Page 21 of Seal of Approval

“That’s twice in the last two days you’ve stuck up for him,” Jack remarked.

These two were impossible. Making things up where they didn’t exist. “Now what are you talking about?”

“When we were asking him about having children and being married,” Jack said.

“Not everyone is comfortable with small-town mentality where everyone knows everything.”

“Weren’t you at least curious?” Lily asked.

Of course, I was curious. I like to know people and what makes them tick. I’d like to know what makes Ethan tick. The most personal thing he’d mentioned since being here was that he didn’t like it when students flirted with him. I’d been shocked at this revelation. Not because it was the opposite of Max who played on his looks, but because Ethan had been so offended by my misused words and he’d spoken up about it. He hardly ever spoke up about anything unless it had to do with the sea lions.

I had to admit I thought the demonstration was ridiculous at first. But that had to do more with me than the actual activity. And when he’d explained it, I understood. I had to admit to myself that I’d made a mistake in judging him. And the demonstration was effective. Most people had put their wetsuits on without assistance.

“Jasmine?” Lily prompted, bringing me back to the conversation.

What were we talking about? Whether I was curious about Ethan. “No, I wasn’t curious.”

Jack laughed his deep hearty laugh. “Now you’re bullshitting.”

I walked away. “I’m going to get the mail.”

What was it with these people? When Ethan took Rose from Jay to carry her home on the night of the bonfire, Jay had made sure to hold me back to tell me Ethan was a nice guy. I was pretty sure I could determine who was or wasn’t nice on my own. And whether Ethan was nice or not didn’t matter as long as he did his job. And treated the kids well. And didn’t make me uncomfortable in my own home.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ethan

I walked out into the kitchen at my usual time surprised to see the kids at the table eating their breakfast. Jasmine wasn’t out yet. I could hear her moving at the other end of the house. It looked like this morning wasn’t running to plan.

“Are your lunch boxes packed?” I asked.

Bailey shook his head. His short brown wavy hair was unbrushed. “No,” he said around a mouthful of food.

I turned and looked at the counter. I could have answered that myself. They were sitting in their usual waiting place. The snacks were already in there. I grabbed their sandwich containers out of the fridge. Jasmine didn’t use wasteful lunch wrap, another thing to admire about her. I got the juice boxes next, and ice packs out of the freezer and put them in the lunch box. Then I placed them in their school bags.

I looked at the time. They were running too far behind. I’d need to help with more than just the lunch box.

Jasmine arrived in the doorway wrapped in a towel, her tanned skin covered in droplets of water. They were sticking to her like they never wanted to leave. I’d be the same. The towel was tucked in at the top of her ample breasts and fell to the top of her thighs. My gaze flicked from top to bottom. For fuck's sake, I wasn’t a horny teenager. I reluctantly moved my gaze to her face. Thank goodness she hadn’t noticed me staring.

“Get your lunch ready, please,” she said to Bailey and Rose.

“Ethan has already done it,” Rose said.

She looked in my direction like she hadn’t even noticed I’d been standing there. “Thanks.”

“Go and get dressed,” I said. “I’ll sort these two.”

She glanced down at her towel-clad body and blushed. A brisk turn and she was headed to her room. “Thanks,” she called out.

No, thank you. That was the best thing I’d seen in many a morning.

Rose was taking her time chewing her toast, staring off into space.

“Rose, chew faster,” I said. “Bailey, bring me your plate and go do your teeth.”

He got up straight away.

“If you move quicker, you’ll have more time in peace,” I said, indicating to Rose. He almost ran to their room. “Rose, you have thirty seconds left.”

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