It would be glorious. If I couldn’t have her all to myself, maybe we could share. I didn’t know if she would be up for something like that. Nothing about her gave any indication of her level of comfort between the sheets. It would be wrong to assume that she would consent to being with two guys at once.
And yet, the idea was fascinating. I wouldn’t have to have sex with my best friend in order to enjoy Breanna’s body. The more I thought about it, the more I warmed to the idea. Connor had been after me for years to be more adventurous. Maybe this was my opportunity.
“Doctor Shea?” Greta peered into my office, destroying my fantasy in one clean sweep.
“Yes, Greta?”
“I’d like to talk to you about the staff schedules. Is now a good time?”
“I have to check on my patients,” I said, standing up.
“I could come with you,” she offered.
I sighed. “No. Have a seat.” I eased back down into my own chair, prepared for the worst. She talked my ear off for almost half an hour, explaining what the problem was with the current method of allocation. I listened with half an ear, the other half hoping someone would interrupt us. When that didn’t happen, I had to assert myself. “Look,” I said. “This isn’t really my department.”
“But you could—” she began.
“No, it’s really not my department,” I repeated, getting up out of my chair.
I had given her enough of my time. I really did have to check on my patients. I left her stewing in her own distress, determined to get her own way. Thank goodness I had other things to think about, or she really would have gotten under my skin. As it was, I couldn’t get Breanna out of my mind.
CHAPTERELEVEN
BREANNA
It had been a few days since my whirlwind lovemaking session with Connor. I hadn’t received any texts or phone calls from him. I was keeping my distance from Flynn, not on purpose really, but because I didn’t know what to say to him.
It was made easier by the fact that Flynn had returned to his office. He was up before Seanan and I were, and by the time he got home, it was late. I concentrated on my job and getting Seanan through her days. It rained all Monday and Tuesday, and I had to come up with indoor activities. Toward the end of the day on Tuesday, I resorted to online games. There were a few that were more educational than most. I didn’t want her playing Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto, although she was probably too young to be interested in either of those.
There was one she wanted to play where a little worm inched across the screen eating other worms. There didn’t seem to be much to it, and I didn’t want her to turn into a vegetable. We struck a deal. If she played one game that taught reading or math skills, she could play her little worm game for fifteen minutes. In that way, we passed an hour and a half. She would have been interested in more, but I cut her off.
We read books and played with dolls. The cook fed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I noted with satisfaction that there was at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal. The cook didn’t bother to give me anything different, so if Seanan had pizza, I had pizza. If Seanan had tilapia, I had tilapia. I learned to eat what was set before me and not complain, but in my head I was screaming foul.
I was sure she didn’t serve the lord of manor pizza or boiled fish. Although maybe she did. I wasn’t well versed in Irish eating customs, so I didn’t know what passed for acceptable fare.
I really enjoyed my job. It wasn’t just the allure of Flynn’s promise, but it was Seanan’s loveable quirks that drew me to this family. She had so much energy, and she was easy to get along with. She never gave me any trouble about going to bed on time or finishing everything on her plate.
There were a few times we had our power struggles. Once I took her to the park and she wanted to ride the swings much longer than I had budgeted for. We had to get home; it was almost time for dinner.
“Seanan, time to go,” I said.
“No,” she snapped.
“Seanan,” I warned her.
“I don’t want to go!” she challenged me.
I gave in, not wanting to cause a scene. “Ten more minutes.”
When the ten minutes was up, she came bouncing toward me, happy as a clam. I didn’t know that much about her life before we were introduced. I knew her mother was out of the picture, but I didn’t know why. Seanan had never met her, or if she had, she didn’t remember. Flynn didn’t talk about it, nor was I going to bring it up. Some things were better left unsaid. If there was any bad blood between Flynn and the other parent, I didn’t want to get caught in the middle. If, God forbid, she was dead, I didn’t want to be responsible for bringing up bad memories.
Of all the reasons Flynn gave for not going to bed with me, the one that was missing was another woman. I figured whatever happened between them was long ago, and it was none of my business.
Seanan obviously needed a woman in her life. I could see her checking with me sometimes about what clothing the dolls wore or whether women really wanted to be firefighters. We would be playing something in her playroom, and she would reach an impasse. Turning to me, she would ask, “Can women really do that?”
“Women can do anything,” I told her. She seemed happy with that response.
I did hear her talking about one of her nannies. There had been at least one who had taken the time to develop a meaningful relationship. Seanan told me that woman had left to start a family of her own. It clearly hurt that she hadn’t considered Seanan family. The little girl was too young to understand that I was getting paid for spending time with her. She knew that her father was the boss, and she knew that everyone else in the house was afraid of him, but she didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind it.