“All right, sweetheart,” I said, sitting on the side of Carly’s bed, holding up The Princess in Black. “It’s time for us to stop for the night, and time for you to sleep.”

“But we didn’t finish.” Carly yawned, her eyelids drooping. “We were supposed to finish it tonight.”

“Tomorrow,” I promised. “We’ve only got three more chapters left. Sleep now.” I closed the book and placed it on her bedside table, then I got up, bent and kissed her on the forehead. “Sleep tight, gorgeous.”

“Goo-night, dad,” she said, snuggling up to her pink fluffy bear. I clicked off her bedside lamp then walked across the room, pausing at the door to look back in on her little shape, already fast asleep under those covers.

She was such a little person. So whole and real and in need of my care, and it was these moments that brought it all screaming back to me. How much she needed me, how much I owed her, how I would ensure that she was safe while there was still breath left in my body, and even after that last breath was gone.

Contingency plans, call ‘em that. I walked down the hall and halted at the alarm system’s pad on the wall, checked all the lights, then keyed in the code, setting it in sleep mode for the night. Relief settled over me.

Safe. She’s safe. They’re both safe.

Both? Where had that come from?

Riley was a person, a life, sure, but she was the nanny. And my fling. More than that and you know it, even if you don’t want to admit it. Brushing the thoughts aside, I turned, and came face-to-face with her.

Her hair around her shoulders, now, long waves of glossy darkness descended from the bun she’d put it in earlier. She stared at me, hazel eyes narrowed and her lips pulled taut. “What are you doing?” she asked and flicked her hair back over her shoulder, exposing the flesh at her neck.

Fuuuck, here we go. My cock twitched and rolled over in my pants. “Riley?”

“Did you just set the alarm?” she asked.

“Yeah. Call it habit. We have it, so we set it.”

“Shoot, I was hoping for a glimpse at the stars before bed. I’m weird like that,” she replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

I hesitated, my finger on the buttons of the alarm pad.

“It’s fine,” she said, and waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

But I was torn – between my need to protect her in case anyone ‘showed up’ and the need to please her.

“I’d better get to bed,” she said, and very obviously faked a yawn.

“Me too. I have an early meeting tomorrow morning. It’s already after 7:00 p.m. I’d like to be in bed by 8:00 p.m.” Random information to give her, but OK. I felt the need to… talk away the tension. It didn’t work.

She nodded on repeat. Her eyes traveled down my front, to my pants, then quickly back up again.

The tension from the day had redirected itself directly into my cock.

The fact that she was here, that she was gorgeous, that she was everything I wanted and couldn’t have, only made it worse. And she’d cared for my daughter today. She’d stuck around in spite of how stiff and formal I’d been this morning.

“Do you need anything before bed?” I asked. “I have a great view of the sky from my balcony.” Jesus, man, relax. She’s the nanny, now. She’s not your woman.

“That sounds sweet,” she said. “I mean – yeah. But – yeah, OK.” She followed me to my bedroom, but halted outside my bedroom door.

I entered it, walked past the king-sized, ignoring the images of us on it that immediately sprung up in the front of my imagination.

“Actually,” she said, from the doorway. “It’s probably better if I just go straight to bed, you know?”

I did know. Fuck, did I know what I’d do to her given the chance. “This way to your room.” I strode out into the hall again, and down it. I kept my tone rough, trying to distance myself. It didn’t work. I opened up the guestroom’s door, which was across from the staircase, and entered, flicked on the overhead lights. If I stayed angry, stiff, resistant, we’d both get through this without me bending her over something and plunging my cock so deep inside her it would alter her soul.

Riley followed me inside and halted in the center of the room. It was smaller than the master bedroom but still equipped with an armoire, a queen-sized bed with white, puffy pillows, and a desk in one corner. There was no TV, but I had a hunch she wouldn’t be bothered by that. She’d hinted she wasn’t that into it this evening.

“This is it,” I said.

“Thanks,” she replied. “I’d like to get changed now.”

“No problem. Bathroom is down the hall. Goodnight.”

“Night.” I walked out, snapped the door shut behind me, and exhaled. Fuck, this was difficult. There was too much to juggle having her here. I should never have let Beverly convince me.

Who was I kidding? I’d convinced myself. The nudge from my sister had only shoved me deeper into those dangerous waters. I had to hang on to my self-control around her. If that meant being a dick, a boss to her, then I’d do it. Whatever saved us from this intensity and heat.

I stepped forward and gripped the railing at the top of the staircase, staring down at the entrance hall, the emptiness below.

Christ, I burned for her. I ached to turn around, crash through that door and take her on the bed, on the floor, up against the wall. She deserved my dick. She deserved pleasure. She—

The guestroom door opened behind me, and I tensed up.

I turned toward her, staring as she exited the room, wearing and oversized shirt.

She halted, spotting me, deer-in-headlights style.

“Pants,” I said—first word that popped into my mind.

“Beverly forgot to pack them,” she replied, tugging on the lower hem of the shirt covering an inch more of her thighs. She let go, and it popped free, rising a little. She was creamy white, as I remembered, and shapely.

“Fuck,” I muttered. My dick stiffened and dug into the front of my jeans. “You couldn’t just stay in your room?”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, you couldn’t just stay in your room?” I let the anger take me—easier than the alternative. “Christ.”

“I was thirsty. What, you can’t handle it?” she snapped back, her gaze dancing down to my crotch. Her cheeks colored, and she licked her lips, looked away.

“Look who’s talking,” I said, softly.

I stormed forward, grabbed her by the arm and marched her backward into the guestroom. I kicked the door closed, towered over her, staring down. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be around you? Huh? The only reason I’m doing this is for my daughter. If it were up to me, you’d have never come here. You’d have stayed away.”

“So let me leave. I won’t come back.”

“No,” I snapped.

“Why not?”

“It’s too late for that now.”

“Why?”

“You have to stay,” I continued. “There’s no choice now, she loves you and—I. Fuck, what did you expect, Riley? Did you expect us to stay in the same house together, to work for me, and things would just be normal? I’d send you goodnight kisses over the app, and we’d sext each other, talk shit into the late hours of the night while my daughter sleeps down the hall?”

“No! That’s not what I expected or what I want.” Riley folded her arms under her breasts and they perked upward, drawing my attention again.

“I like you,” I said, and it came out before I could stop it. It was god damn true. And it was dangerous.

Her bottom lip quivered. “Bryan, this is wrong. You just said it was wrong. You just said we can’t be on the app, sending each other goodnight kisses. You just said that.”

“I know what I said.” I drew her closer, fingers creeping up one arm, then the other.

“Bryan,” she whined, now, losing her breath. “We can’t. You said we can’t.”

“Fuck what I said. This isn’t he app. This is real life.” I caught the back of her head in my hand, ran my fingers into that silken hair and lowered my lips to within an inch of hers. “You want this, Riley, you tell me. I’m breaking every rule for you, every rule I have, because you’re worth it.”

Her lips parted, heat escaped them, her breath, still sweet from the cookies she’d made earlier.

“Say it,” I whispered. “Say it and it’s yours.”