“Okay.” He nodded at Amaya, and she jumped up and down. Ryan flipped to his phone contacts. He found Aelin’s number and dialled.
He opted not to explain the entire situation and instead just let the girls do the work. Bailey was working on her mom just as hard, and it didn’t take much convincing. Unfortunately, hearing Aelin’s voice brought back every minute of their time at the Dusty Rose.
Was she thinking about him with his shirt off right then?
Without the alcohol clouding his head and rerouting his blood south, the idea of her looking at him—wanting him even a little bit—made him feel like he’d just been hit with a taser. He couldn’t allow his head to take off in that direction. It wasn’t fair to Kara or Amaya, and he was going to be seeing Aelin all summer.
He needed to backpedal whatever had happened that weekend to the safety of a professional relationship. She was his employee.
“Dad, I’m getting in the car!” The door slammed as Amaya disappeared into the garage.
Countdown to trial run: fourteen minutes.
Chapter
Eleven
Aelin fidgetedwith her shirt as Ryan walked up the path with Amaya. She moved back from the window framing the door so she wouldn’t look like she’d been watching for them. She was hoping to go for anOh, you’re here already?look instead ofI changed my shirt and pulled my hair up five minutes ago.
She’d been thinking about the Dusty Rose nonstop. What exactly had she said to him outside of the washroom? The whole interaction was fuzzy, but he’d smiled at her. She’d told him about seeing him over video chat, and the moment she’d remembered that tidbit, she’d wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Hopefully he’d been too far gone to remember?
It was stupid how nervous he made her, especially since there was no way she was going to do anything about it. He was married. Full stop. But she couldn’t kick the compulsion to want to impress him anyway.
Ryan knocked, and she waited a few seconds before swinging the door wide. He wore joggers and a T-shirt, and his hair was deliciously mussed.
Aelin smiled stiffly. “Hey.”
Ryan fidgeted with his keys. “Hey.”
Amaya ducked under her arm, dropped her bag and pillow,and called for Bailey. When Ryan didn’t move to come in, Aelin stepped out onto the porch.
Ryan took a step back. "Thanks for doing this. I wasn’t going to ask, but something came up at work.”
“Oh? Not good?”
Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, and the flush on his skin made her hands start to sweat. “Not great, no.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Aelin crossed her arms in front of her. He wasn’t meeting her eyes.He normally looked at her, didn’t he?What had she said at the bar?
He exhaled, his lips pressing into a thin line. “Amaya will be safe here, right?”
Aelin frowned. What kind of question was that? “My top priority is always safety.”
Ryan glanced up at her tone. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How did you mean it, then?” Their first encounter on the porch came swinging back into focus. Was she not allowed to ever be human? She got drunk at the bar, and now he was judging her parenting? “If this is about the other night?—”
“It’s about your ex.” He looked up, finally meeting her gaze. “I didn’t think to ask about it, but then I was driving her over here and . . . I got nervous.”
Aelin’s hands started to tingle. “Right. Yeah. That makes sense.”
“Does he come over here?”
“No. Hell, no.” She stepped forward to the railing and leaned against the porch rail. “He only came the other day because his sister told him I was locked out.”
Ryan nodded. “He has a key to the house.”
“Mmhmm. The house is technically in his name, but our contract states he’s not allowed to come here without asking me first. The other day was an anomaly. He took advantage of it.”
