Page 43 of Forbidden Love

“Good. It’s not weird that I’m here, is it?” I asked her as she hugged me.

Alice frowned. “Should it be?”

“I don’t know.” Maybe it was just me who felt awkward.

“I was a little surprised he invited you to join him. He brags that he watches her so he can finally have her to himself. When Mac’s around, they tend to fight over her.” Then she waved a hand. “It’s all in good fun. They’re always teasing each other.”

“It’s hot seeing him interact with Maggie. You know what I mean, right?” I asked in a quiet voice. Alice started out as Maggie’s nanny, so she probably experienced the same phenomenon.

Alice grinned. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. There’s just something about a man holding his daughter—” she broke off as Tyler came over to us, Maggie bouncing in his arms as he walked. She had her little arms wrapped around his neck as she looked over at us. “Or niece.”

“What are you two talking about?” Tyler asked as he set Maggie on the floor.

I slowly shook my head. I couldn’t admit the truth, that I thought he was hot when he held his niece.

Tyler flipped his thumb over his shoulder. “You’re doing that art stuff with me, right? It looks a little complicated.”

“You brought Maggie art to do?” Alice asked.

“We used to stock them at the hotel for kids to do in the art room. I led the class, so don’t worry, Tyler. I can help.”

“Now I want to stay to see what this art box is all about,” Alice said as Sam jogged down the steps, picking Maggie up and throwing her in the air. Her curls flew everywhere as her giggles filled the foyer.

“Be good, you little monster,” he said, blowing raspberries on her stomach as he held her upside down.

She giggled. “I’m not a monster.”

“Sure, you’re not,” Sam said as he lowered her to the ground, and then he grabbed Alice’s jacket from the hook by the door and helped her into it. “You ready to go?”

He brushed her hair to one shoulder, kissing the bare skin of her neck. It was sensual, yet casual enough that I suspected he did it all the time. A faint blush tinged Alice’s cheeks as she turned in his arms and caressed his cheek. “Ready when you are.”

Sam opened the door and said, “You two behave tonight.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. We’ve got this handled,” Tyler said as Maggie tried to tug him toward the kitchen.

“I bet you do,” Sam said with a grin.

I shook my head, even as my cheeks heated. I wondered if Alice and Sam thought there was more between us than there was. Sure, there was that incident on the field and the other one when we were younger, but nothing had happened the night we looked at the stars. We were capable of being responsible and not giving in to this attraction.

“Art before dinner?” Tyler asked Maggie as Sam and Alice slipped out.

I wondered if he was distracting her from them leaving. Did she normally get upset? Either way, my heart was contracting in my chest. I thought I could handle seeing Tyler with Maggie, but I was wrong.

Maggie nodded and then said, “Piggyback ride.”

It wasn’t even a question. Tyler dipped his knees to help her climb onto his back. Maggie giggled as he lifted her high. Her curls bounced with every step as he tipped her one way, then the other, pretending to drop her.

I followed at a slower pace, wondering how I was going to survive the night. No wonder Alice didn’t last long as Sam’s nanny. It was a wonder she resisted as long as she did.

We moved into the kitchen where the art box sat on a table. Maggie had already pulled out the little paint tray, the miniature bottles of paint, and the materials.

“First, you need to pick the project you want to do.” The theme for this one was space.

Sam opened the booklet of options, and Maggie perused them. “I want to make the planets.”

This one required a larger piece of paper, so I pulled out one. “Do you have something to go under her paper so the table doesn’t get wet?”

“I think it’s in the laundry room.” Tyler went to the open doorway just off the kitchen and returned with a mat that had an ice cream truck on it. He moved it under her watercolor paper while I opened the bottles and dropped a different paint color into each spot of the paint tray.

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