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I spent the days with Ivy while Jack was busy at the restaurant, trying not to think about him throughout the day while I was taking care of his daughter. I was growing to love Ivy more and more—she was a sweet kid, and so smart that sometimes it surprised me the words that came out of her mouth. I had never met a more precocious or lovable child, and I had fun with her during the day even as I found myself looking forward to seeing Jack come home for dinner.
Ivy and I were sitting at the table coloring after lunch one afternoon when I looked out the window to see Jack’s car pulling up into the drive. I felt my heart flutter in my chest just knowing that I was about to see him. Since the night in the library, I had tried not to spend any time with him alone. We had been dangerously close to touching during the entire conversation, and I knew that if I had stayed in that room with him alone for another minute, I would have made a decision that I would have regretted in the morning.
Jack came inside, taking off his jacket and coming toward us in the kitchen. Ivy hopped off of her chair and rushed to hug her daddy, wrapping her arms around his legs and looking up at his face with an adoring smile.
“You’re early,” I said to him. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to spend the afternoon with Ivy. Want to go to the park, baby?” he asked her. She nodded vigorously. He looked up at me then. “Will you come with us?”
“Oh, sure,” I said, caught off-guard by the request. It would be nice to get out but at the same time, it felt strange being around both Jack and his daughter at the same time. It almost felt like we were a family, though I knew that was a silly thought. Jack was just my boss, that was all, nothing more or less.
“Good,” he said, smiling at me before he left to go help Ivy get ready to leave. I went upstairs and got dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, then met them by the front door before we left. I couldn’t help but notice that Jack looked over my outfit appreciatively in a brief, lingering gaze that made me feel hot all over.
“Are we going to Watson Park?” I asked him. He nodded.
“Is it any good?”
“It’s beautiful,” I said. Watson Park was the treasure of our town—a large national park with walking trails and beautiful, natural scenery. There was also a lot to do there for kids and adults alike. “Ivy is going to love it.”
“Good,” he said, buckling her into the car before we headed off.
“How’s the restaurant going?” I asked him as we made our way to the park.
“It’s good,” he said. “It’s perfect.”
“Why did you want to open a restaurant?” I asked. “You could have done anything.”
He shrugged. “It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.”
“Why Garner?” I asked him. He glanced over at me as he drove.
“I don’t know. But it was a good choice.”
I blushed, looking away and out the window as we drove. The look on his face was too much for me to handle. We got to the park within a few minutes and Ivy bounced out of the car before either one of us had a chance to get out. Jack called out to her and she froze, turning around to give him a bashful look.
“Come on, Daddy,” she said, waving him forward as she started in the direction of the small, colorful train station in the park. A passenger train wound through the trails, and it was just about to take off by the time we got to it. We hopped on and I sat across from Ivy and Jack in the car. I was so close to them that my knee kept brushing Jack’s every time the train lurched, and somehow even that brief touch was enough to make my body react distractingly. I tried to fold my legs closer to my body but the car was too cramped for that, so I gave up and relaxed, allowing our legs to brush together.
“What do you think, Ivy?” Jack asked, although his eyes were on me instead of his daughter. “Isn’t it pretty?”
I blushed, turning my attention to the little girl, away from that disconcerting stare.
“It’s pretty,” she said. “I want to ride the ponies.”
“Ponies?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“She means the carousel,” I said, pointing over to where the colorful ride was spinning in place at the edge of the park. His face went almost green when he looked over at it.
“Oh,” he said.
“You don’t like carousels?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“I hate things that spin,” he admitted.
“I can go by myself,” said Ivy.
“We’ll see how big the ride is, sweetie,” he said. “I can go with you.”
“I’ll go with her,” I promised. “If you’re too chicken.”
He laughed. “That’s not fair.”
“Daddy’s a chicken,” Ivy said, bursting into giggles, making chicken noises and tickling her father as the train made its way in a circle around the park. I loved watching the two of them together—how sweet Jack was to his daughter. It had never been like that between me and my own dad, and it was touching to see how loving and genuine Jack’s relationship was with his daughter.
The train stopped where it had started and we climbed off, following Ivy as she skipped across the park in the direction of the carousel. Jack bumped against my side, and when I looked up at him, he was giving me a playful smile.
“What?” I asked him, blushing under his look.
“Nothing,” he said, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip. We caught up to Ivy, who had already gotten in line for the carousel.
“I’ll go with her,” I said, starting forward. He took my wrist.
“She can go by herself. It’s for kids,” he said, and though I’d stopped moving, he was still holding onto me. “I think even you might be too big for those horses.”
“That’s too bad,” I said. “I’d love to ride.”
He raised his eyebrows at me and my breath hitched in my chest, embarrassed by my choice of words. I opened my mouth to say something to try to fix it but I was cut off by a voice behind us, the same familiar one I had heard in the coffee shop. I stared at Jack, then glanced over my shoulder to see Josh approaching us. I felt myself grow tense as I always did when he was around, deeply uncomfortable, and this time it was exacerbated by the fact that we were in front of Jack.
“Lauren, how are you?” Josh asked, and I looked at him incredulously when he opened his arms for a hug. I stared at him, not moving, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a smile flicker over Jack’s lips.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” Josh said, then looked up at Jack. “Actually, it looks like you’ve got a new old friend. Moved onto older men, have we? Couldn’t find anyone your own age?”
“Maybe she’s only interested in men who don’t act like children when they get rejected for a hug,” Jack said before I could say anything. “That was actually really embarrassing, by the way.”
I put my hand over my mouth, covering the grin that had spread over my face at the expression on Josh’s. He looked deeply embarrassed, his face flushed red. Jack was regarding him with a calm, cool expression.
“Who are you?” Josh asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Standing in front of Jack, Josh looked almost small, despite the fact that he was over six feet tall. He was nowhere near as broad as Jack, who was built like a football player, all hard muscle.
“This is Jack Stephens,” I said, and delighted in the look on Josh’s face as he recognized the name.
“Oh,” was all he said. Jack grinned at him, then made a shooing gesture that I knew was sure to infuriate Josh even more.
“Move along,” Jack said in a bored voice, then wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him, turning us around to face the carousel again. I heard Josh huff behind us and stomp off. I stared up at Jack, who hadn’t moved his arm from my waist. His hand rested on my hip only lightly, but I felt the weight and heat of it all over my body.
“How was that?” he asked.
“Perfect,” I said. “Thank you. Did you see the look on his face?”
He laughed, pulling his arm away as the carousel slowed down.
“I did,” he said, looking down to meet my eye. “Always a pleasure.”
His last words sounded sultry, almost like an invitation. I felt my breath hitch in my chest at the look on his face, one of frank interest and desire. He looked away from me when Ivy came running toward us, jumping into his arms.
“What’s next, Daddy?” she asked.
“I think it’s about time to go home, baby,” he said. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah!” she said, not putting up a fuss that we had to leave the park. That was just like Ivy—she was an easy kid, loved to go with the flow and live in the moment. We got back into the car and I sat in the passenger seat, glancing over at Jack as he started the car. He gave me a warm look before he pulled out and I knew that it meant there was something to come. I had noticed that Jack hadn’t denied any romantic involvement with me—neither one of us had corrected Josh to tell him that I was only Jack’s nanny, not his girlfriend. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as we pulled away, and it wasn’t until we pulled up to the house that I realized Ivy had fallen asleep in the backseat.
