There With You

by Samantha Young

  His large, strong hand covered mine, and goose bumps shot up my arm despite the lack of breeze. I inhaled sharply, and Thane’s fingers tightened on mine.

  “Thane!” A shrill female voice jolted us out of the moment, and I glanced up to see Michelle, one of the thirsty moms, stalking toward us.

  Sliding away from Thane, my heart raced.

  I’d totally forgotten we were sitting in public, touching each other.

  “Michelle.” Thane looked up at her. “How are you?”

  She shook two ice-cream cones at us but put way more jiggle behind it than necessary so that her impressive boobs shook in her cute bikini top.

  I hated her.

  Side-eyeing Thane, I tried not to glare. I couldn’t tell where he was looking, but a possessive growl of jealousy sounded in my head. He better not be looking at her boobs.

  “The ice-cream van arrived, and the kids wanted some. Connor’s dad watched them while I ran off to get them. I saw Lewis. He’s getting so big. And handsome. Just like his dad.”

  Thane cleared his throat. “Aye, well …” He trailed off uncomfortably, making me laugh.

  “It looks like your ice creams are melting there, Michelle,” I said.

  She wore sunglasses, but I still knew she was glaring at me. “Regan. I didn’t see you there.”

  I guffawed under my breath, but the way Thane turned slightly to look at me, a small smirk on his lips, told me he’d heard me.

  At my non-answer, Michelle threw a strained smile at Thane. “I hope to see you at parents’ evening. Maybe even before then. We all miss you at the gates.”

  “That’s kind.”

  When Thane said no more, her smile wavered and she threw us a quick bye before hurrying off with the melting cones.

  Silence fell between us for a second.

  Then I burst out laughing.

  Thane half laughed, half groaned as he leaned back on his hands.

  “Could she be any more obvious?” I huffed.

  “Every time.” He rubbed a hand over his beard. “It’s the one thing I don’t miss about working from home. Enduring those bloody pickups and drop-offs at the gates with those women.”

  My jealousy eased. “You’re not interested in any of them? They’re attractive.”

  Thane’s amusement fled. “No. They’re only interested in the Adair name and the money they think comes with it.”

  Frowning, I shook my head. “I think you might have something to do with it too. I’m sure Lachlan’s already told you they’ve been giving me the stink eye for the past six weeks.”

  His lips twitched. “He mentioned something.”

  “They think I’m doing more than nannying for you,” I blurted.

  Despite those damn sunglasses, I could feel him looking at me. My body reacted to his unintentional smoldering, and my dress was suddenly too tight across my breasts.

  “Ignore them,” Thane finally replied. “They like to gossip.”

  “I do ignore them,” I promised. Then, because I was a glutton for punishment, I asked, “So there’s no one you’re interested in dating?”

  For a second I thought I might have crossed the boss/employee boundary, but Thane eventually answered, “I don’t date often. I don’t want lots of women coming in and out of the kids’ lives.”

  What about sex? He was a virile, hot-as-hell man in his prime.

  As if he could read my thoughts, he grinned, and it was too wicked. “There’s a difference between ‘dating’ and dating. I ‘date’ more than I date. If you catch my drift.”

  Oh, yeah, I caught his drift. There was that jealousy rearing its ugly head again. Was he “dating” someone right now? All this time, while I was crushing on him, was he fucking women any chance he got? But when? All he did was be a dad and work. What if it was someone he worked with?

  Oh my God, I was driving myself crazy.

  Turning to look back at Anna and Eilidh dancing on the beach, I let their cuteness cut through my irrational annoyance.

  “What about you? You haven’t met anyone special yet?” Thane asked.

  Yes! I wanted to shout in his face. And he’s oblivious! Instead, I shrugged. “Nope. Not yet.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  The note of admiration in his tone made me turn back to him. I swear to God, I sensed his eyes on my body.

  But that couldn’t be right. Right? “You do?”

  His mouth twisted into a self-deprecating smirk as he looked toward the water. “Aye, surely some young surfer or lead singer of an indie rock band wanted to take you on adventures with him.”

  Is that what he thought? That I wanted some irresponsible, wild, adventurous, “fun” youth? After what I’d just confessed to him? Irritated, I replied, my voice a little hoarse, “I want a man, not a boy.”

  Now it was Thane’s turn to inhale sharply.

  “Ree-Ree!” Eilidh came flying at us and threw herself into her dad’s arms, despite it being my name she’d called.

  Thane caught her and cuddled her close.

  Taut with tension, I didn’t know whether her interruption relieved me.

  “What do you want Regan for, Eilidh-Bug?” her dad asked, smoothing stray curls around her face.

  Damn, he was such a hot dad.

  And I was such a perv.

  Focus, focus, focus. I grinned at Eilidh as she chattered about how Mac said there were mermaids in the water and would I take her down to see them.

  “Uncle Mac was talking about the loch at Ardnoch, darling,” Thane told her. “This is the firth that leads into the North Sea.”

  “No mermaids?” she asked, big-eyed.

  He shook his head.

  “Can we still go in?”

  “Regan isn’t dressed for the water, but how about I take you in and then when we come back, we’ll have lunch?”

  Eilidh agreed, and Thane stood and swung her with ease onto his shoulders. Her giggles pealed across the beach, drawing stares.

  And some stares remained on the daddy eye candy. Smirking, I reached for the hamper. “Why don’t you check on Lewis, see if he wants to go down to the water with you?”

  “Will do. Say bye-bye to Regan.” Thane waved Eilidh’s hands for her, making her giggle harder.

  “Bye, Ree-Ree!” she squealed, and I laughed as they wandered down the beach in Lewis’s direction. When I reluctantly drew my eyes from them, my gaze landed on Michelle, thirsty mom number one, and I didn’t need to see behind her sunglasses to know she was glowering. Her pursed lips gave her away.

  Damn these Ardnoch moms and their territorialism.

  A little later, after lunch was eaten and food had settled in our guts, when the beach had cleared some and wasn’t nearly so busy, the four of us took Lewis’s ball down near the shore and played soccer. I hated to say it, because I was all about girl power, but Eilidh and I were useless. She and I spent most of the time giggling hysterically at our terrible skills.

  “It’s not soccer, Ree-Ree!” Lewis yelled for the hundredth time. He’d taken to calling me his sister’s pet name a few weeks ago. “We call it football here!”

  “Right, right!” I held up my hands defensively. “I forgot.”

  “You can’t be Scottish if you keep calling it soccer.”

  The implication being that he wanted me to be Scottish?

  Before I could stew over that, Eilidh ran at the ball, grabbed it in her little hands, and threw that thing with impressive might down the beach. “There!” she yelled, like she’d finally accomplished the goal of the game.

  Laughing, I took off after the ball. “I’ll get it!”

  I watched as it bounced down the sand toward a guy running on the beach. He saw it and stopped to retrieve it before it went into the water to be lost for good.

  “Thanks!” I called and then slowed as I neared.

  I then became extremely aware that he was young, shirtless, and built. And not in the way Thane was naturally built. This guy had a freaking eight-p
ack.

  My inner flirt came out before I could stop it. “Good thing you were Baywatching it down the beach.” I took the ball from him. He had the most stunning green eyes I’d ever seen.

  He grinned at me. “Aye, good thing. Just visiting?”

  “The accent? No.” I turned and gestured to where Thane and the kids were waiting. “I live here. I’m a nanny.”

  The green-eyed hottie nodded and then held out a hand. “Jared. McCulloch.”

  Having been told the tale of how the Adairs had an antagonistic relationship with Collum McCulloch, the local farmer of Thane’s father’s generation, I grimaced. Robyn said Collum held a grudge against the Adairs because of land the Adair ancestors allegedly stole from his family. “No relation to Collum?”

  “Granddad, I’m afraid.” He squinted past me. “Since that looks like an Adair you’re with, I’m guessing you’ve heard that bloody ridiculous story.”

  “Yeah, I have. I’m Regan. Robyn Penhaligon’s sister. I also heard that your grandfather helped save my sister’s life, so I’m thankful to him.” It was true. Lucy and Fergus had kidnapped Lachlan and lured Robyn onto McCulloch land. She’d actually thought Collum was behind the attacks on Lachlan, but nope. Collum had helped rescue them that day.

  “You would think something like that might mend fences.” Jared sighed.

  “You would think. I know Robyn would prefer it.”

  “Aye, my granddad’s quite fond of your sister, though the stubborn bugger will never admit it.”

  That was nice to hear. I smiled. “Maybe things will get better over time.” Seeing a trickle of sweat run down his neck, I was aware of his half-dressed body again and stepped to the side. “I’m sorry, I interrupted your jog.”

  Definite flirtation twinkled in those gorgeous eyes. “I’m quite happy for you to interrupt me anytime.”

  “Regan!”

  Thane’s bark startled me, and I turned to see him giving me the universal sign of “hurry the fuck up.”

  Frowning at his uncharacteristic impatience, I smiled at Jared. “I better go.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to head back.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I hope I see you around, though.”

  He was clearly a less complicated option than Thane. But despite his beautiful eyes, nothing seemed to penetrate my almighty crush on my boss.

  “Yeah,” I replied noncommittally, waved, and hurried back down the beach to the waiting trio.

  “Who was that?” Lewis asked, his nose wrinkled.

  “Jared McCulloch.” I handed over the ball.

  “Collum’s grandson?” Thane asked.

  Finally, I looked at him, still confused why he’d barked at me. “Yeah.”

  “What did he want?” He sounded sullen and suspicious.

  I shrugged. “Nothing. He just saved the ball.”

  “He didn’t need to,” Lewis said, sounding as sullen as his father.

  Confused by how the jovial atmosphere had turned, I took Eilidh’s hand and followed son and father up the beach. Without discussing it with anyone, Thane started packing up our things.

  “We’re going?” Eilidh’s lower lip trembled into a pout. “I don’t wanna!”

  “Anna has gone home. It’s time to go back to the house and get cleaned up for dinner at Uncle Lachlan’s,” her father said. “Eilidh, don’t start.” He preempted her tantrum.

  “Hey.” I swung her into my arms, settling her weight on my hip. “I can do your hair all fancy for dinner tonight.”

  “Yeah?” Her eyes grew big and excited.

  “And I bet your dad will let you wear one of your nice dresses.”

  Her gaze flew to her father. He gave her a smile and a nod and returned to collecting our gear. Tantrum averted.

  Once the kids were settled in the back of the car, I helped Thane load the rear.

  Out of nowhere, he said, his voice low, “Jared McCulloch is making a bit of a name for himself around the village.”

  I pulled back from tucking the cooler into the back of the car and straightened to meet Thane’s eyes. He’d taken off his sunglasses, but I still couldn’t read his expression. “Name for himself?”

  “As a ladies’ man. Made his way through the small pool of single women here and is now working his way through Inverness.”

  Understanding dawned. “We were only talking.”

  Thane shrugged, like it didn’t matter to him. “I know. I’m just saying.” He slammed the hatch down and I flinched from the almost aggressive action. However, he didn’t say another word, just rounded the car to the driver’s side.

  I stared after him.

  “Are you getting in or walking?” he called sarcastically back to me.

  Without a word, I got into the passenger side and tried to figure out if Thane was jealous or if I was simply projecting how I wanted him to feel.

  12

  Thane

  There was nothing worse than starting the day flustered, and that was exactly what Thane was doing. Eilidh had been sick through the night but was bright and bubbly this morning, confirming his suspicions that she’d eaten too much junk food. He’d finally wrangled the confession out of her that she’d snuck downstairs after he’d gone to bed to eat out of the bags of sweets he’d bought for the kids to take to the Halloween party at school the next night.

  Her stomach only held it down for an hour before it wanted back out again.

  And Thane was knackered. There was nothing worse than holding your wee girl in your arms while she cried and begged you to make her feel better. Thankfully, after throwing up a few more times, she fell asleep. She woke early and seemed as full of beans as ever.

  While her father felt like he’d been dragged through a hedge backward.

  The whole thing had thrown him off, and before he knew it, despite Regan being there to take care of everything else, he found himself running out the door, late for work.

  After parking his car in the underground garage, Thane dashed into the lift that would take him up to the company’s floor. The building was new and modern, and it stood out in the small city center with its black tinted glass.

  Pre-twentieth century architecture mostly made up the skyline of Inverness with an eclectic (and unsuccessful) mix of midcentury brutalism. Just a few minutes’ walk from the train station, right in the center of town, his architectural firm rented the eighth floor of the new building.

  To his growing impatience, the lift stopped at reception to let more people on. One of those was Keelie Tanner. The attractive brunette smiled, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him as she practically pushed two men out of the way so she could stand next to Thane. He tried not to show his amusement.

  “Keelie,” he greeted her.

  “Good to see you. How are you?” She studied him as if he were the most fascinating man on earth.

  And Thane wasn’t entirely immune to that. What man would be? It was flattering as hell. Keelie worked as a financial advisor on the floor above his. She’d started chatting one day in the elevator and sometimes she’d stop by his car when he was leaving at night to see how his day had gone. Through those small interludes, he’d learned a fair bit about her. She was a single mum after going through a divorce three years ago, and it was nice she understood the trials of single parenthood. And something he hadn’t really thought about but seemed to stick in his mind now as he looked at her, Keelie was his age—thirty-seven—though she’d just turned it in June, and his thirty-eighth was in two weeks. Lachlan’s birthday was a mere six days before his, so the family had planned a birthday dinner for them both next weekend.

  Still, less than a year between him and Keelie.

  That was appropriate.

  Not that he was thinking of dating Keelie. As nice as she was, and as much as they got along, Thane wasn’t in the mood for dating anyone.

  “So what do you think?” she queried just as the elevator stopped at his floor.

  Thane had no idea what she’d asked. “I’m
sorry, Keelie. Eilidh was ill last night. I’ve barely slept, I’m like a zombie, and I’m running late. I’ll catch you later, yeah, and we can talk then.” He got out of the lift as Gary from payroll did. Thane hadn’t even realized he was on the lift with him.

  “How are you?” He gave the payroll admin a polite smile.

  “That was brutal,” Gary answered in return.

  Thane tensed. “Excuse me?”

  The young man smirked. “How you blew off the MILF on the lift.”

  “MILF …” Thane scowled as he realized who Gary was referring to. “Keelie?”

  “Aye, her. I might use that trick to let down a bird in the future.”

  “Wait, what?” Dread filled Thane’s gut.

  Gary’s eyes widened. “You actually weren’t listening to her, were you? Mr. Adair, she asked you out. In front of everybody.”

  Fuck.

  Cursing himself, Thane bristled all the way to his office. He didn’t want to date Keelie, but he couldn’t believe his woolgathering had mortified her in front of a lift filled with people. He’d have to find her later and apologize.

  Something else to look forward to.

  Five minutes later, his day grew worse when Thane realized he’d left his portfolio and 3-D model at the house. “No, no, no.” He needed the damn thing for an important meeting with their client in forty-five goddamn minutes. He pushed away from his desk and groaned. While he had most of it on his computer, the folio was filled with hand-drawn additions to the digital files, as well as notes and photograph clippings. The visuals helped with the presentation.

  “To hell with it.” He’d have to reprint the digital drawings and do what he could.

  His desk phone rang, the blinking red light telling him it was reception. What now? “Adair,” he answered abruptly.

  Brian, the company receptionist, answered, “Good morning, Mr. Adair. I have a Regan Penhaligon at reception. Shall I send her along?”

  What was Regan doing here? Was Eilidh okay? His heart raced. “Yes, yes.” He slammed down the phone and hurried to meet her halfway.

  As he spotted Regan rushing down a corridor, checking left and right, searching for his office, his heart slowed at the sight of his portfolio and model in her hands. She’d come all the way to bring them to him?