Page 15 of Tempt (Peachwood Falls #1)

C hase

Relax, Chase. For fuck’s sake .

I rinse the breakfast skillet and set it in the strainer beside the sink. Water gurgles down the drain, sucking the remaining suds with it. A part of me wishes I could slip down the pipes in one of the bubbles and get as far away from this place as possible.

I reasoned at three this morning that a large part of my frustration with this whole Megan situation is my lack of control. Frankly, I don’t have any . What’s worse is that I can’t demand control or make moves to get more of it without being a complete and utter dick.

Not that I give a shit about that, except I won’t be a dick to my mother.

“Can I go to Neve’s?” Kennedy’s voice echoes through the kitchen, taking me by surprise. “Her mom can pick me up.”

My head hangs for a split second before I turn to face her.

“No, Ken. You know Megan is coming.”

My daughter stands on the other side of the room. Her hands are pulled into the sleeves of a sweatshirt that’s three sizes too big for her, and she gives me a look like I’m the dopiest person on the planet.

This is going to be fun. I grip the counter behind me and steady myself for battle.

“From what I understand, she’ll be here for twenty-nine more days, right?” she asks, her dark hair swishing across her shoulders as she speaks. “Pretty sure we can get to know each other tomorrow.”

“Can we not do this?”

“I just want to go to Neve’s.”

“You were there last night.”

“And you made me come home.”

Because I don’t trust that Neve’s mom will make sure she stays home all night. I scratch the top of my head and give another thought to jumping down the drain.

“This is going to ruin my life, isn’t it?” she asks, crossing her arms over her stomach. “This whole Gram being gone and Megan thing will ruin everything.”

“No—”

“ I don’t need a babysitter, you know. You need me to have one because you don’t trust me.”

I drop my hand and stand tall.

Usually, Kennedy has the sense to back up when I don’t relent. She might sneak out later or skip school, but she doesn’t typically go toe-to-toe with me.

Perfect time to level up your teenage drama, child. I’m irritated anyway.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I say, holding her gaze. “I don’t trust you.”

Her jaw falls to the floor.

“I’ve told you a million times. Give me a reason to trust you, and I will.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, her voice shrill. “I always give you reasons, but you won’t see them. You don’t want to see them. You want to lock me up in this house like a little kid and never let me out.”

I steal a glance at the clock. “You have to earn trust, Kennedy.”

“I just want to go to Neve’s.”

“And I just wanted you not to call me from a cornfield last month?—”

She rolls her eyes. “Here we go again.”

“—because you were in the car with some boy you weren’t allowed to be with in the first place, and he hydroplaned off the road and almost killed you .”

My stomach bottoms in response to the memory of Kennedy’s voice on the phone. “Daddy? I need you.”

In the period it took her to utter those three little words, my life stopped. Everything paused. Nothing mattered but getting to my kid and making sure she was safe.

And then grounding her for three weeks for lying to me and flouting the rules.

“ Fine .” She narrows her eyes. “I won’t call you next time.”

My jaw clenches as I attempt to avoid losing my cool with my child.

I remind myself she’s not always like this. She can be a sweet kid. She is a sweet kid.

Breathe, Chase.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” I say.

“Pretty sure you just said you didn’t want me to call you.”

I growl in frustration. “Kennedy, stop it .”

“Is that a no on Neve’s?”

Her shoulders stiffen as if she’s trying to appear bigger and older than she is, but it has the opposite effect with her tiny frame draped in that sweatshirt. Vulnerability shines in her jade-colored eyes despite her fierce attempt to hide it.

She’s a child standing in front of me. My child . A little girl trying to grow up without a mother.

“Come here,” I say, crossing the room.

She pulls away from me.

“I love you,” I say.

She leans farther back but doesn’t move her feet.

I smile at her as I reach for her. She scoffs as if it pains her to give in, but she relents anyway. My arm stretches around her shoulders, and I pull her into my side. Then I kiss the top of her head.

“I know it’s going to be hard for you while your grandparents are away,” I say.

“It’s not that. It’s that I’m fourteen . I don’t need a babysitter, Dad.”

I smile against her hair. “Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’d be fine on your own.”

She turns to me with a set of hopeful eyes.

“But I can’t go to work every day and chance it. Besides, I’ll probably have to go out of town once or twice while Gram is gone. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you home alone all night. Sorry, kiddo.”

She groans and shakes my arm off her.

“Kennedy, you’re barely fourteen?—”

“I know. You remind me all the time.”

“—and I can’t let you screw up your life.” I hold her shoulders gently, turning her in a half circle to look at me. “I love you, little girl. The thought of anything happening to you is my absolute worst nightmare.”

“But I’m not dumb. I know you think I am, but I’m not.”

I smile softly. “I don’t think you’re dumb.

But the world is evil and mean, and it will swallow you up and spit you out before you know what happened.

The only thing between you and all of that is me.

That’s my responsibility. You might not understand it, like it, or appreciate it and, hell—maybe, I’m screwing this all up.

” I lower my chin. “But if I can keep you from ending up like your uncle Luke ….”

It takes a few seconds, but a smile slips across her face.

Before we can say anything, a car pulling into the driveway catches our attention.

Any progress we’ve made disappears.

Kennedy rolls her eyes and sighs. “The babysitter is here.”

A door slams in the distance.

“Look,” I say, turning to her. “You get to decide how the next month goes. Megan and I both want you to be happy and have fun. But if you want to be a twerp about this, then it can suck. It’s up to you.”

“Oh, you and Megan, huh? It’s already the two of you against me?”

Fuck . “Kennedy …”

Megan knocks on the mudroom door.

“She uses the mudroom already?” Kennedy asks. “Only our family uses that. We have a front door for visitors.”

Wow . I make my way across the room. “It’s a door. Let’s not overthink it.”

She hums.

I stop before leaving the room and face my daughter. She’s watching me with a hesitancy that relieves me a little.

“Hey,” I say.

“What?”

I grin. “It will never be me and anyone against you. We’re always on the same side, all right? So even if you’re mad at me, this is still a Dad and Kennedy Show.”

She sags against the corner of the table. “All right.”

“Now, be nice.”

Her arms cross over her stomach, and that’s good enough for me. At least her fangs are gone.

My heart pounds harder with every step through the mudroom. The knob slips under my hand as I pull the door open. A tightness forms across my chest as my gaze lands on Megan.

Motherfucker.

She’s piled her hair on top of her head in a messy knot.

It probably took her all of three minutes to arrange it.

I don’t see a speck of makeup on her face.

A navy shirt with a collar across her clavicle—nice and high, covering her cleavage—and a pair of denim shorts that would be acceptable in any social situation adorn her body.

Nothing suggests she gave a single thought to her appearance this morning.

And it’s somehow the hottest thing I think I’ve ever seen.

“Eleven thirty,” she says, smiling. “On the dot.”

I glance over her shoulder. Gavin sticks his middle finger out the window as he speeds down the road. “Where did your car go?”

“I needed to return the rental, so Gavin followed me to the rental office this morning. Then he dropped me off here.”

She lifts a brow, a coy grin dancing across her lips. Instead of pressing, which I want to do, I take her bags. Then I step to the side to make room for her to walk in.

“That’s it?” she asks, a trail of jasmine floating behind her. I only know the scent because Kate broke down women’s perfumes one Christmas. She was sure she could control men’s reactions to her based on her chosen scent. Jasmine, I recall, increases libido.

Kate was right about that one. Damn.

I shut the door behind Megan, making an extra effort not to touch her.

“You seem extra grumpy today,” she says, amused.

“Let’s just say that Kennedy is …” I search for the right explanation while setting her bags on the floor. “She’s not thrilled with this situation.”

“Oh.”

“She’ll be fine.” I think . “Just, you know, be warned, I guess.”

Her smile wobbles for the briefest moment. “Gavin said I was extra charming this morning, so I think I’ll be all right.”

“He did, did he?”

“He did.” She smiles, sensing my irritation. “He also said I looked very pretty and smelled nice. Oh, and he’s happy to be my Peachwood Falls best friend.”

I lift a brow.

“I mean, what if you give me a night off?” she asks. “Who am I going to hang out with?”

The words ring with an innocence put on for my benefit. Even if I couldn’t hear through the bullshit, I’d see it in her eyes.

Little minx .

I lean forward. Her confidence falters, her breath hitching as I inch closer.

“Guess what?” I ask.

She hums.

I lick my lips as I gaze down at her.

I want to say that I’ll break Gavin’s kneecaps if he thinks about fucking around with her. It would be too easy to tell her that I can occupy her if she wants to hang out with anyone while she’s here. But both of those responses are a one-eighty from reality. From what’s possible.

In the other room, my child is most likely plotting ways to test every inch of Megan’s nerves. Megan will need to spend her time not getting swindled by a teenager.

Ugh .

“Gavin wouldn’t know charm if it bit him in the ass,” I say instead.

“Is that because he grew up around you?”

I stare at her.

She leans closer, splitting the distance between us in half. Her tongue swipes across her bottom lip. It sends a bolt of energy straight to my cock.

“Why do I think that’s not what you were going to say?” she asks.

“Because it wasn’t.”

“Now I’m curious.”

Me too—about a million things I have no business being curious about.

I take a giant step back, blowing out a breath. “Don’t be.”

“Why? Didn’t we agree not to have secrets between us?”

My brain scrambles, trying to block the jasmine-scented air from fucking with me while I attempt to remember our conversation from yesterday. It becomes apparent very quickly that it’s a lost cause.

I take a deep breath, my gaze landing on the door leading to the kitchen before I flip it back to Megan. “That wasn’t in the agreement.”

Her forehead wrinkles as I approach her. I stop a couple of feet away.

“Do you know what we did agree to?” I ask.

“Yes. We’re moving around this house like two people who didn’t admit they want to fuck.”

I growl. The sound of the word fuck coming out of her mouth catches me off guard. Lust surges through my veins, entertaining the nanny .

She smirks. “Was that what you were referring to? Or did I misread the room?”

“Are you going to be a pain in my ass for the next thirty days?”

“Probably.” She laughs and walks toward the door. “But don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

Oh, I’m worrying.

She stops with her hand around the knob and looks at me. The playfulness slips away, and a mask slides into place. “As soon as I walk in here, it’s game on. This is about Kennedy. Just like you said.”

Yes, just like I said.

Ugh.

Her smile softens, going from suggestive to somber. “You said you need the focus to be on your daughter, and I heard that. I respect that. So that’s what we’ll do.” She turns the handle. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t make this hard.”

Oh, it’s too late for that. I adjust myself as she opens the door.

“Ready?” she asks.

I clear my throat. “What? Yeah.”

“Then let's go.”