance? Because you know there are rules about that.” I try diffusing this before it can escalate into a more dangerous situation.
“I’ll let you decide.” Lance smirks and ducks underwater, swimming away. He leaves me there, breathless, and shocked. Surely a man like him, that looks like that, and has about as much money as God, wouldn’t be interested in the help. I am a nanny. Yes, I have a teaching degree—but this is the job I love. I love kids and caring for them. Why would Mr. Mega-Business like me?
Also, what the hell does that mean, he will let me decide? I am standing in the middle of the pool sorting out my muddled thoughts, telling my heart to calm the fuck down, when Nova jumps in right next to me. I jump and scream, which he thinks is so funny. Lance is chasing him around—friends forgotten, the two of them have their own game going now. Somehow, I have been pulled into it.
By the time the sun goes down and the temperatures start to drop, we are all exhausted, but happy smiles on both their faces show just how worth it time like this is. “You go shower all the chlorine off that body, and I will cook dinner for us quickly.” I didn’t realize just how late it is. Nova rushes off as Lance calls after him to wash his hair.
His singing starts right away, and we both laugh. Lance takes a cold beer out of the fridge, and leans against the counter. He’s still only got that swimsuit on, and I am probably going to burn the dinner because I keep looking at him. I open the fridge and scan what we have, “Burgers?” I ask him, glancing over my shoulder, catching him mid stare.
“Sounds good to me,” he says. The gravelly tone in his voice gives me goosebumps. “Anything is fine.” I take ingredients to make homemade burgers and start putting them all together. Lance moves around the kitchen, somehow landing in my path every place he stops to stand. It’s like playing Marco Polo with my eyes open, and we’re in the kitchen, not the pool.
I turn around to put a pan on the stove, and he’s there—right there—so close to me. I can see his chest in front of my face, and I hold my breath looking up to meet those deep blue eyes. He doesn’t move this time. He just stands there looking at me, locked in a breathless gaze. Lance tips my chin up with his finger and licks his bottom lip.
My boss is going to kiss me, and I need to make him stop, even if I want him to kiss me. I do. I want him to kiss me so badly right now, but senses kick in and I blink. Stepping back, I break the connection. “I can’t.” I whisper looking down, so I am not trapped by those eyes.
“But you want to,” Lance says, still standing so close to me, he’s almost naked and it’s disarming how handsome he is. I don’t answer either way. I am fucked—if I say yes, he’s the boss and I can get fired. If I say no, his ego might get bruised and he could find a reason to fire me. There’s no right answer because I want to kiss him. Since I got here, I have gone to bed at night having wild dreams about my hot boss, but in reality, we can’t. I know that I know it and so does he.
“It doesn’t matter if I want to Lance. This is my job. I can’t.” I shake off the feeling that I just made a terrible mistake and go back to making dinner. Lance’s mood changes from the smiling fun man at the pool to a darker one. His eyes are on me with every move I make and the fun banter of earlier has dissipated.
Nova is babbling about how fun his day was, and Lance isn’t engaged. I see that he is still very much focused on me. It’s not fair for him to put me in a place where I’d have to choose between him and my job—he is leaving. They’re moving to New York. I won’t give up my job for a guy who won’t be staying in Vegas after the summer.
He can sulk if he wants to, but getting involved would be a bad idea—for us and Nova. The kid doesn’t need that sort of confusion in his life, not right before a huge move. He can’t see his father and me flirting, or anything else. It’s not fair. I stepped back because it was the right thing to do. Lance is deathly quiet while we eat. Nova makes his burger with too much on it and tries to get a giant bite in, which makes me laugh. He shouldn’t have to feel the tension between his father and me, and I push aside my thoughts and feelings, focusing on Nova.
“Let’s go read a story and get you to bed,” Lance says to Nova when he’s done eating. “It’s already late, and I am sure Sienna has a jam-packed day planned for you two tomorrow.” I have got some fun activities planned for him. The boys he met at the pool are homeschooled, and following the same program he is in, so we have arranged to take them to check off one of their out-and-about activities.
