Page 26 of Forbidden Kisses

It was still bizarre to me that they were on good terms now. Hell, they even seemed to be flirting with each other, which was just plain weird.

I'd always thought that my parents' business was their own and that their divorce didn't directly impact me, but after the fiasco with Jeremy's mother, I had second thoughts. Maybe some things from back then had left some marks. It was one of the reasons why I simply didn't do relationships. It wasn't worth the risk of destabilizing the balance Jeremy and I had reached.

“Want to call Jeremy in here and ask him if he wants brownies?” Mom asked as we all went to the kitchen.

Mom still used the old kitchen from our childhood. She insisted there was no need to renovate it, since the clients wouldn’t come in here. Knowing her, she’d eventually change her mind, but we’d help her when the time came.

“No chance. Dad’s showing him fishing rods,” I told her.

"I think I'm going to lose that boy to fishing, too, just as I did with you."

"Fishing is fun," I said, though I hadn't gone in years. It was something Dad did with Jeremy now.

"How’s it going with Riley?" Mom asked.

I noticed the shift around the kitchen island as my brothers all trained their eyes on me.

For fuck's sake!If they started giving me shit in front of Mom, I was going to lose it.

"It's good. She and Jeremy really hit it off."

"I had a good feeling from the moment they met. She just lit up, like she truly couldn't imagine anything better than spending time with him. That's a rare thing when you’re hiring help.”

”I agree."

My son had had enough nannies that I could tell the difference when someonewantedthe job or just needed it. I couldn't believe I'd been so incredibly lucky to find Riley. There was no way I could screw this up.

Though, technically, she was only the nanny for the interim until Maggie returned. After that, Riley was fair game.

What the hell? Where did that come from?

"Is she doing something with him tomorrow?" Mom asked.

Jeremy’s school year officially ended yesterday, and he had some time off until summer school began after the Fourth of July.

"Yeah." Initially, I’d figured Jeremy could just spend time here with Dad at the store. But then Riley suggested that she could take him to a theme park. He wouldn't hear of anything else after that, so I gave in. "She's taking him to the park. He wants to ride the roller coasters."

"The boy loves roller coasters, but my stomach doesn’t tolerate it," Mom said.

I grinned. "Yeah, Ms. Williams said the same."

"It's a good thing that you have a younger nanny for Jeremy. She’ll be better at keeping up with him."

"Why would it matter that she's young?" Wyatt asked.

Griffin and Chase were trying to suppress grins. Knox and Finn didn’t even bother. I glared at them all.

Mom smiled. “I think Jeremy can connect better to someone younger."

"You're right, I think so too. Though, once Ms. Williams is back, we're still going to continue our arrangement. She's good for him, keeps him grounded."

"And makes you look fun in return," Knox said with a laugh.

"You know what? I actually agree. Since he's spending more time with Riley, he doesn't seem to miss me that much. Hasn't even asked once if I can take him out for ice cream," Finn said.

“We can always drop by uninvited,” Knox told Finn. “Would give us a chance to meet Riley too.”

I glared at them. Finn held up his hands in self-defense.