“Oh? How so?” Drew was a good father, but he was a little high strung. Reason number 8,578 their marriage ended.
“Daddy won’t let us doanythingourself.”
Avery sprung up in her bed. “Yeah! He doesn’t. Rafe is good at teamwork. Daddy wants to do everything himself.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s not get into Daddy tonight. I’m going to talk to Rafe and I think there’s a pretty good chance that tomorrow, he will be your new nanny.” That news was met with an enthusiastic “YAY!” from both girls. Sloan couldn’t explain the relief she felt. The girls had been too hung up on the move to L.A. to make a real judgement call on Tess when she first hired her, but now she was glad the girls were on board with someone new, someone Sloan was pretty confident she could trust.
“So now,” she sang as she stood and swung Addison around. “I say goodnight to my darling love bugs.” It took her another ten minutes to get them settled again. She had to field a few more questions about tattoos, and eventually she headed downstairs to talk to Rafe.
She found him in the kitchen, finishing up the dishes. Sloan paused just for a moment to take a mental snapshot of his ink-covered forearms as he set another plate in the dishwasher. “I can handle those,” she said. Her voice sounded weird again. Bitch get a grip.
“Not a problem. I think best when I’m moving around.”
“I’m the same way.” Sloan pulled out a stool at the island and waited until he put the last plate in the dishwasher. She tried not to watch him too closely as he dried his hands, but those arms with those tattoos were enough to make a girl sweat a little. He pulled out the stool at the corner of the island and took a seat.
“Before we get down to it, I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier,” he said
“What—oh. Right.”
“I was way out of line and that was real inappropriate. You have my word nothing like that will happen again. You are very beautiful, but this,” he motioned between them. “I know it’s not gonna happen.”
Sloan felt a twinge of disappointment she couldn’t explain, and pushed that into the corner with the other odd feelings she’d been boxing up all day. “I appreciate that and I accept your apology. But you should know that I wasn’t offended. If I was, you’d definitely hear about it.”
“They get their frank, no-nonsense nature from you.”
Sloan laughed. “Yes.”
“Good to know. I’m the same way.”
“I’m seeing that.” Sloan looked up and even though they had squashed this whole lust at first sight issue, she couldn’t handle the way he was looking at her. Like, really looking at her. His blue eyes intensely reading every emotion that must have been playing across her face. A sudden heat crept over her skin as a tightness gripped her throat. It had been a long time since she felt this way. Over six years in fact. She cleared her throat and moved on. “So.”
“So.”
“We had our annual Copeland family board meeting and when we got to new business, I was informed that the members would like to offer you the position.”
“Hmm,” Rafe leaned back and ran his fingers through his beard. Sloan suddenly realized that she was dying to know what that beard felt like between her legs. “Please tell the board that I accept.”
“Wonderful.” They talked again about Rafe’s pay, which he seemed pleased with. He’d hopped off the Bakers’ family phone plan when they left the country and set up his own. It seemed easier to leave it that way. Sloan was offering more than what the Bakers paid, more than covering his expenses in that area.
“I like to keep the girls home on Sunday. I want to get them in the habit of knowing that it’s good to take a day to do nothing. That’ll be your day off unless we’re traveling. Saturday too, but that will be kind of a flex day. I’ll let you know in advance if I need you.”
And then they got to her least favorite part of the conversation. “Their father, Drew, has visitation one weekend a month. As I mentioned, he’s also in cardiothoracics. He has a private practice in Seattle. I’ll share that visitation calendar with you. You’ll have to take them to LAX on Friday when they get out of school. Drew arranged the recurring flight and I’ll make sure you’re on that email.”
Rafe nodded. “Is there anything else I need to know there?” He was asking about Drew.
“No. He’s fine. I couldn't justify turning down the job at Med and I have primary custody,” Sloan shrugged. “That’s all.” Also, she really hated him.
They hammered out some final details and then it was time for Rafe to go. Sloan walked him out to the driveway to his motorcycle. For some foolish reason, it felt like the end of a really good date.
Rafe climbed on his bike. Even in the dim street light, it was a lot of sexy to handle.
“I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Great.”
He looked at her for a long moment and Sloan knew that for however long he was with her family, this was going to be difficult. “Goodnight, Sloan,” he finally said.
“Goodnight.” She wanted to stand there and watch him slip on his helmet. She wanted to be close enough to feel the rumble of the engine when he started up his bike. She wanted to watch him ride off into the darkness, but this wasn’t a movie and they were not an item. She offered him a little wave and a tight smile, and then she walked into the house. She had a few things to do downstairs before she climbed into her own bed. Still, she lingered just inside the front door and embraced the small shiver that rippled over her skin the moment he started his Ducati up.
