Page 8 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

He slams into my embrace, and I almost fall back. Thankfully, I catch myself, because my dress would have ridden up and right in front of us is his father, Connor.

"Hey, Connor. I see you still look…Navy sealy," Bria says, and makes to fist bump him, but he doesn't offer his hand. She bumps his upper arm instead.

Which draws my attention to that area of his body. He has on a black T-shirt that hugs his body. His arms are toned, bulky, muscular, and covered in tattoos, sleeve tattoos. Connor isn’t the type of man I’d normally go for, but there’s something about the way the ink sits on his skin. He has this rogue type of hotness. It’s too dark to see his eyes clearly in the dim lighting, but I know they’re brown. I’ve seen them in the light of day, and those eyes are capable of burning holes into you. Well, he’s not a man I’d go for anyway, because he’s my stepmom’s cousin. But that doesn’t make him any less attractive.

"Okay!” Bria says, and lets down her hand from his arm.

"Daddy, look at Aria," Ethan says, holding on to my legs.

"Hi, Connor," I greet.

He doesn't say a word but nods and takes Ethan's hand, pulling him away from me. "Let's go say hi to Amy."

"What's up with that?" Bria asks as they're exiting out the backdoor into the yard.

"I don't know. Looks like he's got a fat stick up his ass." Apparently, I say it too loud because Connor looks back and frowns.

"Oops," Bria says, widening her eyes.

I don't care if he hears me. Connors has indeed got a stick up his rear end. I haven't seen him in years, and this is how he replies when I say hi to him? I’ve met Connor exactly three times before today, and he's been an ass each time.

The first time was when he came with his then-girlfriend, Cassy, who he ended up marrying. Ethan's mother. She was a beautiful woman. Full brown hair, big brown eyes, petite, and very clearly in love with him. I could tell just from how she looked at him. I still lived at home then, and he and Cassy had come to stay for two days. He'd come to introduce her to Amy. I can't really remember what happened between us, but he was just so damn grumpy, and I wondered what that beautiful, friendly woman saw in him. I couldn't see myself with someone like that. Well, maybe I understand why she went for him. He's tall and dark, though he's got streaks of grey hair on his head now. He's muscular and looks like someone who should be in a movie. He's good looking, that's his saving grace. If he wasn't, he'd be doing himself a disservice by being such a nasty piece of work. I never even did anything to him. Okay, maybe I said something unnecessarily unruly, but that’s because he was rude. He must have been nice to her for her to love him like she did. Connor doesn't look like he has a nice cell in his body, though.

I watch his strong, muscular back as he talks with Amy on the back patio and I wish I could smack his head. I can't, so I turn to look away. But before I do, Ethan turns back and waves at me, his bright eyes shining with exhilaration. I'm smiling at him when Connor looks back and jerks Ethan's hand, urging him to look forward. What's his problem? I shake my head. He's lucky he's Amy’s cousin; that's the only reason I'm tolerating him. If not for that one fact, he'd be dead to me.

Ethan steals another look at me and sticks out his tongue, then he smiles. We both snicker.

Ethan was brought to Long Beach after his mom died. His dad had to go on a mission and Amy said it was fine to bring him over for a change of environment. I'd already left home then, but I made sure I came over to my parents’ every day after work, and on some days, I took Ethan back to my house to give Amy a break. We meshed so well and formed such a bond that, on the day his dad came to take him home, he cried his little eyes out. I've not seen him since then, though I heard they'd moved to Long Beach several weeks ago.

Chad enters the front door. "Aria."

I give him a hug. "Welcome."

"I just got off work."

"You must be tired," I comment.

He takes off his suit jacket and throws it over his shoulder. "Not too much. Just hungry. Where's Bria?"

I scan around for her. She has spotted us because she's skipping toward us. "Oh, Chad! I thought you weren't coming?"

"I wouldn't miss your dad's birthday for anything."

She flings her arms around his neck and they kiss. "Thank you, babe!" She looks down at his hand; he’s holding something. "Oh, you got him a present? Come, let's go say hi to him."

She walks off, leaving me there. I stare at them as they reach Dad and watch how excited Dad is as they talk. My heart aches. Jake should be here. We had all of this planned out. I should be on his arm now, smiling and giving Dad a present together. We should be here, doing this with Bria and Chad. If only he'd stuck to the plan. Nothing in my life has been going as planned lately. It's like there's a glitch in the programming of my life. I was looking forward to this, looking forward to doing this with him. To doing life with him. But here I am, standing all alone with a giant aching hole in my heart.

I feel something tug at my dress. It has to be something, not someone, because no one would go that low just to touch my dress. I look down to wide, bright eyes staring up at me.

"Ethan, where's your dad?"

"He's outside. He's talking and I runned off!" he says and laughs.

I bend down. "That's naughty. What if your dad comes looking for you?"

He doesn't answer, just shrugs. Then I see a little light bulb switch on in his pupils. "Let's go hide!"

I kneel down and playfully tug on some curls that are askew on his head. He holds on to me, looks around then looks back at me.

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