“Okay, I’ll give it a bubble bath.” June nodded definitively, certain in the way only four-year-olds could be.
I turned down the street toward my sister’s house, still expecting to see her and my brother-in-law sitting on the porch steps out front to greet me like they always did. Instead, I found a car I didn’t recognize parked along the curb and a woman standing at the door, her hand raised to knock.
“Who’s that?” Nat murmured.
“No idea.” I pulled the car into the driveway and killed the engine. “You got June?” I asked, my eyes still on the stranger.
In my line of work, even if I wasn’t a household name, I’d still seen enough that I’d learned to be apprehensive and skeptical because you never knew someone’s intentions. And now that it wasn’t just myself I had to worry about, that distrust was amplified by a thousand.
“Yep.” Nat opened the door, her gaze just as scrutinizing as mine. She’d always been protective of those she loved—me and Nash, especially, as well as her family, but it seemed that had been extended to my niece and nephew, too.
At the sound of our car doors shutting, the woman at the front door turned around before stepping down the porch steps toward us. “Afternoon,” she called, her hand braced above her brow to shield her eyes from the May sun.
“Hi. Can I help you?” I asked, holding a squirming Owen in my arms.
She strode toward me, a smile on her face though her demeanor said all business. I’d place her in her early forties if I had to guess, with her straight brown hair, thin wire-framed glasses, and drab if functional wardrobe. She held out a hand for me to shake. “Yes, I’m Sheila Cummings, a social worker with Department of Social Services.”
My eyes widened, and I glanced at Nat, fear and panic gripping me.
“No, no. Nothing to worry about. This is standard practice in a case such as yours. I called and left a couple messages about this appointment.”
“Ah, yeah, sorry about that. I…” I shook my head. “I haven’t really had a chance to go through messages.”
Cole had already prepared me for this meeting taking place, but that didn’t mean I liked it. While we didn’t have anythingto worry about, the thought of letting someone into the house who had the power to take the kids away from me churned my stomach.
Sheila nodded. “Very understandable, considerin’ the circumstances.”
“Nat,” June said, tugging on Nat’s arm. “I wanna do the magic tests! Let’sgo.”
“In a minute, Junie B.” Nat placed her hand on June’s head, all the while maintaining narrowed eyes at the social worker. She liked to say she didn’t have a maternal bone in her body, but I’d seen some mama bear instincts come out more than once since she’d been here, now included.
Sheila smiled down at June and clutched the handles of a canvas bag in front of her. “A magic test? That sounds exciting!”
“Yeah!” June smiled and held up the necklace that hung excessively long on her short torso. “Nat says these might be magic ’cause they’re so old.”
“It sure is pretty. Where did you find it?”
“At the old store that smelled funny.” June shrugged, glancing back down at her necklace.
I breathed out a laugh at the same time Nat clarified, “An antique store over in Parkersville.”
“Wow, y’all’re brave to take little ones into a place as full as that!”
“Yeah, we didn’t exactly think that one through,” I said, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. What an idiot, admitting to the person with enough weight to get the kids taken from me that I hadn’t thought something through when it came to them.
But instead of narrowing her eyes and pulling out a legal pad to scribble furiously about all Nat’s and my wrongdoings, Sheila just laughed and nodded. “One of those live and learn moments,I suppose. Would y’all mind if we stepped inside so we can get started?”
Truthfully, yes, I did mind, but I couldn’t refuse. And I had no reason to be nervous. Cole had told me the social worker’s job was strictly to make sure June and Owen were in a loving, safe environment and that they were flourishing. That wasn’t the part I was worried about. We also had to contend with the farce I’d invented and make sure Nat and I pulled off the in love and happily engaged couple act.
Fortunately, we’d been friends long enough and had developed a sort of telepathic communication style, so we were on the same page throughout the longer-than-I-would’ve-liked visit. While Nat had wrangled June and fed Owen, I’d filled out paperwork, chatted with Sheila, and gave her a tour.
Thank fuck I hadn’t felt comfortable going through Aubrey and Nathan’s room yet, which meant the extra bedroom was full of both Nat’s and my things, one of her bras slung over my jeans on the chair I’d draped them on, and her scent permeating the room.
That scent had been doing things to me lately, especially since I’d been surrounded by it every night after she got out of the shower and climbed under the covers, all warm and soft.
I’d woken up every morning with my nose buried in her neck or her hair, breathing in all her sweet-smelling goodness while her ass was tucked up against my raging erection. And now, my cock viewed that scent as a gunshot declaring it was go time.
I couldn’t even say waking up like that was the first time I’d gotten hard thanks to Nat. That just wouldn’t be possible, considering she’d been around during the Random Boner days of my early teen years, where one would pop up if a slight breeze swept against my fly just right.
