He’d been living on his own for well over fifteen years, so he’d grown accustomed to a quiet house. Typically, the only other voices to fill the place were the ones that came from the television.
He’d always told himself he liked the silence and the solitude, because the older he got, the more set in his ways he became. But there was no denying these new sounds of life were…nice.
Victor growled under his breath. Pip and Belle were only here for three months. After that, life was going to return to normal.
Normal.
He repeated that word to himself throughout his shower, the cold water serving as his reset, so that by the time he entered the kitchen, he felt more grounded.
Belle was the nanny.
She was practically family.
She was not available to him, even if he wanted a girlfriend…which he fucking didn’t.
He liked his life the way it was. Unencumbered, easy.
Fortunately for him, Pip was also a distraction—a welcome one.
As he sat down at the island, she monopolized his attention, telling him about some dream she’d had involving a purple dragon, a puppy, and how she’d been a princess in a castle made of marshmallows.
Belle flitted around the kitchen, placing a fluffy, golden-brown waffle in front of him.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, aware he was going to have to return to the gym again today—and probably every day—because Belle was proving to be an amazing cook. Victor was okay in the kitchen, but he didn’t ever push the limits or get fancy. As a single man and a professional athlete, his dinners were pretty much always the same. A protein—salmon or chicken—a salad, and some other vegetable he could heat up in the microwave.
“Uncle Vic,” Pip said, pointing to the swear jar. “I heard that.”
He grunted but didn’t argue. “Left my wallet in my bedroom.”
“That’s okay,” Pip said, putting a tick mark at the top of the picture she was coloring while eating. The paper was as sticky as her plate, but Pip didn’t let it deter her. “I’ll keep count.”
Belle laughed as she joined them with her own plate, pouring syrup all over the waffle before cutting it and digging in with gusto. Victor didn’t mean to stare, but watching her plump lips open, then hearing her moan of bliss was the sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time.
So much for the fucking cold shower and pep talk.
He was right back where he’d started in the gym.
It wasn’t until Belle’s gaze connected with his, and she tilted her head curiously, that he realized he’d been looking too long and too hard.
“Uh, what are you two planning to do today?” he asked, searching for some sense of normalcy.
“We’re taking a walk!” Pip shouted excitedly. “Mrs. Evans said I could play with her new puppy.”
“She adopted the most adorable corgi,” Belle added. “Named her Bunny.”
Pip continued the story. “She got Bunny because her other doggie, Pepper, went to Heaven.”
Mrs. Evans was Victor’s closest neighbor, and while he typically offered a wave whenever they were in their yards at the same time, he’d never initiated a conversation. Somehow, within eleven days at his place, Belle and Pip had befriended the woman enough to get her entire pet history.
“Sounds fun,” he said.
“Then we’re going swimming,” Pip added.
He ruffled his niece’s hair. “You didn’t have to tell me that part,” he teased. “Because you’ve been in the pool every single day since you got here.”
“That’s cuz I love the pool more thananything,” Pip said dramatically. They continued to chat as they ate, and once they were finished, he and Belle rose, working in tandem to clean the dishes.
“Okay, go get your shoes on, Pip, and we’ll head over to Mrs. Evans’s house.”
