Page 29 of The Au Pair Affair

Leave it there.“If you get stuck or something happens, you can call me. Twoa.m.Whatever.”

Halfway out the door, she paused, studying his face intently. “Good night, Burgess.”

Chapter Eight

Tallulah raised her arms up over her head and absorbed the music, frothiness tickling the lining of her stomach, hips swiveling in an infinity pattern. God, she hadn’t been out in so long. Not like this. The kind of out where she lost track of time, every song was thebest songand she felt free. Alive. Nothing holding her back. No rules to follow but her own.

A huge part of the reason she was comfortable in the moment was Chloe, who danced a handful of feet away in a sequined rose gold skirt and a white one-shoulder tank top, her blond hair in a riot of waves. They merged on the dance floor just as the next song came on, getting into an excited slap fight when it turned out to be yet another banger. The lighting pulsed blue around them, reminding Tallulah of the exact color the sun made when it rose in Antarctica and struck the ice for the first time in the morning. Just the purest electric blue that seemed almost out of place in nature.

“I miss that,” she murmured to herself, words instantly swallowed up by the pulsing music. Was it odd to be dancing in the middle of a crowd, reminiscing about her time in Antarctica? Thinking about her favorite penguin, Kirk, and missing the monstrous bite of cold that could rush suddenly at sixty miles per hour and eat straight through five layers of clothing? Yeah, it was slightly odd, but didn’t everyone on the dance floor miss something or someone?

That was life, wasn’t it? Making connections, bonding with people and places, then moving forward without them. Missing them. Carrying those influence around, sort of like layers of clothing. Her birthplace was one layer, her family another. Her best friend, Josephine. Antarctica. Now Boston. Sometimes it hurt to collect another layer, to make new friends and have new experiences when she still ached for the layers closest to her skin, but she would keep pursuing nights like this, because she’d made a promise to her sister.

She’d sworn she wouldn’t let the fear of tragedy keep her locked inside. Otherwise, she might as well still be trapped in that closet, watching Brett’s shadow move on the other side. She might have freed herself physically, but mentally? It had taken Tallulah four years to keep the promise she’d made to Lara. But here she was. At least she hadn’t broken it, right?

Tallulah danced, half enjoying herself, half melancholy to be in this unfamiliar place, entering a new phase in such a visceral way, her new grad school friends waving to her from the bar, Chloe taking her hands so they could spin in a laughing circle at the crescendo of the song, finally stumbling to a stop at the edge of the dance floor. The song that came on next was a slow one, an indication the club was probably getting ready for last call, filling Tallulah with a combination of disappointment and relief. She was having a great time with her new friends, but maybe when that inevitable melancholy started to eclipse her enjoyment, it was time to go home.

Home.

Where Burgess lived.

Her hot, single dad boss.

Orgasm Donor.

“You want one more?” Chloe yelled over the noise, pointing to the nearly empty amaretto sour in Tallulah’s hand. “It’s my round.”

“Sure. Last one.”

Chloe did a little shoulder shake and danced her way back through the crowd. Though everyone in the place was swarming the bar to get their last drink of the night, the bartender zeroed in on beaming-ball-of-light Chloe right away, drawn like a moth to a flame, making Tallulah laugh under her breath.

Tallulah approached the high top where the group had stationed themselves for the night, greeted by smiles from Finn, Tisha, and Evan, the final three remaining out of the six grad students who’d met at Down earlier in the night. Tallulah gave an exaggerated wince at the array of empty glasses and beer bottles on the table, making Finn laugh... and it was impossible not to notice the once-over he gave her as she added her empty glass to the collection. He straightened from his lean against the table and angled his body toward Tallulah.

And her stomach immediately drew in on itself.

Finn was good-looking. In his twenties. The clear overachiever type she encountered on a regular basis in the biology program. Medium height, wiry build, round gold-rimmed glasses, and shaggy brown hair. Hot science guy. Who wouldn’t be into him?

Orgasm Donor.

Tallulah inwardly winced. Such an appalling sweatshirt—and she believed Burgess when he said it didn’t belong to him. But something about the juxtaposition of this big, strong hockey player and the word “orgasm” wouldn’t stop punching her in the brain. Even while looking straight into the very earnest, very interested eyes of Finn.

I know how orgasms are donated.

You don’t know howIdonate them.

I don’t think I’ll be finding out. Will I?

Your call, Tallulah.

A warm shiver snaked down her spine. What exactly hadBurgess meant by that? Like he’d show her if she simply... asked? Her boss would donate her an orgasm?

Finn inched closer to Tallulah, distracting her from thoughts of the towering hockey player, and the fine layer of perspiration on her back hardened to ice, the loud music becoming muffled and distorted in her ears. This tended to happen when a man showed interest in her, and apparently tonight was going to be no exception. Although, she didn’t freeze up when Burgess got close, did she? No, just the opposite. She heated like a tea kettle. He had a way of approaching her at just the right pace, giving her room to stop... which only made her wantmoreof her space invaded by him.Thisguy, however...

“I hope you’re as good a research partner as you are a dancer,” Finn said, close enough to her ear that his breath hit her neck.

Tallulah fought off a cringe. “Oh. Thanks.” She wanted to leave it at that, express her lack of interest right away and shut it down, butwhy? When her internship in Antarctica had drawn to a close, one of the biologists had asked her to dinner and she’d said no without thinking. Even though he’d been perfectly nice, like Finn. Probably not a monster.

But was probably ever going to be good enough?

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