by Lindsey Hart
“Uncle! I want to do that! I want to jump into the pool too!”
Austin let out another scream in agreement. He slapped at the water with his chubby fists.
“Uncle, horseback ride!” Noel demanded. “Please? Can you give me a horsey ride around the deep end?”
Lexi had already pointedly told Noel it was off limits to go over there, even with a lifejacket on. With Austin in her arms, she’d be slowed down if anything happened.
Curtis swiped water off his face after he surfaced. He stared right at Lexi and her heart stutter stepped. She’d never seen him like this. Wet, obviously. He’d only ever been dry when he’d come into the office. But she’d never seen him as he was at the moment. Unguarded. Nearly human. His lashes were starred with water droplets. Water sluiced off his slicked-back dark hair and trailed down his temples to drip off his granite jawline. Beads of water skidded over his perfect nose, dropping off the end. Even his lips were wet as he grinned at her.
Lexi let out a little gasp and quickly ripped her eyes from Curtis’ face. She hated the warmth that spread through her body like suddenly the entire pool was filled up with lava and not cool water. She hated the tingling in her toes that spread up her legs and exploded between her thighs. She hated the butterflies that fluttered crazily in the pit of her stomach. She hated the way her chest compressed, and she forgot how to breathe properly. She didn’t want to be attracted to Curtis James, but she had eyes. Her biology, as it happened, was rooted firmly against her. She tried to manufacture some of that good old disgust she felt for the TFB, but at the moment, all she felt was undeniable, red hot lust.
“Please, Uncle?” Noel repeated again.
To Lexi’s surprise, Curtis gave in. “Alright.” He opened his arms. “If you can swim over here, I’ll give you a ride around the pool.”
Noel was game for it. She glanced at Lexi and Lexi finally nodded, giving the go ahead. Part of her wanted to see if Curtis really would put Noel up on his shoulders and cart her around the pool like a normal, attentive, loving uncle. It seemed so removed from something he’d normally do.
She stayed at the edge of the pool, her feet firmly rooted on the bottom, Austin in her arms, still splashing happily with the water. He was a good toddler. One of the happiest, most easy going she’d ever seen. Noel was a nice kid too. They obviously had a decent set of parents. What the heck was wrong with Curtis then? Did he inherit all the bad genetics? Maybe being so good looking was a curse. Maybe it went to his head at an early age. Although, his sister must be pretty too since her children were so beautiful. Lexi had never met Curtis’ sister. She didn’t even know her name, but she was willing to bet her entire savings on her being super nice, kind, and down to earth.
Sure enough, after Noel reached Curtis in the deep end- with little effort as she was a good swimmer- he hoisted her up on his shoulders. He swam with her like that, big sure strokes that cut through the water, while she gripped the side of his face and hung on for dear life. She loved it. Every single minute, even the parts where Curtis went completely underwater, nearly dunking her. He did two laps around the pool like Noel wasn’t even there, his powerful body cutting through the water easily, before he swam right up to Lexi.
He stood up, his feet rooted at the bottom, the water only brushing his waist, even though it was at her chest.
“Kiss her!” Noel screeched.
“What?” Lexi’s jaw dropped in shock. “Noel! Why would you say that?”
“Well, you’re his girlfriend, right? Kiss! Kiss! I want to see you kiss!”
Before Lexi could offer up any protests or reason with the four-year-old screaming in glee above her, Curtis’ warm hand shot to her shoulder. His touch was infinitely gentle, yet somehow rough and slightly possessive. His fingertips were strangely rough like he did actual labor, not just sat behind a desk. Her entire body thrilled, her heart slapping the underside of her ribs, pumping blood through her veins so fast they were probably in danger of exploding. His hand was delicious. His touch did something strange and terrifying. The hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end like he was a wolf, a real-life threat, and he was about to tear out her throat.
And she was frozen in place. She couldn’t pull away or move or save herself.
He dipped his head, heedless to the weight of the kid on his shoulders, angled his face, and did as Noel demanded. He didn’t just give her a quick, affectionate peck on the lips or keep things G-rated. His lips were scalding, his kiss hungry, urgent, demanding. He parted her lips and she was too shocked to protest. She should have locked her lips shut, not let his tongue snake through and deepen a kiss she shouldn’t ever want. But it did. It parted her lips and it was in her mouth suddenly. He was kissing her, and she was letting him. Open mouthed kissing her. She was letting it happen. She should be biting off his tongue, not letting it search for her, find it, and stroke it in a sensual dance.
When Lexi finally recovered enough to even think about chomping down on that offending tongue, Curtis pulled back. He ended the kiss, his warm breath like a caress along her jaw and chin, and floated back in the pool, to a safer distance and deeper waters.
There was a moment of stunned silence. Lexi shifted Austin to one arm and reached up with shaking fingers, to her burning lips. Another moment of silence.
Then, cheering. Noel let out a loud whoop and giggled. “Yay, Uncle!” She screamed.
Curtis James stared her down, heat flickering in his sea blue eyes. Eyes bluer than the pool or the sky or any ocean out there. Eyes so much bluer than her own, which were almost grey. Eyes she could drown in. Eyes filled with heat and desire and hunger.
Austin giggled in her arms like he enjoyed being sandwiched between the whole thing. He splashed the water and cooed up at her.
“Again!” Noel demanded on a giggle.
“I- I think that’s quite enough for now,” Lexi stammered. Her hand was still at her lips. They were still burning. Her fingers were trembling. Her entire body was on fire. It was lucky she was in the pool because her legs were suddenly little better than the rainbow slime Noel proudly showed her the night before.
“Really? I’d be happy to do it again.” Curtis grinned at her wickedly.
Did his lips have to be so perfectly sensual? Did they have to just be planted on hers? Did her whole body have to be in complete disarray?
“No! No, that’s quite enough.” Distraction. She needed a distraction. “Uh- time for a snack? I should get you both out and reapply the sunscreen too. Don’t want anyone turning into a sizzled piece of bacon out here.”
“Bacon,” Noel giggled. “That sounds yucky.”
“And painful. Sun burns are not to be messed with.”
Austin glanced up at her like he was calling her on her bullshit. They’d only been out for an hour. Not long enough for the sunscreen she so carefully applied to wear off. Snacks though, that was the real kicker. No one could turn that down, not even an hour after breakfast.
“Snacks sound like a great idea,” Curtis chimed in, suddenly Mr. Eager when it came to the kids. Really, he probably just wanted to get out of the pool and do more flexing, this time soaking wet.
Lexi gulped. She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t watch him get out of the pool, his trunks plastered against his edible body. Damn it to hell, he should not be edible. People are not edible. Jesus. What am I thinking? What the heck is happening to me? Oh right. Curtis James kissed her. Freaking kissed her, and now, she was as useful as a wet, limp noodle. Right. She was female. She had ovaries and a heart and hormones and apparently all of them were conspiring against her to diminish the disgusted loathing she had for her boss. He didn’t leave a bad taste in her mouth at all. Not. At. All. In fact, he tasted good. Like mint and- and… man.
Without stopping to think about it, she turned her back and stalked out of the pool. It shallowed out at the far end, to a set of concrete steps. Lexi made quick work of them. She wrapped Austin up in a towel and set him on the loung
e chair well away from the pool before she turned back and extended her arms for Noel.
Curtis, because he could be a real master of dickery, walked straight to the edge so that she had to bend over, her naval and below pretty much level with his line of sight, to pick Noel off his shoulders. Bastard. By the time she had Noel wrapped up in a towel and seated next to her brother on the lounge chair, she’d realized something. Curtis James wasn’t just a spoiled, entitled, trust fund brat. He might have had the company handed to him, but maybe he did do some actual work after all, as he claimed. One thing for certain, he was a very good tactician. He was very, very good at getting his way. Maybe not everything in his life was handed up to him on a silver platter. Maybe he did have to work for some of it before it offered itself up.
That was not going to be her. She wasn’t going to be the one on that platter. Offered up. To be devoured. Even if the thought of Curtis James’ hot, sinful, wicked, spoiled mouth on her body did some very wicked things to her in some very wrong places.
“Watch the kids,” she snapped at him, without tearing her eyes from Austin and Noel. “Promise me? I’m just going in to get some- some snacks.”
She waited until Curtis nodded solemnly at her. She might not want to make eye contact, but she wasn’t moving a muscle until he promised to watch those kids around the pool. Satisfied that they weren’t leaving that lounge chair under their uncle’s watchful gaze, she turned and retreated back to the safety of the house.
Thankfully, it was frigid, the AC pumping full blast. It chilled her overheated skin, producing a different set of goosebumps all over her body. Her nipples pebbled under her bathing suit top and her hands shook from the cold the longer she was in the kitchen, trying to scrounge up something that passed for a snack the kids would actually want to eat. She doubted cabbage and broccoli, or a protein shake were high up on their list of ideal snacks.
She was so cold by the time she’d assembled a few peanut butter sandwiches and grabbed some orange juice, that her fingernails were purple and her teeth were chattering, but the cold still hadn’t managed to penetrate or shut off the heat buzzing through her veins.
CHAPTER 8
Curtis
The rest of the day went something along the lines of just about everything in the house getting broken. By the time evening rolled around and the mini monsters had their second macaroni dinner, Curtis thought the breakage was pretty much done. He didn’t actually think there was anything in the house left to break. Of course, Noel proved him wrong.
Lexi had gone down the hall to use the bathroom for like, all of two seconds when Noel’s screams brought him racing into the living room. It sounded like someone was murdering the kid. He wasn’t attached to them by any means, but he knew his sister would be beyond devastated… okay, who was he shitting? He didn’t want anything to happen on his watch, and not just because it would make him look like a terrible human being but maybe because the little whiner and the little poop machine were growing on him. Just a tiny bit. Like a hair.
Curtis pulled up short when he saw what the shrieks were about. Noel stood there in the middle of the room, a huge discarded marble- who the hell gave kids marbles the size of their heads anyway- sitting a few short feet away. Noel was sobbing, screaming, and staring at the flat screen TV up on the wall. The thing was huge. It also happened to have a marble sized smash in the middle of it.
“What the ever-living hell?” Curtis roared as soon as he saw the damage. The TV screen was black, but shades of red and green bled out from the damaged area. It didn’t matter that he had enough money to buy a ton of those TVs. It was the fact that the brat had just thrown a marble into the center of it and ruined it.
“I- I- I- I’m s- so- sorry,” Noel hiccupped and wailed. She balled her hands into tiny fists and bunched them into her eyes. Her face was scarlet. Austin was nowhere to be found.
Lexi rushed into the room, panting. She scooped up Noel like he was a lion on the prowl, about to devour her as his next meal.
“Language!” Lexi shouted right in his face. “And why you are cursing at her anyway?”
Curtis pointed a silent finger in the direction of the TV. Lexi let out an even louder gasp. Her face turned just about as red as Noel’s. Still. She shook her head at him.
“Where is the other one?” Curtis seethed. “Smearing poop on the wall again? I thought I was paying you to watch them.”
“I am watching them,” Lexi huffed. “And correction. You’re paying me to help you watch them. Sue me for having to pee. Austin was right outside the door. I left it open a crack just so I could keep an eye on him, I’ll have you know. I left him there and came running because it sounded like Noel was in real danger.”
Lexi took off, a sobbing Noel nestled in her arms, but not before she gave him a murderous, disgusted look that told him she basically thought that he failed as a human being on every single count.
Curtis trailed after her, his eyes burning daggers into her back that she obviously didn’t feel since it didn’t stop her or slow her down. Of course, she was on her way to pick up Austin. He finally realized that was the reason she took off. Because she couldn’t leave a two-year-old unattended in the middle of a hallway.
When she scooped him up too, taking both kids in her arms and stomping back down the hall to head upstairs to their room, he ate up the floor after her and barged into the spare room a few seconds after she did. She set the kids down on the bed like they hadn’t done anything wrong. Like he was the crazy one for being angry about the lack of respect and common sense that his niece so clearly displayed.
Luckily, she seated them both on the bed facing him so that he could point a raging finger in his niece’s still scarlet, tear-stained, puffy face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks swollen, her little lips trembling with fear and sorrow. Fresh tears welled up and trailed down her face, but hell no, he wasn’t moved by those. Didn’t his sister punish her brats or did she just let them get away with fucking murder?
“You!” He thundered. Lexi froze at the edge of the bed. She didn’t turn around to face him and he could barely see her side profile. He wasn’t worried about what she thought at the moment. He wasn’t done. He was going to have his say and no one was going to fucking stop him. “You threw a marble at my TV. What were you thinking? Who the hell even gave you such age inappropriate toys? Your little brother could ram that thing down his throat and never see the light of day again! Doesn’t your mother tell you not to break things? To respect her house? Do you also go around breaking shit at your own place?”
Of course, Noel had no answer. Her lips wobbled and fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. Austin had pretty much the same red faced, big eyed, about to start bawling look on his face, but his was tinged with a little more confusion.
He rammed a finger in Noel’s direction. Let the little monsters scream and carry on if that’s what they had to do. It wasn’t going to soften him. He wasn’t a sucker like his sister and her apparently ball-less husband.
“You think you can just walk around this house doing as you please? Making messes? Breaking things that people worked hard to afford? Breaking things that aren’t yours? You think you can show me and my house a lack of respect? I promise, you will never be coming back here.” He swiveled his finger in Austin’s direction. What do you know, those big tears started trailing down his chubby cheeks too, but to his credit, he managed not to make a sound. His sister more than made up for it, howling and gulping away. Curtis swallowed hard and said the first thing he could think of. The one thing he hated as a kid. The thing his mother used to say to him all the time. “You belong in a zoo. Both of you. You should go live there. You can break all the things you want. Smear as much poop all over the place as you desire. Act like little monkeys and wild animals until your little hearts are content.”
“The- the zoo…” Noel hiccupped, clearly mistaking everything he just said. She brightened considerably, swiping at her cheeks. Her lips stopped wobbling and
she even produced a few clear sentences, proof that the hysterics really were just an act to get her off the hook. “Can we? Live at the zoo? I want to live at the zoo. I love the zoo!”
Curtis shook his head. It was after dinner and he was done with it all. He was done with watching kids, trying to keep them alive. He was even done with his plans to try and romance Lexi. She clearly wasn’t on his side. Maybe he should give up on what his dick so clearly wanted and actually use his brain for a change. There were a thousand willing women out there, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, fucking millions. He didn’t need to go after the one woman who so clearly despised him, even if, for the past year, she was the only one he wanted. It was an unhealthy fixation. One he planned to wean his junk off ASAfuckingP.
He stormed out of the room, shaking his head and muttering to himself. It was just about time for the kids to go to bed anyway. He’d gladly let Lexi deal with it. He could already hear her behind him, doing some form of unnecessary damage control, coddling the kids so that they’d never man up and take responsibility for their own actions. And people said his generation had problems. At least, he’d had a spanking or two over the course of a lifetime. At least, he knew not to break his parents’ things. He would have had his ass tanned red with a wooden spoon if he’d ever done anything like that to his mom or dad.
Curtis slammed his way into his room. He grabbed his laptop off the nightstand, where he usually kept it. He had an office that he’d very carefully locked up before the kids were dropped off, but he hated working in it. He’d rather answer copious amounts of work emails somewhere comfortable. He hated to admit it, but it was what he did late at night or early in the morning when he couldn’t sleep or couldn’t go back to sleep. Dealing with work shit wasn’t therapeutic, but at least, it eased some of his stress throughout the day.
Lexi probably never thought he answered any of his own emails, but that was because he cleared off the important shit before she even got to work for the day. Did she think that his emails stayed under control on the weekends by itself, when she wasn’t there to delete, flag, and send robotic sounding replies?