Page 14 of The Forbidden Sitter
He’d be grabbed up into his daddy’s strong arms as I tried not to be jealous of that fact. I would’ve liked to have been pulled into those strong arms too. But I knew what I felt waswrong.
I’d been pretty frank with the man, letting him know I was an innocent little virgin who could easily be broken. I kept wishing I hadn’t toldhim.
Ever since that conversation, I noticed he barely looked my way. Oh, he was very nice and cordial, asking how my day had gone and asking how his little boy had behaved. It was all verynice.
Nice. Proper.Boring.
But my rising interest in him aside, he wasn’t being the father he needed to be for the little boy. Not once in a week-and-a-half had he been home to put the child tobed.
The last thing I wanted was for the boy to bond with me more so than with his own blood—his father. But that was already occurring, as Gannon just wasn’t aroundenough.
Putting Braiden to bed, I read him a story and kissed him goodnight once he’d fallen asleep. Then I went to my bedroom, leaving the door wide open to make sure I caught Gannon before he went tobed.
Time kept ticking by and still no Gannon. Finally, at midnight, I closed my bedroom door, put on my sleeping shorts and a tank top, and climbed under the blankets, giving up for thenight.
Just as I closed my eyes, I heard his door opening, and I shot out of bed, trying to get to him before he went to sleep. Just as I threw my door open, I saw he’d only partially closed his. “Gannon?”
“Yeah,” came his deep voice from inside theroom.
“Can I come in?” A sudden onslaught of nerves filled my stomach with enormous butterflies. Was I really about to tell this grown-ass man what he needed to do as afather?
“Sure. Come in,Brooke.”
I guess Iwas.
So in I went and stopped as soon as I stepped through the door. There he was, taking his shirt off, revealing the body I had only been able to daydreamabout.
Perfect abs ran, ladder-like, across his tone stomach. More perfection ensued as my eyes traveled up to his tattoo-covered pecs. “Tribal?” I should have acted like I hadn’t noticed, damn it. I should’ve acted like he was dressed in a business suit, not half-naked!
His hand moved over his left pec as he looked down at that tat. “Yeah.”
His biceps were bulging, and one had another gorgeous tat that I had a very hard time pulling my eyes away from. “They’re, uh, nice.” Sexy as sin, was more like it. I found myself imagining kissingthem…
“Thanks.” He looked up at me with an easy smile on his handsome face. I could tell he’d been drinking. He wasn’t drunk or anything like that—just relaxed. “Did you wantsomething?”
You.
I shook my head to get that bad thought out of it, and he laughed. “No?”
Stopping the movement, I nodded instead. “I mean, yes. Yes, I’d like to talk to you about yourtime.”
“My time?” He stepped out of his shoes and sat on a nearby chair to take his black dress socks off too. And there were his gorgeous barefeet.
Who has such nice-looking feet?I thoughtagain.
Pulling my eyes back to where they belonged, I gave myself an internal berating for ogling my boss.Sounprofessional!
“Yes, I know you’re new to the parenting thing. And I know you must not even be thinking about this, but you’re neglecting Braiden.” I put my hands on my hips, shifting my weight as I watched to see his reaction to mywords.
His brow furrowed in obvious irritation. “Neglecting is a strong word, Brooke. I talk to the kid every day. I scoop him up every evening when I come home and give him my full attention.” He shook his head. “That’s not neglect in mybook.”
“You give him about twenty minutes of your time out of each day. You were doing much better a week and a half ago. What happened,Gannon?”
He shrugged. “Business hours can be erratic. That’s why you’re here. To provide stability when I can’t be home ontime.”
I scowled. My temper was fairly mild, unless my core beliefs were in question, and they certainly were now. “I’ve waited for you to get into some kind of a pattern on your own, but you haven’t done that. That’s why I’m intervening now, before too much time passes and things become difficult for you two.” I tried to think of how to say things the best possible way to avoid putting the man on the defensive. “Certain rituals are good for kids to help build a bond that will last a lifetime. Like putting your child to bed, reading him books until he falls asleep, then kissing him goodnight. You should be doing that with your son every night that you possiblycan.”
“Okay, I can do that.” He tossed his socks toward his shoes. “What’s hisbedtime?”
