Page 91 of Marrying the Nanny

Their marriage was supposed to be a practical, civilized partnership to raise his sister. Instead, he’d let his Neanderthal brain take over and forgot everything except the need to cleave her unto him. He had craved that sex, that intensity, on a level so deep it scared the hell out of him to glimpse it.

Unnerved, he moved to peek in on her changing Storm.

“I’m jumping in the shower.”

“Wish I could join you.” Her hair was mussed, her eyelids heavy with satisfaction. The lips that curved with sensual memory were still pink and swollen.

Something stirred through that naked space inside him, something that ached with longing and joy as he memorized that sultry smile of hers.

“Me, too.” He meant it. Mostly. He needed a moment. Or ten. “Mind if I leave her with you while I run back to the office?”

Chapter Fifteen

Emma half expected to bump into her brother on their flight to Victoria since they took the commercial one from Bella Bella, which only ran a couple of times a week.

Eddie posted a status update from Vancouver, though, so she knew he’d made it that far. She received exactly one text after his visit. It was from his wife and read, Bitch. Her parents were conspicuously silent.

“I’m feeling like I was petty,” she told Reid as they climbed into the rental in Victoria. “I’ve always wanted a better relationship with my brother, but made no effort to have one.”

He adjusted the seat and his jacket, but he didn’t start the engine. He gave her his full attention.

“We can almost always do better with our interactions. Instead of angry, we can be civil. Instead of civil, we can be friendly. But we react in the moment to whatever we face. Don’t beat yourself up for being human. There’s such a thing as enabling, Em. He had an opportunity to do better and didn’t take it. It’s not on you to keep offering opportunities so he can disappoint you.”

The corners of her mouth went down even though she was trying to smile. “Thank you. You’re so smart sometimes.” She set her hand on his thigh and leaned across.

He kissed her, but briefly, saying mildly, “Only sometimes?”

He started the SUV, one eye on the backup screen as he pulled from the spot, forcing her to sit straight in her own seat and pull on her belt.

She studied his profile, not precisely feeling shunted aside, but not feeling as close to him as she’d expected after their spectacular lovemaking two days ago. She had thought he would sleep with her after that, but he’d worked long hours on the upstairs bedroom after putting Storm to bed, spending every other free minute at the office. He wasn’t ignoring or avoiding her, but he wasn’t exactly with her, either.

“Reid, are we okay?” She tried to suppress the throb of insecurity in her voice and wasn’t surprised when he barely glanced at her.

“Of course.”

Her heart sank and she might have sighed, not meaning to, but his reticence made doubt trickle through her.

He unexpectedly pulled into a side street that warned it ended in a cul-de-sac. He stopped against the curb, took her hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, startled. Instantly worried she’d ruined everything.

“You remember when I said I’d need your patience? This is one of those times.”

There was no emotion in his face. He was the tightly wound man she had met that first day, when she’d thought him incapable of a tender thought or feeling. He had come from seeing his mother that day and that’s where they were going this afternoon.

She melted with empathy and squeezed his hand. “It might be fine.”

“It might,” he said without a shred of inflection. He released her hand and pulled back onto the street, circling at the end and continuing into the city.

She decided to give him the emotional space he seemed to need and merely said, “Being here gives me culture shock. Remind me which way to look when I cross a street. Remind me to look.” Raven’s Cove was mostly foot traffic.

“Growing up, I couldn’t wait to come here. I’d fantasize for weeks about seeing movies and eating fast food. Then I would get here and couldn’t decide where to go or what to eat. Too many choices.”

“I would kill for a decent curry.”

His mouth twitched. “Noted.”

The next few hours were bureaucratic and filled with waiting. They met with a lawyer to start the guardianship, bought a marriage license, and met with another lawyer who would handle Emma’s immigration paperwork. Then they checked into the hotel, freshened up, bought flowers from a nearby vendor, and drove to his mother’s.

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