Page 39 of The Boss Problem

Me:Butter pecan, please.

Pocketing my phone, I tried my best to strike up a conversation with Lucas, but I could’ve attempted to converse with the lake for all the good it did. He was a stark contrast to the boy he’d been that night in the lobby of his father’s office. I was about to suggest a game of tossing stones farthest into the lake when I heard footsteps.

I turned around, expecting to see Sean, but saw a dusty-blond-haired man in his early thirties approaching us. He had a young girl by his side, who was probably eight years old. She looked at Lucas closely before registering something and waving at him.

“Lucas, is that you?” she asked.

Lucas looked at her, and I saw a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

“Hi, Brianna,” he said at last, half shy.

“Brianna said she recognized you,” the father said with a smile at Lucas before turning to me. I definitely saw something that looked like a glimmer of interest in his eyes too. “Brianna said they were in the same class at Preswood Elementary for kindergarten and her first year before we had to move her elsewhere,” the man said, and I assumed it was the same school Lucas went to.

Brianna walked up to Lucas, starting a conversation with him easily—a conversation Lucas actually took part in.

“Wow, I haven’t heard Lucas talk this much in a while,” I muttered more to myself, and Brianna’s dad barked out a laugh.

“When they were toddlers, we just wanted peace and quiet, and now, we can’t wait for them to talk to us again, right?” he asked.

I looked at him closely. His blond hair was cut short, and he had a wide smile and hazel eyes that looked at me with fascination.

“Oh, I bet, but Lucas isn’t mine,” I said. “I’m a … nanny,” I added abruptly, finding a general lack of words in the English language that would adequately describe the job I was doing.

“Oh, I see. Do you live around here?”

“In the neighborhood.” I smiled, turning to see that Lucas had searched around for a few flat pebbles and given Brianna one to throw.

They were laughing and talking now, and I let myself relax. Perhaps what Lucas needed was some kid company.

The man followed my gaze. “They’re doing just fine,” the man said. “I bet Brianna’s telling Lucas about her dance school’s ballet show at the Gild Gala. I’m Will, by the way,” he said, smiling at me.

“I’m Chloe,” I said.

“How come I haven’t seen you here before?” Will asked.

“Well, I don’t really get out?—”

“Here you go, Chloe,” Sean interrupted, holding out a cone as he stood next to me. His dark brows were furrowed, mouth hard and jaw set.

Intimidation was something Sean did well, I realized. His shoulder touched mine, and I could sense the energy shift and tension rise as Sean looked at Will.

“Will’s daughter was Lucas’s classmate,” I explained, feeling flustered. My gaze fell on the cones in Sean’s hands, including the one he was still holding out to me.

He’d chosen pistachio for himself, and he was holding out the butter pecan one for me.

“Here,” I said when Lucas and Brianna walked over, gesturing to my ice cream cone. “Do you like butter pecan, Brianna?”

She shook her head. “I like cookies and cream though,” she said, looking at the other one hopefully.

“She can have it,” Lucas said immediately, and a flash of pride crossed Sean’s eyes. “I’ll have the butter pecan.”

Brianna took the cookies and cream from Lucas happily, and the two kids went back to the edge of the lake, searching for more stones to toss into the water, seeming cheerier.

“Will, this is Sean,” I said, realizing the men hadn’t been introduced.

Will looked like he wanted to extend his hand to Sean, but one look at Sean, and he seemed to think better of it.

“Sean, Will was just telling me that Brianna’s dance school has an upcoming ballet performance at the Gild Gala.” I turned to Will. “You must be so proud of her. I loved ballet, too, back when I was a teenager.”

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