There’s one face I can’t quite place.
“You remember Joshua, right?” Finn says as he releases me from his hug, as if able to read my thoughts. “Dylan and Claire’s friend.”
Joshua stands, pulling himself to his full height, making me do a double take.
The Joshua I remember was a scrawny little boy who always hung around my sister and her best friend, Claire. That’s not the case anymore.
“Of course.” I extend my hand toward him. “How are you?”
“Doing well. Thank you.”
“Dylan mentioned you’re working at Holley Ridge with Claire.”
“Sure am. Although not technicallywithClaire. She’s in charge of marketing. I’m the head groundskeeper there now.”
“What does that entail?”
“Landscaping and maintenance. Making sure the entire place looks pretty and runs smoothly.”
I nod. That checks out. From what I remember, he always liked getting his hands dirty and fixing things that broke.
“If you’ll excuse me, my mother will murder me if I don’t go say hello.”
Joshua laughs. “Fair enough.”
I follow the sound of my mom’s voice toward the kitchen.
At one point, she did all the cooking herself. Now Dylan’s taken over most of it, experimenting with recipes she wants to test out for her private chef business.
I’ve never been happier to be a guinea pig.
“Hey, Ma,” I start, turning the corner. “Sorry I’m late. We had?—”
I stop short.
Because it’s not only my mother and Dylan in the kitchen.
Rowan is here, too.
She’s wearing a soft green sweater, her hair pulled back in a loose knot, light makeup on her face, along with a hint of gloss on her lips.
Her fucking lips.
I can’t stop staring at them, especially now that I know how they feel.
How they taste.
What I wouldn’t give to feel them again. To taste them again. To feel her body move against mine as her breaths intermingled with mine.
But I can’t. Iwon’t. She’s my nanny. Nothing more.
“I assume Presley and Jemmy went straight to the playroom.” Mom’s voice forces me to look away from Rowan.
I move toward the refrigerator and grab a beer, even though I’d prefer something a bit stronger right now.
Something that burns.
“Of course they did.”
