Page 37 of Give & Take

My mouth turns to about the same level of aridity as the Sahara as I take her in. She’s wearing make-up—something smoky around her eyes that make the irises look almost unreal, her lips shiny and pink. I get more agitated as I take in her hair, which bounces in loose waves over her shoulders. Even more when I keep gliding down and see her shoulders area bare because she’s wearing a sundress. A fucking sundress! It’s butter yellow, flowy, and fitted at the waist. The fabric swishes around her bare legs as she takes each step down toward me.

I almost groan when I see her bare feet, the tiny toenails painted pink to match her lips.

“Hello, Raphael,” Lana says, tipping her head the other way to put in the second earring. The long slope of her neck is exposed, and when the dangly earring brushes against it, I curse under my breath, now also jealous of a fucking earring.

Because I’m suddenly very not okay with this date again.

But I stuff that down, because this is what she wants to do. I’m her nanny, not her boyfriend.

“Your eyes,” I say, stupidly, trying to regain some equilibrium.

“Pardon?” she stops on the second to last step, so we’re close to eye level. She smells so fucking good. Perfume, I realize with an inward groan. A subtle floral scent I’ll be dreaming about for days.

She’s looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

I’d said something about her eyes. “The earrings—they match your eyes.”

Lana’s mouth parts, just a little, like she’s going to say something. But she doesn’t, and instead I just get the tiniest glimpse of the tip of her tongue.

Fuck me. “'You look nice, is what I’m trying to say.” I’m keenly aware once the word is out that it’s how one describes pleasant weather or an inoffensive sandwich. Not Lana fucking Bloor.

“She looks beautiful,” Aurora says, looking up from the bag. Has she been watching me turning as loopy as the Silly Putty Nova’s currently testing on the coffee table?

I take a breath, remembering why I’m here.

“You’re right,” I say, smiling at the sweet girl in front of me as she stands up and takes my hand. “She looks beautiful.”

Lana’s cheeks stain pink as she glances between the two of us. “Thank you, sweetie,” she says after a moment. I know she’s talking to her daughter, but I still exchange a grin with Aurora like a happy fool.

Lana gives me a brief, awkward smile as she passes by me on her way to the kitchen.

Once she’s out of hearing range, I whisper to Aurora, “Your mom always looks beautiful.”

Aurora giggles. “Yeah.”

When I look back at Lana, I feel like her cheeks are even pinker, but it’s probably just the steam from the pot she’s opened.

“I made you guys Bolognaise,” Lana says.

My eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously? Bolognaise is my favorite!”

“Nova mentioned,” Lana says. “Girls, come and eat.”

When she dishes us each a bowl, I feel like one of the kids. That is, until Lana reaches into the fridge and pulls out a bottle of beer. “Mac also mentioned you like this brewery?”

Now it’s my turn to lift my eyebrows. “I do, actually. Cal introduced me to it at the Dinghy my first weekend here.”

Lana pulls out a bottle opener and pops the cap off the beer with an expert twist of her wrist before tossing the opener back in the drawer and the cap in the garbage. Then she gently hip checks the drawer shut before holding the frosty bottle out toward me.

That was one of the sexiest sequences of movements I’ve ever seen.

When she gives me a little smile, I realize I might as well have spoken that thought aloud. I snap my jaw shut and take the bottle from her, being careful not to brush my fingers against hers. I’m pretty sure if I touched her right now I’d tell her not to go.

And she has to go. This is what she wants to do, and I can’t get in the way of her life. Just because I have a little crush.

“Thank you,” I say, taking a healthy swig of the bottle. I probably won’t finish it; I want to stay focused on these kids. But damn it feels necessary going down my throat.

Cool and frosty. Inanimate. Definitely not wearing a yellow sundress I can imagine sliding up a gorgeous hip.

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