Page 93 of Worth Every Risk

MATT

Aries is a drug. She must have coated her skin in cocaine, because I cannot get enough. Watching her cavort in the pool all day in that bikini was torture. That, and Seb bullying me into getting the most out of the situation.

I stand in front of the breakfast buffet, plate in hand. I can feel the heat of the day on the back of my neck. It’s only 8 am, and it’s already boiling.

“Good night?” Seb asks, coming up behind me with a platter of food piled so high it’s obscene.

I grab a croissant. “Erm, yeah.”

“You weren’t in your room. I checked,” he says before giving me the most salacious, suggestive wink.

“What were you doing in my room?”

Seb laughs. “Checking. Duh.” He saunters to the outside table, pulls down his sunglasses and takes a seat.

I follow him out. “That’s an invasion of privacy. I did not give you permission to go wandering around in my quarters.” A boyish grin still decorates Seb’s face, irritating the fuck out of me. “I get that this amuses you, but my kids are on this boat.They could come up here at any moment. I don’t want them finding out.”

“Finding out what?” Kate says, coming over with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. She’s wearing a blue dress that falls just below her knee, her dark hair tied up in a knot on top of her head.

“Matt’s screwing the nanny,” Seb answers.

Kate freezes, glances at Seb and then back at me, no doubt trying to decipher whether or not this is a prank. “Are you?” she asks in a stage whisper.

I roll my eyes and shake my head, dismissing the entire conversation rather than denying it as I bite into the croissant.

“She’s gorgeous,” Kate says. “And lovely too. We had a good chat at the pool yesterday. It’s obvious she really cares about Lucie. You could do a lot worse.”

“I’ll say,” Seb agrees.

“Stupid though,” Nico muses, stepping out into the glaring sun to join us.

“She’s not stupid,” I say, far too fast.

Seb and Kate share an amused glance, and Nico’s lips curve too, although he’s not sharing his amusement with anyone else. He pours a glass of fresh orange juice and sips it thoughtfully. “I didn’t mean her. I meant the whole”—he raises his glass of OJ and moves it round in the air like he’s stirring a cauldron with it—“thing. You’re blurring all the boundaries. If she’s a good nanny and it doesn’t work out, you’ll have to let her go. If it does work out…” He shrugs, like he doesn’t know what happens next.

“Let the old bugger have some fun,” Seb says. “If he wants to get his nuts off with the staff, why not let him fuck the nanny? At least she’s hot.”

A primal urge to smash my fist into Seb’s face rises up.

“Daddy!”

I spin to the voice so fast I nearly choke on my croissant. Lucie is sprinting towards me, Aries just behind her. They’re far too close, and I know by the look on Aries’ face that she heard exactly what Seb just said. Her expression tears at my heart; she looks humiliated. Uncertain green eyes dart between the four of us like she’s trying to gauge who’s going to launch the next attack.

I scoop Lucie into my arms. No one else moves. We’re all standing, trapped in this horrendously awkward moment until Kate moves towards Aries.

“Did you sleep well?” Kate asks, then immediately shakes her head and curses under her breath as though she wishes she hadn’t mentioned last night at all, while Aries looks stunned. Seb’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. “Sorry,” Kate says. “Come and get some food. Sit with us. Come on Lucie, come choose some food,” she adds, holding out her hand to my daughter. “There are fresh pastries.”

I put Lucie down, and she skips off to grab Kate’s hand. With one quick, unhappy glance at me, Aries moves off with Kate back inside to the buffet spread.

I turn to Seb. “You’re a fucking twat, you know that?”

Nico slowly sits down next to Seb, making no comment.

“I’m sorry,” Seb replies. “But come on. You’re a walking stereotype. The sad old divorcé fucking his hot nanny.”

“Fuck you. Yesterday you were badgering me not to waste the opportunity.”

“And I stand by that. Your nanny looks like she stepped off the stage of the Moulin fucking Rouge. But that doesn’t change what this is. It’s a midlife crisis if ever I saw—”

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