Seeing Shae’s meddling little nanny, on the other hand, tied a clump of knots in his stomach. Having her in his space, commenting on how he’d been raising Shae, wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when he’d offered her the job.
Hot air blasted him as he stepped farther into the living room and dropped his keys onto the table, that clump in his stomach rolling over and tangling tighter. When he was here, under the dissecting eye of Laurel, he just wanted to get out. But when he was away, spending his hours at the bar, and even when dealing with Russo’s guys, his mind drifted back to her. The way he would catch her eyes running over him when she thought he wasn’t looking, the nervous fidget that would take over her body when he was anywhere near… He was attracted to her—who wouldn’t be with her impeccable figure and full lips worth kissing?
But that was all it was: attraction.
He threw his wallet onto the table with his keys just as his daughter screeched, “I’m a sparkly fairy! And my fairy dust will make you fly!”
“Shaelynn, no—” Laurel’s voice followed, but then she was laughing. Hard. “I’m going to get you, you sneaky little fairy!”
What the hell?
Micah crossed the living room in a few steps and stopped short when Shae and Laurel shuffled across the kitchen, wrestling over a shaker bottle of glitter. On the breakfast table, a display board lay flat, pictures of dinosaur skeletons and descriptions scattered about. And glitter. Lots and lots of glitter.
“Daddy!” Shae shouted and started for him, ditching the glitter container in Laurel’s grasp. “Look how shiny I am!” Tiny, colorful dots shimmered from every surface in the kitchen—the floor, countertops, even the fridge. A complete mess, but how could he resist smiling at his little girl, all covered in pink-and-purple sparkles?
“Are you making fancy dinosaurs?”
Shae crumpled her face. “Dinosaurs aren’t fancy, silly. Just the border. It was Laurel’s idea.”
Micah glanced to Laurel and immediately she stiffened, her chin dipping downward. “I didn’t realize it was going to turn into a glitter storm. Sorry. I promise to wipe it all up.” Then she tugged Shae’s arm toward the bathroom. “Why don’t you get cleaned up before dinner? Wouldn’t want glittery spaghetti.”
“Oh, yes, I do! I do!”
Laurel shook her head, her nose wrinkled. “Then when it comes out, you’ll have glittery…you know what.”
Shae’s eyes brightened and she opened her mouth—obviously ready to agree to producing shimmering shit, but Laurel spoke first. “No chance, missy. Get going.”
Without complaint, Shae pranced out of the kitchen, her long hair and a cloud of glitter sprinkles the last to leave.
For a second Micah just stared. Had his daughter ever voluntarily run into the bath? “She usually fights me on bath time,” he said, a haze of fuzziness pressing in on his thoughts. Seeing Laurel caring for Shae, interacting with her like a mother would, did something funny to his chest. Something he wasn’t sure he liked.
He opened the cabinet to retrieve a broom, but Laurel snatched the handle before he could and said, “Well, I told her she could shower like a big girl. She was pretty excited about that.”
A shower instead of a bath. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
He took the broom from her, the sweet, floral scent of her skin blasting him with the movement. One breath, one measly inhale, but it was as if it had magical powers. One breath that cracked some of the hard tension solidifying in his chest. Tension that had been there since the moment Laurel arrived.
He looked at her.
She looked back at him.
“I can help you clean up,” he said, leaning past her for the dust pan. His arm brushed her shoulder. She tensed but didn’t pull away, her blue eyes skimming over his face.
Her lips pursed into a small smile, then she shook her head. “You just got done with a full day’s work. You really don’t need to.”
It had been a full day, in more ways than one—beginning with an incomplete delivery at the bar and ending with Russo’s cluster-fuck assignment. But this was his apartment and his daughter, and he couldn’t just sit back and down a beer while this woman cleaned in front of him, weekly salary or not. The place was an absolute disaster, and he wasn’t that much of a dick.
“I want to,” he said coolly then took the broom from her again and started sweeping the glitter into a pile on the floor. Laurel stared at him for a moment, frozen with her arms hanging loosely at her sides and gaze following his every move. Man, he’d have loved to ask what was running through that spirited little mind of hers. But he still didn’t know her, and asking what someone was thinking seemed much too intimate for the place they were in. Strangers.
When he swept past her feet, she finally startled into clean mode, first setting the display board off to the side then wiping the counter with a damp sponge. The two cleaned in silence for a few minutes, but soon that silence budded into an uncomfortable level and thoughts began to swirl and turn through his mind. Russo’s guys had shown their faces at The Alibi twice this week. A reminder to let Micah know that eyes were on him, that no matter how well he performed on the job, one slipup would cost him. Times like that he wished he’d never followed in his father’s footsteps. Wished he’d known about Shae before signing his life over to the mob in blood. Had he’d known Emily would get pregnant then dump his daughter on his doorstep, Micah would’ve avoided going to the mob for money in the first place. But now he was stuck, not because he needed the money. But because the mob had a strict policy about who they let leave and when.
Micah’s father hadn’t gotten out until he’d lost his mind to booze and became no longer useful to them. He cringed at the thought of him doing the same.
Plastic bristles scraped the tile floor as the understanding played out in Micah’s mind. If he wanted to keep Shae safe, then he was going to have to make it work with Laurel, which meant having a conversation with her that didn’t end with him yelling or storming out.
“So…,” he began, “you haven’t had much of a chance to tell me about yourself.” Glitter in the trash, broom put away, he started with a wet paper towel on the sparkle-covered cabinets. “I know you met my sister in college. And that you’re going to be teaching in the fall, after you spend the summer with me…here.”
Her busy arm worked quickly, a band of toned muscle wrapping the length of it. “I’ve spent the last two months looking for a summer job. Daycares, preschools, but it seems like no one wants to hire someone who’s only going to be around for a few months.” She shrugged and rinsed out the sponge.
Leaning against the counter, he ditched the crumpled towel and folded his arms over his stomach. “What made you decide to be a teacher?”
“The kids.” Her eyes brightened, an unmistakable air of excitement lifting her expression. “Trite as it sounds, I want to mold our future. One kid at a time.” She smiled, and it was the most genuine smile he’d seen on her yet—one that reached all the way up to her eyes.
“That doesn’t sound like something you chose to do simply because you wanted to.” The implication was clear; an aim that high didn’t just come out of nowhere, and she turned away—proof that he was dead on—to rinse the sponge again.
Micah watched her hands as she gently squeezed the sponge over and over—a mundane sort of task, yet mesmerizing in the way her slender fingers swiped away the tufts of glitter—and then the stretch of skin on her neck as her long ponytail slid over her shoulder with the movement of reaching for the towel. Slowly, she dried her hands then turned to face him, mirroring his stance against the opposite counter—arms folded over her middle. Her mouth opened and then closed, and Micah stayed quiet, waiting to see if she’d have the courage to say whatever was on her mind.
He had to admit, over the last two days he hadn’t been the friendliest person to her. He supposed he could change that.
Laurel cocked her head to the side. “You seem different tonight.”
&
nbsp; One eyebrow lifted. “As in…?”
“As in…” The tip of her fingernail tapped the inner crook of her elbow, and she met his gaze straight on. “You seem not as, um, on edge?” Her eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe she’d said that then added, “I mean, I just—”
Micah laughed. “You mean I’m not being an ass? Well, don’t get used to it. Must be all this princess glitter messing with my brain cells.” He winked at her, at the same time noticing that under the washed-out kitchen light, a single speck of glitter twinkled from her cheek, right beside the corner of her mouth. “I guarantee it won’t last long,” he said, and she giggled.
The sound caught Micah by surprise. Soft. Yet uninhibited. It made his insides tingle. It made him feel lighter. It made him not care that he was stepping forward, crossing the room, moving closer and closer to her. She braced her hands on the edge of the counter, her eyes never once straying from his, and inhaled a short breath when his finger gently swiped the granule off. This close, he could see the streaks of gray in her eyes, could tell that if he tucked her into his chest her cheek would rest directly over his heart.
Laurel froze, blinked up at him, then grinned shyly. “I’m sure I’ll be finding glitter in my underwear for the next few days,” she said beneath a giggle—this one much quieter and accompanied by a pinkish flush to her cheeks.
Underwear…underwear…underwear…
One simple word, but hearing it come out of her mouth obliterated the entire room in an instant, until all he could see was her.
Her blonde hair. Flawless skin. Full lips he suddenly couldn’t pry his eyes away from. He slid the tip of his finger down her neck and ran it across the scooped neckline of her shirt, her warm skin brushing along the backs of his fingertips.
Briefs or thong?
Simple white or black lace?
What kind of underwear would she wear, and what would she look like in them?
In the distance, he heard the shower turn on. The echo of Shae’s voice belting out the chorus of her favorite song accompanied the open and close of the shower door.
Micah’s finger twitched, the urge to tug out the edge of her shirt and find out for himself what lay beneath. Instead he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You are so fucking gorgeous.”
Laurel blinked. Had she heard him right? She couldn’t tell because since he’d touched her—first on her cheek then her jaw and then in a line only an inch above her breasts—her heart had exploded in her ears.
The huge man that less than twenty-four hours ago had stormed away from her was now touching her and telling her she was gorgeous and looking at her mouth like he wanted to kiss her.
And the worst part? She liked it. A lot.
The curiosity of what it would feel like to have him kiss her senseless overruled any levelheaded thought. It also overruled the grip she had on the edge of the counter and the solid stance her feet had planted in when she’d first positioned herself opposite him.
She reached one hand up and flattened it over his chest, spreading her fingers as wide as they could stretch. The sheer size of this man was intimidating, yes, but more than that it was the biggest turn on she’d ever experienced.
His finger slowly drew a line down the middle of her stomach, and then she did the same, sliding her hand across the ripples and bumps and pleats that made up his stomach. His hand settled on the crook of her waist. Hers mimicked his.
So carefully, Micah’s head tilted. He’d caught on to the game she was playing. A move for a move. Only, was she playing a game? Her body operated as if she’d fallen under a trance. His trance. Then his eyes flicked over her shoulder, fixed on something, the corners of his mouth pushing into something that looked like a grin.
Not saying a word, he reached past her then produced Shaelynn’s bag of pink candy pop rocks she’d gotten from the museum gift shop. He unfolded the top and poured the remaining pieces into the palm of his hand. By the casual way he moved about—tossing the empty bag behind her, lifting her up to the counter with one arm, stepping between her legs—it was like he did this sort of thing all the time.
“If I didn’t know any better,” Laurel said, fighting back a giggle. Wait, why was she giggling? Her boss stood mere inches from her face, his body pressed between her spread legs. That should matter to her, right?
Most days it would have, but at that moment, with his intense stare and hand cupping around her neck, she didn’t care. Not. One. Single. Ounce.
She swallowed and continued. “I’d think you were going to pin me down and make me eat those.”
Micah appraised her for a long moment, the hand with the pop rocks still and hanging in the space between them. He shook his head, an uncharacteristic gleam in his eyes. “What fun would that be if I didn’t get to taste them too?” In one graceful swoop, his hand swung up and dumped the tiny pieces of candy onto his tongue.
Immediately, Laurel frowned. “Or you’re just going to eat them in front of me.”
“You want some”—he cradled his hand around her head and lifted her chin with a nudge of his thumb—“come and get them.” He leaned closer, she leaned in, and no thought or consideration or mere brainwork transpired before her mouth pressed into his.
Instantly, his lips parted and her tongue dove in and she didn’t know who this person was, devouring candy from the mouth of the man who was paying her salary.
In little strawberry-flavored bursts, the candy exploded against her tongue. One by one, bit by bit, with Micah’s mouth growing hungrier and hungrier the more she tasted. Tiny vibrations shot through her body, ricocheting down her limbs and back, then pooled in her belly.
This kiss, and the combinations of sensations that came with it—Micah’s skilled tongue stroking softly against hers, his gentle lips, all punctuated by the mini eruptions—was something a girl like her would never forget.
Pop rocks were her new favorite candy.
Strawberry was now her favorite flavor.
And she didn’t know how she was ever going to face her boss once this was over.
Obviously that didn’t stop her. Not even a tsunami could have stopped her at this point. The candy dissolved, the sizzling in their mouths dying out, but Micah showed no sign that he was ready to back off. With one arm he pulled her to the edge of the counter and held her firmly, his other hand tightening along the crown of her head. His fingers pressed into her scalp and a tiny part of her hoped the tips of his fingers would leave an indentation. That way she’d know kissing him really happened.
His tongue worked hers, taking occasional breaks to taste another part of her body—her jaw, her ear, the hollow of her neck. With every new place he explored, the tingles in her belly sunk lower and lower.
She wanted him to touch her there.
She didn’t.
For the love of everything holy, she had no idea what she wanted—
Suddenly, the water to the shower shut off, and Micah pushed away from her, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. Stepping back, enough so that the heat of his body and scent of his skin was nowhere near hers, he cleared his throat. “Do you and Shae have plans for tomorrow?”
A hand fluttered to her neck in an attempt to tamp down the wild thumping, and she inhaled a deep breath. “Oh…well, she begged me to take her to the zoo.” Her mouth opened, the thought of asking him to join them making a quick appearance, but then thought better of it and bit her lip. “Is that okay?”
A strange look drifted over his face. Like whatever was running through his mind wasn’t something he was pleased about. He folded his arms and looked her square in the eye. “I have tomorrow off,” he said with a slow, friendly grin. “Would you care for some company?”
The crowded pathway circled around a bird display, the brush of Micah’s elbow against Laurel’s jolting her like an electric hand buzzer.
Company—when Micah had suggested joining the zoo trip, she hadn’t expected to be so caught up in his every movement. Of course,
she blamed the way he’d touched her yesterday. And smiled at her. Kissed her—
Sheesh, she really needed to stop that. She knew why that kiss had happened. He’d had a long day at work and then come home to a disaster—thanks to her brilliant idea to use glitter on Shae’s project—and all of that, on top of the fact that he’d shown up with a set of fresh bruises on his knuckles, probably just jumbled his thoughts into thinking she was something she wasn’t. Besides, he had hired her to watch his daughter, which automatically attached a “hands off” sign to her. Even if there had been a flood of sparks between them during that one incredible, yet completely inappropriate, kiss, there was no way he would act on it again.
Her either, now that she thought about it. Getting involved with someone she couldn’t have a relationship with…that was a big no in her book. Nevertheless, knowing this man was off limits—on top of knowing a gentle smile existed beneath his scary scowl—had her refusing to step away from the source.
Bumps of his elbow. They were just bumps.
“Can we see the giraffes next?” Shae asked and skipped up the walkway, narrowly avoiding an elderly couple searching a map.
Micah tucked his hands into his pockets—thank goodness!—and called out, “Whatever you want, princess.”
“I want cotton candy too!”
“We can have it for lunch, if you want.”
Did the man ever say no to her? The two of them walked side by side and trailed Shae as she followed the picture signs, Laurel itching to put in her two cents: Letting Shae have a treat while at the zoo was one thing, but for lunch? “If I didn’t know better,” Laurel said in an effort to not take him to task on his decision with Shae. Things were still new, and the day so far had been pleasant, and one thing she knew was that relaxed Micah was much easier to be around than scowling Micah. She smiled and looked up at him. “I’d say you’re enjoying this.”
He shrugged noncommittally but glanced sidelong at her, one corner of his mouth pushing upward. Not even a half smile, but enough to trigger a dance in her belly. That mouth had been on her last night—her lips, her neck, oh god she was doing it again. At least he wasn’t looking straight at her, wasn’t able to see the way she couldn’t stop her eyes from constantly moving back to that mouth. “It’s nice to get away from work for a few hours,” he said, his gaze scanning the path ahead of his daughter.
A Moment of Weakness Page 5