Page 12 of Summer Fling (The Kingston Brothers #5)

Chapter Eight

Blake

I was used to these family get-togethers because I'd been to them before with Cooper and Ivy. They always wanted to include me. But this was different because at any minute Dalton was going to announce that we were dating. We'd already decided that we had to lie to them about the relationship.

His family was so nice, especially his parents; I didn't feel great about it. But I didn't see any way around it. Dalton was a good father and deserved to have a legally binding order declaring him to have joint custody.

Joy set Lilliana on the floor, and Hayden took her hand, leading her into the living room where Henry was already playing with toys.

"I wanted to let you know about something else new in my life," Dalton said.

The room quieted again.

I drew in a shaky breath as Dalton took my hand in his. I couldn't look away from him because I didn't want to know what anyone was thinking. I felt my face get hot.

"I'm dating Blake."

There were a few seconds of silence, and then Joy said, "How wonderful."

Shep shook his head. "Oakley's not going to like it."

"Oakley doesn't have to like it. But I'm entitled to have a life. We haven't been together in a long time, and there's no hope of us ever getting back together," Dalton said, his hand squeezing mine reassuringly.

"When did this happen?" Cooper asked, his brow furrowed.

We'd expected Ivy and Cooper to be skeptical since they were closest to me, and I'd never mentioned liking Dalton.

Dalton looked at me with affection. "We were attracted to each other when we'd see each other at family events, but neither of us acted on it until she moved in."

The tenderness in his expression was so convincing; I almost believed him.

Sensing that everyone was waiting for me to confirm his feelings, I said, "Now that we're living together, it was impossible to deny our feelings for one another."

"That's what happens when you're forced to live together," Hazel teased.

I remembered Ivy talking about how Brady pretended to be engaged to Hazel in order to get some accreditation for his video-game show, and Hazel wanted to please her grandmother. It sounded crazy when I heard it, but now that we were also pretending we were together, I understood why they'd done it.

Would they be the ones who'd see through our charade? I chanced a glance at them, but they didn't seem to be concerned. Brady stacked a cracker with cheese and meat, and Hazel was watching the kids play in the living room.

Maybe they were thinking of having their own kids one day, and our relationship didn't register on their radar.

"That was a little different because we were friends first," Brady said before he popped the cracker into his mouth.

This might be harder to pull off since we weren't that friendly before I moved in. But hopefully, we could act like we were together, and it would make up for any doubts. That put more pressure on me.

Throughout the announcement, Dalton continued to hold my hand, his palm a steady, comforting presence. There was something about him being by my side that felt good.

Joy clapped her hands. "I'm happy that all my kids are finding their significant others. I couldn't be prouder of each and every one of you."

Dad placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's just happy that you all are living on the island together again, and she can see you all the time."

Conversation picked up again, and the attention wasn't on us.

Dalton let go of my hand in favor of putting his arm over my shoulders. He drew me close and said into my ear, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

His breath tickled my hair, and his mouth was so close to my skin that it sent tingles down my spine in anticipation of more. I liked being cradled in his arms, and I loved that his attention was focused on me. When Lilliana was with us, his focus was on her.

Dalton was potent. When he focused all his charm and attention on me, it was hard to remember that this wasn't real. He was acting, and this relationship was for show. We needed his family to believe it was real so that everyone else would too.

Then we had to convince Oakley and a judge. I'd never felt so much pressure before.

"We've got this," he said with one more squeeze of my shoulders, and then he stood straighter, keeping his arms draped over my body.

It was nice, a familiarity that I'd never had with a boyfriend. I usually wasn't that interested in public displays of affection. But his touch gave me a warm feeling in my chest.

Hayden helped get Lilliana in her high chair and sat next to her. I guessed while Hayden was around, she'd be watching Lilliana. She seemed to enjoy children.

"If you ever need a sitter, I'm happy to help."

I almost interjected and said I was the nanny. There was no need for anyone else to watch Lilliana, but Dalton said, "We'd love to go out by ourselves sometime."

I blushed, almost not believing that anyone else was buying this story of ours.

"I think this is great," Joy said as she started passing the salad bowl around the table. "I'm so happy for you two."

Now I felt guilty. His mother was happy for our fake relationship. What would happen when she found it was all for show? The goal was for her to never find out. But what were the odds that this wasn't going to blow up in our faces?

We'd have to keep up this charade for weeks or even months. Then we'd break up and pretend that we weren't meant to be together. That was the best-case scenario. The worst was that everyone found out, and Dalton didn't get custody of Lilliana.

I didn't want to be the reason why he didn't get custody of his daughter.

After dinner, we cleaned up and then went to the beach. The guys broke into two teams to play volleyball, and I sat with Lilliana in the sand by the fire. Dalton had brought a few sand toys out for her to play with.

Ivy sat next to me with Henry. "You have to tell me how this happened. I didn't know that you liked Dalton, much less were dating him."

I gave her a look. "I wouldn't have said anything to you. You're my employer."

"I thought we were friends," Ivy said, hurt tingeing her tone.

"We are friends. It's just… I didn't think I had a chance with everything going on. Oakley's always around?—"

"Speaking of— How did she take it?" Ivy asked.

I sighed. "We haven't officially told her we're dating yet."

"I don't think it's going to go over well with her. She doesn't seem to understand the word no ," Ivy said, helping Henry sift sand through a toy.

I sensed the need to give her something to help make our story believable. "Dalton's a great dad. The way he takes care of Lilliana?—"

"I know what you mean. There's something about a man taking care of his child… It gets me right here." She smiled and touched her chest over her heart.

"Yes," I agreed.

Shep dropped into a chair nearby, grabbing a water bottle and twisting the cap off. "What are you talking about?"

"How attractive it is when a father takes care of his child," Ivy said.

His brow furrowed as if he was thinking about it. "What if a man takes care of any child, a niece or nephew? Is he just as attractive?"

"Hmm. What do you think?" Ivy asked me.

I grinned. "I think so."

Ivy shared my smile, both of us knowing that our doubt would bother him. He was usually so confident in his ability to attract women.

He leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. "A man taking care of a child that's not his? That's even more attractive."

"You're ridiculous," Ivy said with a small shake of her head.

"The ladies love me no matter what I'm doing," Shep leaned back in his chair.

"What are you saying now?" Brady asked Shep.

"That men taking care of kids is attractive, whether you're the father or not."

"Why are we even talking about this?" Hudson asked.

"You can't keep up with us, so you have to gab with the women?" Marshall baited him, and Shep stood, flexing his biceps. "We all know I'm in shape. You're the old man who can't keep up."

The guys drifted back to the volleyball court, teasing each other.

"So you liked the fact that he was a father," Ivy prompted me when we were alone again.

I watched Dalton as he pulled off his shirt and wiped the sweat from his brow. The muscles in his back flexed. My entire body flushed with heat. "He's attractive. He's a great guy. And he's a good dad."

"You like him."

I looked at Ivy. "That's what I've been telling you."

"I just didn't see it until now. You looked uncomfortable when he was holding your hand earlier, but now, seeing you look at him, it's clear that you like him."

I swallowed hard. "Once I moved in with him, he was impossible to resist."

Hazel sat in the sand next to us. "I can tell you all about forced proximity and how it makes everything go faster. I'd been friends with Brady for years, but there's something about sharing a bed and a bathroom that speeds things up. Let me tell you."

Would they expect us to share a bed? Would it make things more believable? What if his parents stopped by and noticed that I slept in a different room?

My throat felt dry, and it had nothing to do with the sand we were playing with. I grabbed a water bottle and drank from it.

"Living together accelerates everything. I don't know if we would ever have figured things out living apart and being friends. Both of us were too afraid to risk our friendship," Hazel continued.

Ivy nodded. "It was a trial run. You were able to see if you were compatible. If you weren't, you would have gone back to being friends."

"Maybe? That was the thing we were worried about the most. If we'd broken up, someone would have had hard feelings."

I respected Dalton as a person, but we hadn't been friends before. What did that mean for our fake relationship? It was probably less likely to turn into anything real. Even if I was attracted to him, it didn't mean that he was attracted to me.

"I'm so happy for Dalton. He deserves this more than anyone. I was so worried about him," Ivy said, driving one of Henry's trucks over the sand, making vroom-vroom noises.

Hazel glowered. "Oakley's awful. Who would keep someone from their child, and for what? It doesn't even sound like she wants Lilliana. She just wants to jerk Dalton around."

"She picks up Lilliana when she wants to be seen with her, but otherwise, we don’t hear from her. She doesn't want me living with him though. It's almost as if she wants to control Dalton and prevent him from ever dating anyone else," I said, thinking out loud.

Ivy bumped her shoulder with mine. "That doesn't bode well for your relationship. She might try and come between you guys. You better hope your relationship is strong enough to withstand her."

"Yeah." It obviously wasn't, because our relationship wasn't even real.

"You should come out with us sometime. We haven't had a girls' night in a while," Hazel offered.

"I have a hard time getting away from this handsome guy," Ivy said about Henry.

"I'm on call to watch Lilliana when she's with Dalton."

Hazel frowned. "Surely, you're not working every night."

"Besides, you're not just the nanny anymore. You're Dalton's girlfriend," Hazel said, and that hit me in the chest.

It felt good to be named someone's girlfriend, especially Dalton's. I'd been so focused on school that I hadn't allowed myself to get involved in a serious relationship in a long time.

"You're entitled to a night off. A girls' night with us," Elena said as she dropped to her knees between me and Hazel.

"That sounds nice." In the past, I felt like an employee, the nanny, not part of the family. That wasn't a change I'd anticipated.

"I think you're going to be good for Dalton," Elena said.

I tipped my head to the side as the girls continued to talk about me as if I weren't there with them.

"He needs a good woman in his life. One that doesn't manipulate him into doing whatever she wants," Hazel added.

Ivy nodded. "He definitely deserves happiness. He's a good guy."

"And you think he can find that with me?" I asked, feeling a little stunned by their comments.

"You're the best. I couldn't think of anyone better for Dalton," Ivy said sincerely.

"You're the opposite of Oakley. She's a witch for what she's put him through," Hazel agreed.

"Thank you for the votes of support, but we're new. I don't know if we'll have what it takes to last." I didn't want to get their hopes up too much.

"I have a good feeling about you two." Elena lowered her voice. "Do you know that all the guys come to Hudson when they're having relationship trouble? I'll let you know if Dalton stops by. That's usually a sign that they screwed up."

"I hope it doesn't come to that." There wouldn't be any conversations about how he screwed up unless he told his brother about us pretending to be together.

Because there was no relationship to save or salvage.

We were fake. No matter how nice it was to feel like part of the Kingston family, I would never be more than what I was, the nanny.