Page 62 of Taming the Boss

“Yeah, I met him the other day.” I smiled blandly.

“I’m working as Jude’s nanny for his son. I just didn’t plan ahead enough to bring enough clothes and then my car had issues. The week just sped by…” She trailed off as Owen came into the foyer, sucking his thumb and clutching his giraffe.

“Baddie, I’m hangry.”

“Oh, I know, sweetie. I didn’t mean to nap so long, and we still need to get your second set of sneakers. C’mon, slugger, I can make you some hot dogs and sketti for lunch like we talked about the other day.” She lifted Owen and stationed him on her hip before she carted him off down the hall to the kitchen. “Thanks, Dare,” she called over her shoulder before she and my son disappeared into the kitchen.

But Dare made no move to leave, so I took a deep breath and resigned myself to a lecture.

“Look, I realize you’re new here, so you may not understand how things work in the Cove. We watch out for each other here, keep track of everyone. Make sure everyone is doing as they should. That doesn’t mean we close ranks and refuse to welcome newcomers, but?—”

I held up a hand. “You’re telling me to watch my step. Noted.”

“Maddie is part of one of our most respected families. Her older brothers are family men down to the bone. Well, Moose and Christian. Travis is a fine single parent. Penn…” He shook his head. “He doesn’t live here in any case. Just saying she’s a well-loved member of this community. And she’s young to boot. Along with her older brothers, just about any one of us in town keep an eye on her, make sure anyone sniffing around her realizes how it works here. She might as well be any one of our daughters or younger sisters. You read me?”

“Yes.” I gripped the edge of the door as my son’s laughter rang out loudly from the kitchen. “As you can tell, the sordid activities you’re assuming I’m luring her into have their place, and it’s not in the middle of the afternoon. Now unless you want to stay for our late lunch, you must have to get back to the shop. Do you want me to drop you there since you were so kind to deliver Maddie’s car?”

“My brother is on his way here to take me back. Do you have any siblings?”

My reply stuck in my throat. Oh, I did, and even some in this very storied town, but no one here knew that yet so I wouldn’t share that fact with the welcome wagon—or the morals brigade—just yet. “Yes, I have a younger sister, who will be moving here soon, actually. Sydney is always above reproach,” I added, my way of warning him not to bother including her in his “watch yourself” style rounds.

He wouldn’t have to worry about her interacting with someone in town that concerned them.

“Oh, younger, hmm? My brother is younger than me too. How much younger?”

If that was his attempt to find out my exact age, he was sorely disappointed when I merely said, “Five years.” Then I cocked a brow. “Any other questions?”

“Not for now. I think I’ve made my point clear.”

“Crystal.”

His phone went off in his jeans and he held up a finger to me as he answered it and stepped a few feet away across the veranda to have a low conversation. Then he pocketed his phone and turned back to me, indicating I should step outside. “Gage is on his way. So I’ll just sit here on this nice porch swing and enjoy the breeze on this hot day while you have lunch with your boy and Maddie.”

“Okay. Suit yourself. Thank you for delivering Maddie’s car.”

“We love Maddie. Sorry it took so much longer than originally expected. Holiday weeks,” he said with a shrug.

My knee-jerk response was to say I cared too, but then I bit my tongue. The less I said on that subject, the better.

With a nod, I turned to go back inside. “I’m glad she has so many people looking out for her. She deserves that.”

Dare didn’t respond.

As soon as I opened the door and entered the foyer, Owen surprised the hell out of me by running down the hall to grip my legs. “Hey, hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“Baddie making hot dogs with sketti.” His pure joy was contagious and I lifted him onto my hip again as I’d done this morning.

Maddie’s ease with him had encouraged me to take more risks with him. When I’d first met Owen, he’d seemed so small and breakable that I’d almost been afraid to touch him. To do something wrong that messed things up between us somehow so he wouldn’t feel like he could trust me. I never wanted to push him too fast for affection or to make him think I was just manipulating his emotions.

Not like you know anything about that from a parental unit, right?

But Maddie was such a natural, she made me braver too. So, I ruffled his hair as I’d seen her do so many times as I carted him into the kitchen.

Maddie openly watched us from where she stood in front of a bubbling pot of what appeared to be spaghetti, smiling warmly at me. Her approval was clear.

Look at me, scoring points all over the place for once.

“That smells delicious.” I carried him over to her so he could peer into the pot and frying pan—and also, so I could see his reaction up close and personal when I brushed a kiss over Maddie’s hair. She immediately stiffened and started to step away, but I locked a hand on her waist so I could kiss her mouth. It was a chaste kiss, no tongue, but I wanted Owen to get used to seeing me with her this way.

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