Page 40 of Broken King

I nervously chuckle and answer, “He and I dated, so yes.”

She looks me up and down and smiles. “Yeah, I can see that. You look very much like the type of girl he would have gone for in high school.”

Unsure how to take that but having a sneaking suspicion what she said wasn’t a compliment, I smile and wonder if holding her under the water would be rude of me as Ava’s guest. Probably. Then she’d have to find another person to help her out with the babies, and I’d hate to do that to her.

“How long have you been working for Matthias and Ava?” I ask, curious that she should feel so comfortable since I think she’s only been living here for a couple weeks, at most.

She takes a gulp of Ava’s drink and answers, “Oh, just a week. They’ve made me feel right at home, though.”

“I can see that.”

I want to say other things, but none of them seem appropriate. Sabrina gives Theo a kiss on the nose and then turns back to face me.

“It’s been great. If they’ll have me, I’d love to stay here forever. Between Ava, Matthias, and Ronan, I’ve felt so welcome.”

In my mind, I mentally correct her grammar. Among, not between, since she listed more than two people.

With a smile, I nod, not wanting to continue this conversation. Between my failure to get to talk to Ronan earlier because of her and now my jealousy as I sit here staring at her great body in that bikini, I’m not really in the mood for a chat with Sabrina.

“Yeah, I plan on sticking around. The King family is definitely the best place I could land, and I want to keep that going for as long as possible.”

Something in the way she says that rubs me the wrong way. Does she mean as the nanny for Theo and Matty or something else entirely that has more to do with Ronan?

I watch her walk away back toward the pool as I try to dissuade myself from believing the worst about her. So what if she’s young and gorgeous? That’s not a crime. And so what if she’s become friends with the man I still care for? Ronan can use all the friends he can get now after going through such a terrible trauma. Ava seems to love her, and she does help with the kids, so it works for everyone.

A few minutes later, Ava returns with two bathing suits, and since I won’t be able to get out of swimming, it seems, I take the purple and blue one-piece, leaving her with the white one-piece.

“We’ll be right back,” she calls to Sabrina standing on the pool deck.

I follow her into the house, but on my way, I see Ronan watching out the window.

And he’s not looking at me or Ava.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ronan

Now would bemy chance to talk to Kate. Ava’s convinced her stay and take a swim with her and Sabrina, so it’s perfect.

Except I don’t swim. Not anymore.

I can’t help but think it’s strange that Sabrina didn’t mention she was going to go swimming when she pulled me aside to talk to me. She couldn’t wait to tell me about some dream she had about me and then give me a rundown of everything she planned to do today, but she never said a thing about spending time in the pool this afternoon.

Then again, what does it matter? What she does with her days has nothing to do with me.

“See anything interesting out there?” Matthias asks behind me.

I slowly turn around to see him smiling. I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but he’s way off base.

“No. Why?”

He shrugs as if he meant nothing by his question, but I know what he and his wife are up to. They think having Kate here will make me happy. They aren’t wrong, but it’s not as simple as they think it is. It’s not like I’m the same old Ronan I used to be. That guy would have no problem chatting her up and asking her out on a date. I know Kate as well as I know myself, so old me would be sure to say exactly the right thing.

This version of me isn’t that guy.

“You going swimming? I’d love to, but I have a meeting in fifteen minutes I can’t avoid.”

My brother has no idea how much I wish I could just throw on swimming trunks and dive into the pool. It’s not that easy, though.

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