There With You by Samantha Young
Regan
Still getting nasty side-eye from thirsty single moms.
I tried not to smirk as I sent off the text to Robyn. A couple seconds later, my cell buzzed in my hand.
Lachlan wondered what I was laughing at so I told him. He thinks it’s hilarious. Is prob gonna tell Thane.
Oh, no. He wouldn’t. He better not.
It was bad enough hiding my ever-increasing crush on the man. He didn’t need to know there was a group of single moms at Ardnoch Primary School who clearly had Thane in their sights. Over three weeks ago, at the end of my first complete week working as the nanny, and after these moms had eyeballed me at the school gates every morning and afternoon, two of them made an approach to ask who I was. At first, I thought they were just looking out for Eilidh and Lewis. While the school was big enough to accommodate all the outlying settlements around Ardnoch, it wasn’t massive. And I already knew from Robyn that everybody knew each other here. Naive me thought they were being friendly.
“I’m Regan Penhaligon.” I’d offered a hand to the attractive older blond who introduced herself as Michelle.
“Any relation to Lachlan Adair’s fiancée?” her brunette companion asked.
“Her sister.”
“And you’re … watching the children for Thane?” the blond queried.
“I’m his new live-in nanny.”
Abruptly, the atmosphere turned frosty and their smiles grew tight. They dragged their gazes down my body in that way women did when they wanted you to feel judged.
And there I was thinking how awesome their Scottish accents were and how I liked Michelle’s modern take on preppy style.
Then it got worse. “Just the nanny?” The brunette arched an eyebrow.
I raised an eyebrow right back at her. “No. I also cook and clean.”
Having been taught by the master (Robyn) how to out-stare someone, the brunette lost our match and looked away, her lips pursed.
Michelle gave me another tight smile. “You’re awfully young to be a nanny, are you not?”
Damn, she had a cool accent. It was a thicker brogue, a bit like Mac’s. Pity her accent was cooler than she was.
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Oh, you look younger than that.” The brunette’s expression was suspicious, as if she didn’t believe me. What the hell?
“Aye, we thought you were just out of high school.”
Yeah, right. What was going on here?
“We’ve known Thane a long time,” the brunette said haughtily. “We really do miss him at the school gates. Will he not be coming back, then?”
Mysuspicions built. “Not in the immediate future.”
The bell rang, and thankfully the women scampered back to their companions who leaned in to hear what they’d discovered in their reconnaissance mission. I rolled my eyes and tried to forget them, excited for Eilidh and Lewis to come out of the school.
“Don’t worry about them,” an English-accented voice said.
I’d glanced to my left to see an attractive guy grinning mischievously at me. He had longish brown hair and dark eyes. “Excuse me?”
He jerked his chin in the direction of Michelle and the three other women. “Thirsty single mothers.”
“Excuse me?” I repeated.
“Thane Adair is sexy, wealthy, and a single father. Not just any single father—a widow. Bleeding hearts love that. Plus, he’s an Adair. That name has gravitas in these parts.”
My suspicions were confirmed. “They all have their sights set on Thane?”
“Yes.” The man smirked, his eyes dropping down my body but not in the insulting way Michelle and her friends’ gazes had. “They’re not happy to hear you’re living with him as his nanny.”
At my confused expression, he chuckled. “You have looked in a mirror, yes?”
The blood in my cheeks turned hot. As arrogant as it might sound to admit it out loud, I knew I was pretty. I’d never lacked for boyfriends. But I’d never prioritized physical appearance. The guys I’d dated all had one thing in common: charisma. Other than that, they’d been totally different in the looks department. Some typically good-looking like Maddox, and some made attractive by his inner sexiness rather than overt handsomeness.
Anyway, I hadn’t expected to find myself back in high school in a small village in the Scottish Highlands, hated on because I was dating the sexiest guy in school. And this time, I wasn’t even dating him—I was working for him.
“Jesus,” I muttered, throwing them a look. “They think I’m a threat?”
“Aren’t you?”
Perhaps it was because I hadn’t quite been able to talk myself out of a crush on Thane that I snapped, “Of course not. Thane’s a gentleman. He’s my boss, that’s all.”
The guy raised his hands, his gaze flicking to the school doors as the kids flooded out. “Hey, I meant nothing by it. I’m Will, by the way. My fiancé works for Thane’s brother at the estate. Jock. He’s on the security team.”
Jock, as in Sarge? “You’re Sarge’s fiancé?”
Will chuckled. “He told me you call him that. And yes. That little munchkin running toward me is Adam!” he said, just as a boy who looked like a mini version of Jock jumped into his arms. “How was school?”
“Fine.” The boy eyed me shyly. “Glad it’s over.”
I smiled at him, but I was watching for Eilidh and Lewis.
“Your little one is just coming.” Will pointed out Eilidh in the crowd. “She and Adam are in class together, so I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
I’d waved goodbye to Will and Adam just as Eilidh ran up and wrapped her arms around my legs. She threw her head back, grinning up at me, and announced, “It’s Friday!”
Shaking myself out of the memory of that first full week as Thane’s nanny, I shot the four women a look. Even though I knew all their names now, I kept referring to them as the thirsty single moms since Will first called them that. Will, I’d discovered, was an artist, and not only did I fall in love with his paintings, but I was kind of in love with him. We grabbed a quick coffee after school drop-off twice a week when we’d chat about everything and nothing. He’d told me all about Jock getting his ex-girlfriend pregnant and how they’d met when Will moved to Ardnoch to set up his gallery. He didn’t go into too much detail, but I could read between the lines that Jock had a tough time accepting he was bisexual. Eventually, though, he came out to his family and moved in with Will.
During all of it, he’d battled for full custody of Adam because of his ex-girlfriend’s heroin addiction. There was so much evidence of neglect that he won.
Will was a great buffer between me and the thirsty moms, but he, Jock, and Adam were on vacation in the Caribbean for two weeks, so I was alone at the gates this week.
My sister didn’t text back, which meant Lachlan was totally telling Thane about the moms. Not that it mattered. If they were this obvious with me, how obvious were they with Thane?
Another glance over. I caught the brunette’s eye—her name was Laura—and smiled.
She frowned like she didn’t know what to do with that.
Whatever. Looking down again, I sent Robyn a link to a wedding designer in Edinburgh. While I’d been nannying and housekeeping my ass off this past month, I’d also been helping Robyn plan her wedding. Everything was going smoothly, considering they were getting married at Ardnoch Castle and using the estate’s resources for that. But we still had bridal-party wear, décor, music, band, invitations, and all that to sort out. They were having a spring wedding, only seven months away.
Two minutes later, the bell rang and I put my cell away. For once, Lewis reached me first.
“Hey, buddy, good day?”
He shrugged. “It was okay.”
I rested a hand on his shoulder, pulling him to my side and inwardly cursing Mrs. Welsh to hell. While Connor’s mom filed a complaint and Mrs. Welsh had issued an apology, she was still “impatient and mean.” I felt powerless, hating that Lewis disliked school so much because of her. In fifth grade, I had an awful teacher who made me feel stupid all the time, and she’d seriously made me hate school. Until that year, I’d loved school. I didn’t want that to happen to Lewis.
“Since it’s Friday, I thought we’d grab an ice cream from Morag’s. What do you think?”
He gave me a small smile and a nod. As we waited for Eilidh to detach herself from an excited huddle in the middle of the playground, Lewis moved closer into my side.
It was subtle, but it happened.
My hand tightened on his shoulder.
Finally, Eilidh broke away from her friends and skipped to us, her fishtail braids with the pink ribbons tied at the ends flying up around her. “We started a girl band!”
Taking her hand, I chuckled. “Yeah? What are you guys called?”
“Don’t know yet. I like the Unicornies, but Maisie likes the Mermaids.”
Walking the kids toward the car, I tried hard to keep a straight face. “Well, that’s a big decision to make.”
“Not really.” She shook her head adamantly. “Unicornies are better than the silly mermaids.”
“Are you the lead singer?”
Eilidh gave me a look as if to say “well, duh,” and this time I couldn’t help but laugh. As I opened my eyes, I caught sight of Michelle watching me as she loaded her kids. Deciding not to let the scrutiny bother me, I led my charges to the Range Rover and filled Eilidh in on the ice cream plan.
Just as she did with chicken nuggets, she announced ice cream to the world in her monster voice. Even Lewis giggled.