“Six-thirty.”
Her stare widened. “And you’re home already?”
I grinned, calling her out, “Home?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
I nodded to the cookie dough on the island. “Did I interrupt you and your baking?”
She sighed.
“Darlin’, deep breaths are so reassuring. Isn’t this the time you usually cook every day?”
“Umm … how do you know that?”
I didn’t falter in confessing, “I watch you through the cameras.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What cameras?”
I nodded toward the corner of the room. “That camera.”
“That’s a camera?!”
“What did you think it was?”
“I don’t know! It looks like a sconce. Why do you have cameras?”
“To keep you safe.”
“Oh! So if something happens you’re miraculously going to grow wings and Batman your way over here?”
“The cameras are monitored by the security company and the police station.”
“The police station is watching us too?!”
I hid back my smile. “Not in the way you think they are.”
“How many cameras are in this house, Caleb?”
“Aside from the bathrooms, there’s one in every room.”
“Oh my God! I’m going to strangle you! There’s a camera in my bedroom? That’s an invasion of my privacy! I could sue you!”
Leaning against the counter, I argued, “Does it look like I want to be yelled at?”
“You need to explain yourself before I do more than just yell at you.”
“What are you so concerned about? I’ve already fucked every hole in your body.”
“You arrogant dick! You have no right—”
“You’re in my home, taking care of my children. I have all the right in the world to protect what’s mine.”
“I’m not yours. I want the camera from my room removed—”
I lied, “But I’ve already seen you play with your pussy, sweetheart. So, the real question is what memory are you envisioning of me while you come down your hand?”
“Caleb! What I do with my private time is none of your business. Do you understand me?”
“I understand that you’re pissed.”
“I’m not even thinking about you.”
“Then why are you moaning my name?”
“Oh! That’s just me imagining all the many ways I can murder you and then hide your body.” She smiled. “You could see why that would please me?”
I scoffed out a chuckle. “Don’t worry, darlin’. There’s no camera in your room. I lied.”
“Why would you want to make me mad?”
“It’s the only time you’re ever honest.”
“Stop comparing me to the girl you knew over a decade ago, Caleb. It’s annoying.”
“Trust me, there’s no comparison on my behalf. Especially when she’s still standing right in front of me.”
“Listen, Mr. Hawkins—”
“Oh, I see, I’m ‘Mr. Hawkins’ when you’re embarrassed, but it’s ‘Oh, God, Caleb,’ when you’re fucking your hand?”
She snapped around to the cutting board. “We’re done having this conversation.”
Instinctively, I came up behind her and placed my hands on the counter in front of her. Her body was in between my arms as I hovered behind her small frame.
With my chest against her back, I whispered in her ear, “But it was just getting good.”
Her composure tensed almost immediately. I could physically feel the conflicting emotions radiating off her. They were mimicking mine, and like anything with her, I allowed my impulses to take control.
“What’s the matter, darlin’? Are you pissed that you thought I had a camera in your room? Or are you mad I still know that you think about me when you’re fucking that sweet little cunt of yours?”
The second her ass grazed my cock, she abruptly turned, and we locked eyes.
Her lips parted.
Her breathing hitched.
Her natural response to me was flowing out in tumultuous waves, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.
Our silence was deafening. Her penetrating gaze felt like an array of tiny razor blades on my skin, stabbing deep into my core and making me want to surrender all my restraints when it came to her.
She was still mine.
I knew that now more than ever before.
Jesus, she was beautiful.
She tried to break our connection, asking, “Why are you torturing me?”
“That’s not my intention.”
“What do you want, Caleb?”
“You in my bed.”
“It’s never going to happen again.”
“Don’t you want me to tuck you in at night?”
“Considering you don’t tuck in your own kids, why would I believe you?”
I growled, feeling her statement in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m serious—I’m just your nanny.”
“If that were true, your body wouldn’t be reacting to my touch the way it is right now.”
“It doesn’t matter what my body wants. I’m not that young girl I once was. I’m finally thinking with my head. I won’t ever go down that road with you again.”
“Are you trying to bait me?”
“No, but the truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Not as much as your lies do.”
Evie
The audacity of this man was mind-blowing. Though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the warmth of his skin when he backed away to walk out of the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To my office. I have a lot of work to do.”